New VW Beetle Turbo

[cali yaris]

I've always had mixed feelings about the new bugs. It just seems like something I'd give my wife to drive. Yeah, I know -- that's coming from a Yaris owner.

And this:

No. 1 is dynamics. While the turbo Beetle swaps the low-rent rear torsion beam of its plebe siblings for a multilink setup—and our car had the sportiest available tune, a no-cost option—it nevertheless feels uncoordinated when driven hard. There’s more initial understeer here than in a GTI. And broken pavement brings brief impressions that the back might come around, as well as a mild oscillating wobble, traits that trail braking amplifies. This Beetle rides smoothly and comfortably, yes, but it’s too soft to deliver the planted feel of the GTI. There’s pronounced acceleration squat, too. A softer and presumably squat-ier “comfort” suspension should be available as you read this.

No. 2 is the DSG gearbox, so good elsewhere but saddled here with a wider spread between its ratios and efficiency-at-all-costs upshift programming. The Beetle’s ’box *single-mindedly hunts out higher gears, and shifts are slurred even in sport mode. We longed for the manual.