The 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine was one of many things dragging the whole Volkswagen model range down in the past few years. That all changed in 2014, when the company's US division decided to ditch its archaic mill for good and replace it with a smaller turbo, which is now standard across most of the compact car range.
The biggest beneficiary has been the Jetta, since this is one of their biggest sellers, but the same factory that makes those sedans also assembles the "New Beetle". Consumer Reports recently re-visited this two-door Bug and says the 1.8-liter turbo not only makes the car faster, it also improves the economy.
With 170 horsepower, the four-cylinder straddles the market space between the MINI Cooper and the Cooper S. However, most people don't buy the Beetle to have fun and carve a canton road in it.
2014 sales results were revealed by Volkswagen a couple of days ago and the Beetle is not doing so well. Only 11,768 coupes and convertibles were delivered last year, a massive 32% decline on 2013's 18,050. In fact, the whole brand is taking a 10% nosedive, the Jetta and Golf being the only ones to stay in the green.
Consumer Reports says it's actually purchased this Beetle for about $22,500 and will test it out over the next months. That's a lot of money for a fashion statement, especially when a Cooper S stickers for $24,100 and now comes with a big 2-liter turbo. What do you guys think is the problem with the Beetle? Is it not a cult car any more and are they charging too much for one?
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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