Just slightly less than three months after unveiling the
successor to Veedub’s iconic modern interpretation of the new Beetle in 1.2
litre guise, the German automaker is back with a 1.4 TSI variant that’s just
landed on our shores. While the base model’s 1.2 litre rump pumped out a
reasonable 105hp, I couldn’t help but feel that the Beetle’s Golf derived
chassis was more than adept at handling a lot, and I mean a lot more
horsepower.
While a Beetle GTI might be still some months off, VGS lent
me the next best thing, the Beetle with their twin-charged 1.4 TSI engine,
which bumps up performance to 160 ponies, and drops the century sprint to a mere
8.3 seconds – by today’s standards should place this Beetle “GT” of sorts right
smack in familiar warm-hatch territory.
Blast from the
past - the Beetle is a recollection of the original Bug
And if that wasn’t enough to differentiate the 1.4 TSI
Beetle from the 1.2, Volkswagen has slapped on a large rear spoiler and huge
18-inch retro-dished rims as a nod to the original Beetle. The styling cues
this two rather simple add-ons make to the clean lines of the new Beetle are
breathtaking.
The spoiler adds a whiff of sportiness to the overall
silhouette of the car, giving it Porsche like proportions when viewed from the
rear while those massive chromed rims that fill out the Beetles flared fenders
give the 1.4 version added presence while keeping it within the Beetle lineage.
That additional 50 over horses sure do make a dramatic
difference in the whole feel of the car the moment you jump in and squeeze the
throttle. The trio of gauges encased in a cluster nestled atop the centre
console hints at the performance potential tucked away underneath the Beetle.
As the day wore on, and I spent many more hours driving the Beetle all around
the island, sometimes pushing it to the extreme when the road opens up, or
simply just happily zipping around town, something dawned on me.
Inside, familiar
Volkswagen styling is livened up by matching body coloured trims swooping
across the dashboard, steering wheel and along the window sills
I haven’t had this much fun in any vehicle for the longest
time. True, the Beetle might not have the most amount of horsepower, its
underpinnings are from the Golf etc. But there was something about the whole
experience that left a mad grin on my face for the following three days every time
I got into the driver’s seat.
It’s something I must admit that I can’t really put my
finger on either. The spritely 1.4 engine was more than eager to please,
blasting through all 7 forward gears in a hurry, leaving traffic in the dust
every time.
The Beetle felt a lot firmer than the equivalent Golf (this
could be due to the 18” wheels) which made handling exceptional. I was throwing
the bug into sharp corners at ridiculous speeds while laughing away
uncontrollably and enjoying every single moment of it as the car barreled into
the apex and came blasting back out totally composed without a hint of under steer.
This 1.4-litre
twin charged lump churns out 160 horses and 240Nm of torque, allowing the Bug
to fly
I was constantly reminded of the Beetle ad, where the car
was running through all kinds of terrain from mountainous roads to winding
hills – it felt just like that. The bug ate up the roads with aplomb, making
long distances a delight to the senses. In short it was just sheer magic.
This is the Beetle to have at the moment, till the GTI
version comes; I’m crossing my fingers that VW decides to do an R version for
this truly impressive car.
