The New Beetle

    It's a car that shows us what to expect in the next millenium. Its eye candy for the highway. No other car looks like it. Even the old Type 1 beetle is a far cry from looking similar. The new beetle is all about design. Its interior is standard VW with the exception for the "landing-platform" dashboard and the extreme rake of the A-pillar. Under its curvy exterior lies the Golf chassis. VW chose the Polo chassis for the original Concept beetles. The Golf platform has proved to be VW's asset. Carrying it over to Seat, Skoda, Audi, and the soon to be, Porsche SUV.

    The Beetle may ride on the Golf platform, but it doesn't feel like one. It has nearly perfect weight distribution and weighs considerably less than the Golf. The NB's fit and finish is identical to cars costing thousands more. Aftermarket products are plenty. Most everything that will fit the Golf with work on the NB. One of the best products out there are the Neuspeed suspension upgrades. Lowering the New Beetle is the top of the list for most owners. Some people say that it corners like it is top heavy. Which may be true because of the large amount of headroom.

    The NB doesn't carry over the "Peoples car" image of the first Beetle. It's more of a car for rich college students. (Our beloved President bought one for his daughter) It's a car that's more focused on style than price and reliability. It has a sticker price of $16,000 to prove that. Then there are the dealer markups of  $1,000 to an amazing $6000. People will do anything to buy these cars. Like selling their old cars, houses, children, etc. The New Beetle has accomplished something the old beetle never did: A very good crash test rating. Its rounded design helps distribute the forces of an impact. Its like being in an egg. Who knows, maybe Mercedes and BMW will catch on to this design.

     The new Beetle has a little luxury to it also. It can be ordered with leather interior, 16" rims, a CD changer, and more. In the months to come, VW will offer the 1.8 litre turbo NB. Its 140 hp should makeup for the sluggish 2.0 litre 112 hp standard in all Beetles and Golfs. The manual transmission model is more suited to the performance drivers. The automatic is very smooth and refined, good for those of us who eat and drive. Personally there is only one word that describes a New beetle: Cool.

    Many who are blessed enough to have this car and have the bottomless wallet to improve on its functionality have done so in many ways. The silver ABD New Beetle is the most impressive in design. With its DTM front spoiler, Porsche style rims, custom leather interior, all make this car kick butt. Ever see a Golf VR6? How about a VR6 New Beetle. Momentum Motorsport has created the VR6 powered NB. Its rated around 300 hp thanks to a Garrett T3/4 turbo. We will all see if VW has something with this car. Only time will tell if it survives 100,000 miles. But for most, we would be happy to have it no matter what. Happy Motoring!