In defense of the Beetle Dune

"BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather" (bugeyedacura) 11/19/2015 at 15:33 • Filed to: None

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So the Dune concept has become real. It’s a thing now. A purchasable item. And I love it. Lets explore that emotion:

First, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way. Its not a Baja. It will never, in its current state, be a Baja. VW would have had to equip it with 4Motion for that. What the Dune is though is a competent street driver that can still be driven down a light gravel road or through a rough country trail to that haunted house that the GTIs dare not go.

It’s what the Beetle always is these days: the member of the family with personality. The Tiguan is a decently capable ride, but it’s in no way an off-roader either. But it’s not a street car either. The Dune is kind of in the same boat, but it manages to bring a smile to your face while it straddles those worlds. Here’s the best part though, three modifications could make this a decently capable offroader:

- a Limited-Slip Differential. Yes, 4Motion would be awesome. And it is possible (APR did it for their Super Beetle). But it would be wickedly costly. Unless you’re actually rock climbing, FWD+LSD is more than you really need. Its probably what will end up in my R-Line.

-Bigger tires. On my R-Line with its lower ride height, I could still fit some meaty tires on my 18s. Probably the best part of those big ass fenders. That extra half inch of lift on the Dune? All the better. If you wanted to go 17s, that would be a good combo too to get you some extra rubber. What’s good about big tires? They increase your lift. See where this is going? Up.

- Underbody shield. I’m not sure if the Dune is coming with a legit panel on the bottom to protect the greasy bits, but if not there’s no shortage of companies that sell one. The usefulness is pretty self explanatory.

Oh and eventually most of these things will probably happen to mine, if not all of them. I would imagine these mods would make a Dune more capable than any of the other car-based crossovers out there for sale now. Even the AWD ones.

Milky > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 11/19/2015 at 15:45

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“competent street driver” aka not an off-roader

Lists things that would make it better off road

If its not going to be good off road, why half ass it? If anything stance the thing, makes about as much sense.

Probenja > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 11/19/2015 at 16:01

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I don’t like it, reminds me of the “cross” variations of cars all over europe and latin america, such as the crossfox:

If I wanted something to go off road i would need 4wd. Some black and silver plastic panels won’t do much.

Berang > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 11/19/2015 at 16:19

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It’s a weird package. No doubt it could be turned into a car that could tackle trails, but so could the standard beetle. It’s hard to figure out what it exists for, except maybe to appeal to somebody who just likes the way the stickers look.

But on the other hand, there are so many SUVs out there that never touch dirt or gravel that maybe VW knows exactly what they’re doing.

and 100 more > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 11/19/2015 at 16:23

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>drive a Jeep Patriot since 2011

>actually has a bit of off-road ability

>needs help, tho

>patiently waits for aftermarket options

>2016 approaches, we have two lift kits available, basically nothing else

>VW Beetle w/out any hint of 4wd and less than a half-inch of lift appears

>I hear rumbles on the horizon, as of a thousand SEMA variants headed this way...

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Milky 11/19/2015 at 19:42

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Because a car that is purely for off-road can’t be driven enjoyably on the street. Which means that unless you live a hundred miles back in the woods, most of your drive will suck.

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Probenja 11/19/2015 at 19:45

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Why do you need 4WD to off road? Do you rock crawl or get your car stuck in massive ditches? If the answer to both of those is no, you don’t need 4WD.

Milky > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 11/19/2015 at 21:17

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I mean pretty much anything with awd would be better off road then a bug with a lsd and skid pates .... And wouldn’t be “purely for off road”.

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Milky 11/19/2015 at 21:33

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Isn’t this the website that says that RWD with the right tiers is better than AWD with all seasons? Can’t help but see some hypocrisy here...

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 11/20/2015 at 00:37

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VW dune. For when u want people to think you go off pavement but really are no better than a bro truck

Milky > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 11/20/2015 at 09:28

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What? Snow tires work better in snow, and AWD is better than 2wd off road. How is it an one or the other situation?

Sure, a bug with a LSD will pretty much have the same number of driven wheels when things get slick compared to something like an awd CRV. Or comparable shitty awd vehicle with open diffs. But any subaru, jeep, audi etc. would walk all over it off road .... or on an icy hill.

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Milky 11/20/2015 at 14:40

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I mean technically an AWD vehicle with snow tires would be the best combo, but the point is you can still use your RWD vehicle when it’s not the best equipped for the task at hand. Same situation as here.

jkm7680 > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 02/14/2016 at 10:59

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Where’d ya go man? I miss seeing you around here!