2007 Volkswagen New Beetle

Review

The retro-inspired Volkswagen Beetle is one bug that has braved the ages.From its American debut in 1949 to its renaissance in 1998, the German auto manufacturer’s ever-so-popular and ever-so-cute two-door continues to swarm the streets.

Over the past few decades, the bug has undergone a few modifications to assure its modern appeal and compliance to elevated safety and emissions standards. The 2007 New Beetle is essentially a carryover from the 2006 model year, continuing to sport the latest exterior upgrades. The revamped front and rear fascias, as well as headlights and taillights, give the Beetle that extra edge that keeps it looking fresh. Specifically for the 2007 model year, two new exterior colors have been added to the lineup including a revised Black and Laser Blue. Furthermore, VW has upgraded the finish on the 16-inch alloy wheels and tweaked the stitching on the leatherette seats.

Despite the different stages of metamorphosis, the New Beetle continuesto stay true to its original styling, incorporating a similar exoskeleton -- the bubble-shaped roof -- which makes it immediately recognizable from miles away.

Driving the Beetle was a fun-tastic experience! Notwithstanding its oh-so-cute looks, I can honestly say that I wasn’t expecting much, period. It sounds harsh, but it’s true. Yes, I’ve driven the Beetle convertibles and liked them other than their troublesome tonneau covers, but wasn’t anticipating liking its hardtop counterpart just as much, if not even more. Besides, how can you beat a droptop? So, after spending a week behind the wheel, putting on a fair share of mileage, and growing to appreciate its bubbly personality, my opinion stands corrected.

At first glace, the Bug is a psychedelic carto look at. Its retro styling compares to nothing else on the road, and in my opinion is very cutesy. But don’t be fooled by its charming good looks, it’s a pretty mean ride! By ‘mean’ I mean feisty and attentive. What stood out the most to me, and what I thought was its most favorable asset was its ride quality. I was pretty impressed.

The New Beetle is built on the old VW Golf front-engine, front-wheel drive platform, giving it a firm, but agile front independent and rear semi-independent suspension. The ride is a nice balance of stiff meets soft. It was cushy enough to drive around town without feeling all the roads imperfections, but stiff enough to take tight turns with ease and travel at highway speeds in control. The power assisted rack-and-pinion steering combined with a 3-spoke padded steering wheel to further add to the uncomplicated controllability of the car.

Speaking of city and highway driving, as usual I put my fair share of cityclicks on the Bug. But, as luck would have it I was able to take the Sunflower Yellow Beetle on a mini day trip. This doesn’t happen as often as I would like, but I’ll take it when and where I can. I loaded up the front seat with my boyfriend Dave, a pack of Jelly Bellys, some Trivial Pursuit cards (not the entire game because that would be virtually impossible to play while behind the wheel), and some quality music; our road trip necessities. Being in the car for over 3 hours straight, having dinner at our destination point, and heading home was great fun. Not only because the company was good, but also because of the car in question. It was very stable at highway speeds, more so than I expected and had enough power to pass when needed. Plus, when we were testing each other’s Trivial Pursuit knowledge and the passenger-side light was on, it didn’t distract me while behind the wheel.

The leatherette seating surfaces proved to be supportive yet comfortable at the same time. And I loved the standard 5-level heated seats because they kept me so warm on the long, cold winter nights. Furthermore, Dave, being 6’3”, found the cabin to be more than roomy enough for his XXL size, especially because of the arched roof. Had he been in the rear seat, mind you, this would have been a different story.

Performance wise, the 2007 Beetle comes with a new 2.5L, inline-5 cylinder,20-valve, DOHC engine producing 150 horsepower at 5,000 rpm and 170 lb-ft of torque at 3,750 rpm. The engine replaces the old 2.0-liter inline-4, bringing an extra 35 horsepower under the hood. It delivers sufficient power, whether crawling the city streets or buzzing along on the highway. And with a 0-60 mph time of about 9.0 seconds, it moves off the line at a decent, yet hardly exhilarating pace. The low-end torque, however, helps with immediate acceleration, making it initially feel faster than it really is. On the deceleration side, it comes with ABS-enhanced 4-wheel disc brakes and a good set of P205/55 R16 H, all season tires with the optional 16” alloy wheels.

My temporary Bug came with the optional 6-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic manual mode, which was ideal for all the city driving I do. Furthermore, along with the standard cruise control it’s great for long highway stretches. The automatic transmission also comes with an “S” mode, or sport mode (not to be confused with the Tiptronic mode since you are not ‘manually’ shifting gears) which allows the engine to rev a little higher for a sportier feel. Throughout most of my test period, I had the transmission in the sport mode as I liked its responsiveness.

Even with the automatic transmission and the upgraded engine, the NewBeetle still manages to eke out decent fuel economy, using an estimated 22 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway. In my experience, I find that most VWs get great fuel economy when highway driving. I filled up just before our excursion, and managed to put over 300+miles on the trip meter and still had a quarter tank of gas left. Now, this fuel economy is nowhere near as good as a diesel, but unfortunately the New Beetle TDI has been discontinued because its diesel-fueled engine is not in compliance with new 2007 government emission standards. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for 2008!

Despite the essential, standard amenities like keyless entry, an AM/FM/CD player with MP3 capability, heated seats, air conditioning and much more, I still had a couple of quibbles. The few drawbacks that I encountered with the Beetle included the limited amount of cargo volume; it only has 300L available. Furthermore, any taller adults sitting in the rear experienced a little bit of discomfort because of the dome-shaped roof cutting into their headroom. The cabin was also a little loud while on the highway on our road trip. Perhaps the grooved pavement enhanced the noise, so that it was more noticeable than on other roads. Other than that, the Beetle proved to be a good, sturdy, fun-to-drive and oh-so cute car.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to spend a little one-on-one time with the 2007 Volkswagen New Beetle. It’s a great little car with a peppy engine and a great ride. Who knew bugs could be so much fun to play with?