Volkswagen BEETLE V5 SPORT EDITION
If The Beetles Cutesy Appeal Isnt Really Your Thing, The V5 Sports Added Attitude May Well Be Just The Ticket. Andy Enright Reports
Think Beetle and youll probably think of a cute hatch with a vase on the dash and a rather cynical reliance on the success of its classic forebear. Now ditch that. Ignore the historical baggage and dump the mimsy looks. Inject some serious power and bingo; youre left with a
Volkswagen Beetle V5 Sport.
Trouble is, with a high asking price and a sceptical British public, will your friendly Volkswagen dealer be left with the car instead?
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That sticker price has to be dealt with straight away. When the Beetle was first launched, £18,725 may have seemed a fair rate for raging short-term exclusivity. Now that the style baton has been passed to first the MCC
Smart and then the
MINI, the Beetle has to work harder to justify its existence. Volkswagens product planners were probably going in the right direction with the budget 1.
6 and turbo diesel Beetles, but demand for the more powerful 1.8T and V5 Bugs has been sketchy. Even the relatively attractive £17,225 asking price for the V5 hasnt provoked many takers.
"Aluminium interior trim and aluminium drilled pedals feel more like something from a Philippe Starck studio than a mainstream car manufacturer."
Perhaps this has been due to the modest visual enhancements the V5 wore. Sure, there were 17-inch wheels, but to most, it merely looked like a standard car that had enjoyed a minor excursion into the Beetle options list. Not so the V5 Sport. Perhaps this is the car that will convince buyers that Beetle and sporty are two concepts that didnt die when Herbie was retired.
The 17-inch alloys are of a new five-spoke slotted design whilst a more aggressive sculpting of the front and rear bumpers gives the V5 Sport a touch of visual clout. Beady driving lights are mounted next to the main headlamps giving the cars face a different look. Twin chromed exhaust pipes and a speed-sensitive rear spoiler may be all many drivers get to see of the car. The 170bhp five-cylinder engine is certainly one of the highlights of the
Volkswagen range, being found at one time or another under the bonnets of Golf, Bora and Passat models and affecting a Spanish accent in the
SEAT Toledo.
Volkswagens decision to replace the old ten-valve 150bhp engine with a modern 20-valve cylinder head design has worked wonders for the V5, not only differentiating it from the 150bhp 1.8-litre turbo unit thats the bedrock of the Volkswagen range, but also endowing it with effortless mid-range overtaking power and a broad swell of torque. The V5 Sport targets the second wave of Beetle buyers. Whereas the first were the early adopters sold on the looks and who couldnt care less what it was powered by, current Beetle customers insist on substance.
Whats not altogether obvious is why anybody with a sporting bent would turn to the Beetle for their fix when more fun can be had in the shape of a
Honda Civic Type-R or a Renaultsport Clio 182. Nevertheless, despite no longer being in the first flush of youth, the Beetle still has the capacity to shock. In V5 Sport guise the interior is even more astonishing than the first Beetles to roll from the Mexican production line. Aluminium interior trim and aluminium drilled pedals feel more like something from a Philippe Starck studio than a mainstream car manufacturer.
Despite the racy pretensions, the V5 Sport also features such luxuries as two tone heated leather seats on top of the usual V5 specification that encompasses air conditioning, central locking, four airbags, ABS, a six-disc CD autochanger, tinted glass, power/heated mirrors and ESP stability control. A leather-bound steering wheel, gearstick and handbrake gaiter may not appeal to peace-loving beatniks but they create a classy finish. The roofline sails overhead with what feel like feet to spare, although rear seat passengers wont enjoy the same sensation of space. Instead theyll have to watch their heads when the rear tailgate is slammed shut as, like the
Audi TT, taller passengers heads can encounter the rear screen with potentially painful consequences.
The view from the drivers seat is otherworldly. With the fascia bathed in soft indigo light and the windscreen well out of arms reach, the curving A-pillars arc down to an unseen bonnet creating a soothing impression of sitting back and watching proceedings through a widescreen television. The Beetle V5 is the quickest Beetle to date, hitting 60mph in 8.5 seconds before running on to a maximum velocity of 131mph.
Its the engine that really is the most impressive thing about the car, and the way that it seems to gain in enthusiasm as it barks towards the rev limiter in each gear is enough to put a smile on most drivers faces. From the Audi Quattro to the
Fiat Coupe, five-cylinder engines have often proved both charismatic and capable and the story continues here. Fuel economy is very reasonable Volkswagen claim a combined figure of 31.7mpg, barely down on the standard four-cylinder 2.
0-litre variant. If youre after a style statement the Beetle V5 Sport misses the boat somewhat. If you hanker for a bargain, the standard V5 offers better value and if you want a sporty drive, others do the job far better. The Beetle V5, it seems, is something of a curates egg, not without its redeeming features but a car that answers a question nobody thought to ask.
For that as yet undefined morass of potential customers who want a car thats reasonably stylish that offers reasonable value for money and a reasonably sporty drive, the Beetle V5 Sport is your set of wheels. Seem reasonable?
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Volkswagen Beetle V5 Sport Edition
PRICE: £18,725 on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 15
CO2 EMISSIONS: 214g/km
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 131mph / 0-60mph 8.5s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 22.8mpg / (extra urban) 41.5mpg / (combined) 31.7mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front and side airbags / ABS
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4081/1836/1498
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