First Drive Review
No matter that we'd rather drive Golfs, there’s no question that America loves its Beetles. The Beetle coupe introduced a year ago has contributed 24,000 units year to date to the U.S. sales juggernaut that is VW, now concluding its best sales year since 1973. The Beetle’s contribution was incremental relative to the sales of the Jetta and Passat, but this new folding-top edition should add 25 to 30 percent. Beetle convertibles are now shipping from the factory in Puebla, Mexico, going on sale just in time to stick a red bow on top and call it a gift. We sampled all the variations—three engines, three transmissions—in brief drives around Santa Monica and Malibu, the day before the official unveiling at the Los Angeles auto show, where the focus was on three special editions celebrating the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s.
Fortunately, More Than a Nostalgia Fest
Once we got past the caricature of its shape, thankfully less Pixar-esque than the one they gave us 10 years ago, the Beetle convertible makes a pleasant top-down cruiser. Credit hardware shared with VW’s more involving driver’s cars, plus clever engineering of the convertible’s elements. Models, trims, and equipment offerings parallel those of the Beetle coupe at prices roughly $3500 to $5000 higher.
Enthusiasts will focus on the Turbo with the 200-hp, 2.0-liter FSI turbocharged direct-injection four producing 207 lb-ft of torque. More newsworthy is that this is the first convertible sold in America in distant glowing memory to offer a diesel. It’s the same 2.0-liter found in the Jetta TDI, good for 140 hp and a stout 263 lb-ft of torque, coupled to a six-speed manual or VW’s six-speed DSG automatic. It’s EPA-rated at 29 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway with the manual, and we saw a 44-mpg average on the dashboard for the short run from Malibu to Santa Monica. The convertible isn’t available as one of the cutesy, decade-badged special editions—guess you can’t get nostalgic about what hasn’t happened before.
Something that has happened before is that the base drivetrain is VW’s 170-hp, 2.5-liter five-cylinder, offered only with a six-speed automatic, not the dual-clutch DSG, at a starting price of $25,790. Options like navigation, the Fender premium sound system, and bigger 18-inch wheels can bump the 2.5 model’s price over $29,000. The Turbo convertible starts at $28,590 and the TDI ragtop at $28,690, both with a six-speed manual. With premium sound and navigation, the price goes to $29,290 for the 2.5, $29,990 for the TDI, and $32,990 for the Turbo (it also includes some extras such as leather trim and Sport seats). Add $1100 for the six-speed DSG in the Turbo and TDI models.
Performance will suffer a 10th or two compared with the coupe, primarily due to weight gain. For the fixed-roof cars we have previously tested, a 2.5-liter with the six-speed automatic got to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds, a TDI with the six-speed manual took 8.1 seconds, and a Turbo with the six-speed DSG charged through at 6.3.
