Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
Volkswagen has been stuffing its new direct injection, turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder into every small car it sells, and the result has been strong performance combined with very competitive fuel economy. The Beetle 1.8 TSI puts out a formidable 170 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque while fully capable of achieving a five-cycle EnerGuide rating of 9.9 L/100km in the city and 7.2 on the highway when fitted to the car’s standard five-speed manual gearbox, or an even better 9.6 city and 7.2 highway rating when upgraded to the six-speed automatic.
Unlike the Jetta that still gets the old 2.0-litre mill in lower rung trims, the 1.8 TSI comes
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
While the sound certainly pulls memories of happier, simpler times of the past, even
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
It made a nice backdrop for viewing the latest Beetle. The car’s overall styling is carryover for 2015, although there’s nothing at all wrong with that. Today’s more masculine Beetle replaced the so-called New Beetle in 2011 as a 2012 model, and it’s been steadily refined since then. The 2015 model gets LED driving lights ringing the complex headlamps in Comfortline trim, a nice chrome strip across the wide horizontal grille, fashionably functional LED turn signals integrated within the mirror housings on all models, chrome-trimmed body moldings on the lower portion
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
VW continues its retrospective theme to the interior where my Comfortline model replaced the stock black dash and door uppers with a painted body-colour finish that wraps right around to the ends of the rear quarter windows. It’s a rare occasion when I’m not complaining about the use of harder plastics for these surfaces, but this retro upgrade made me all smiles. On that note there aren’t many soft-touch surfaces in the Beetle’s cabin, other than the nicely padded armrests,
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
Leather is optional, by the way, something last year’s Comfortline package didn’t offer. There’s no Beetle Highline for 2015, so Volkswagen makes a $1,990 Appearance Package available for the $23,990 Comfortline that adds Vienna leather in Titan Black or Nutria Beige, plus wonderfully comfortable and supportive front sport seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, automatic HID headlamps with those LED DRLs I mentioned a moment ago, and LED rear license plate illumination. Additionally a $1,570 Technology Package added navigation, a great sounding 400-watt Fender audio system with eight speakers and a sub, plus blind spot
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
I should probably give you a shortlist of features that get grandfathered up from the base Beetle Trendline too, including remote access via VW’s cool flip key, aluminum doorsill plates, powered windows with auto up/down all-round, power-adjustable and heatable exterior mirrors with those integrated turn signals I mentioned
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
The Beetle’s tall body allows for a lot of front row headroom, while shoulder, hip and legroom shouldn’t be a problem either. The rear seats are also roomier than I expected,
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
That last point is important, as most of the Beetle’s sport coupe competitors offer very little luggage space and cram rear passengers into seats that seem more like afterthoughts than part of the original design. These of course offer more rakish lines than the fun-loving VeeDub, but the Beetle has enjoyed its decades of popularity specifically due to its ideal mix
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention two additional Beetle models, especially being that the GSR was discontinued for 2015. While the addition of the standard 1.8-litre TSI engine transforms the little Bug into a modern-day Super Beetle, consider for a moment that there’s still a quicker 210 horsepower Sportline variant with a six-speed manual or six-speed DSG automated gearbox available, whereas the ultra-thrifty turbo-diesel TDI version won’t only give you great fuel economy, but it sounds even more like a traditional air-cooled Beetle than the 1.8 TSI.
However you outfit it, the 2015 VW Beetle delivers a lot of style and performance for a very affordable price.
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