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Post by chariset on Nov 13, 2010 5:46:39 GMT
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Post by flatin5th - Knight of the NC on Nov 13, 2010 20:45:34 GMT
redesign in the same way as Porsche do the 911 - not much difference to me! Maybe a bit lower, but why would that be?
I still wouldn't buy one - not even if it had a 911 engine in the back!
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rx7
Smutty Mayhemer
Novice Mayhemer
Posts: 336
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Post by rx7 on Jan 3, 2012 19:57:18 GMT
We call it the new new Beetle-not a bubblecar anymore!
No longer a chick car as it says in a magazine I get called Car and Driver. I tested one and it's really nice! The turbo handles very well. I wouldn't buy one either but they are nice.
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Post by Flying Lady on Jan 5, 2013 18:49:15 GMT
I hate the New New Beetle. I hate it more than I hated the Old New Beetle, and I had, at one point in my checkered past, owned one of the godforsaken feckin' awful little cars. Good lord, was that car crap.
The electrics were shoddy and started packing up before the car was paid off. It was so low-slung it couldn't clear the unpaved alley behind my house, and would bottom out in potholes and speed bumps. Visibility out of that car was...crap. It had more blind spots than a window-dressing shop. For as small of a car as it technically is, it felt sluggish and cumbersome to steer - it felt like a lemon-yellow roadhog.
Normally, when I speak of the New Beetle I used to own, I swear freely and with exuberance, but since such language is frowned upon here, I will restrain myself.
Somehow, they have managed to take what was frankly an unsightly car, and make it even more dreadful. It looks squashed, as though the Monty Python cartoon foot has come down upon it. The Old New Beetle had pathetic rear-seat headroom; at 5'5", I clonked my head on the back seat window frame EVERY time I had to sit back there. I cannot imagine the new, flatter roofline makes any improvements in the passenger compartment. I also can't imagine the visibility is improved even the slightest. The A and C pillars are still in what appears to be a very obstructive position, and it looks to me as though that C pillar is actually thicker.
The ground clearance continues to be...minimal. With the Old New Beetle, one of the first things owners needed to do was put a skidplate on the oilpan. Unless VW has gotten real and made that a factory inclusion, I'd bet the engine is quite vulnerable to the roadway yet again.
Now honestly, I must admit that I've never forgiven VW for putting the engine in the wrong end of their cars in the 1970s, but I have owned or driven a couple of front-engine VWs that didn't completely suck. The '03 turbo-diesel Golf is a serviceable and practical family car. The '81 Scirocco was a five alarm circus when its electrics or fuel injection weren't playing up. The fuel economy of any VW diesel is fantastic. But I reserve a particular and bilious dislike for the entire New Beetle range. What it is, is a Beetle for people who can't drive old cars. Ooooh, you want a heater? You want acceleration at the higher end of the gear range? You want cupholders? You don't want a G.D. Beetle, then.
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Post by Wyvern on Jan 5, 2013 19:31:49 GMT
What it is, is a Beetle for people who can't drive old cars. Ooooh, you want a heater? You want acceleration at the higher end of the gear range? You want cupholders? You don't want a G.D. Beetle, then. That's actually a really good point. As someone who used to drive an old car, until it broke down and the recession stopped me from fixing it (my poor Triumph Herald is sitting on the drive forlornly hoping that someone will rescue him), and while the heater has been a bit of a bane (it used to work all the time, which was annoying in the summer even with the roof down, and then I forced it off and now it doesn't work at all), I never thought about radio, cupholders, electric windows, power steering or any other mod cons. It was built in 1967, so I don't expect those things, but I suppose there are people who'd like the idea of an old car like that with the mod cons. What a bunch of philistines. They're another reason to hate the New Beetle. But not the new Fiat 500 though, because that's absolutely brilliant to drive... |
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Post by flatin5th - Knight of the NC on Jan 5, 2013 21:22:40 GMT
ah - the two-year-old new Beetle! I did wonder!
And, since then, I have driven a 500 Arbarth, and was terribly disappointed with the performance and driving comfort/position. I had expected it to be cramped, so I wasn't disappointed when it was!
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Post by Wyvern on Jan 5, 2013 21:50:19 GMT
Ah, that is a pity. Of course, I am only 5'2", which probably helps in a 500, but also, I drove the Twinair, which is a fabulous, spirited little engine (far less economical than they say it is, bit that's actually not a drawback given that everything I've tried with an eco engine that has come close to the test figures has been downright dreary) and really suits the car. Possibly one of the most enjoyable cars I've ever driven, after my all-time favourite (Lotus Elise).
Mind you, my favourites list might change a bit next month. I'm going off-roading in a Hummer...
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Post by amie8 on Jan 5, 2013 23:28:49 GMT
I've owned two Beetles, one built 1963 and the other in 1966. My first and third cars. (In between, I owned a Vauxhall Viva estate, which years of therapy has enabled me to blot out of my mind.) They were built like tanks, had no road holding properties whatsoever, and yes, the electrics were abominable. But I learned more about the ins and outs of driving and the anatomy of the internal combustion engine in those two cars than with any other vehicle I've owned (many). And they saved my life - twice - just through the robustness of their construction.
When I started driving, we were lucky to be able to afford something with four working gear ratios and a whole floor. Heaters, aircon, cup holders and even radios were still in the future. When the seat rake failed, I just filled the back floor well with boxes to stop it sliding back every time I braked. When the heater failed (because the vent cover corroded shut), I went out with a sleeping bag (not the first to try that, James May) and a hot water bottle. When the throttle jammed open, I could run round the back at the traffic lights and unstick it with a knitting needle.
They started first time, every time, provided I hadn't flattened the 6v battery and, even if I had, I was the pro-celebrity all-comers champion bump-starter - could fire the engine within about three feet in reverse gear. I don't care that they had their roots in the Third Reich, or that they are Top Gear's least favourite car. I loved my Beetles.
I'm not saying I wasn't glad to get rid of them, though and I had no interest whatsoever in the revived version.
(Edit: which is a huge bit of hypocrisy, because I drive a new-style Mini. However, in my defence, I hated the old Mini)
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rx7
Smutty Mayhemer
Novice Mayhemer
Posts: 336
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Post by rx7 on Feb 6, 2013 0:34:42 GMT
The new new Beetle... my GAWD the suspension was awful! It handled well but it was so uncomfy! I felt every bump in the road and my back hurt when I got out of the car.
It was just not up to par in my opinion. Nobody likes the red and black interior anyway.
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