Beetle ownership, One Month Report

"Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle" (1500sand535)
09/08/2017 at 00:13 • Filed to: None

A lowered Beetle for your time(not mine but relevant):

It’s been about a month since I picked up my 2012 VW Beetle Turbo. I’ve been really happy. I don’t drive a ton. It is 3 miles to my daughter’s day care in the morning and then 2 miles to the train station from there and 4 miles home in the evening, and I’ve driven it on the weekend a couple of times for some longer drives out of town. Quick recap, the 2012 turbo beetle has a 2.0T and 6 speed manual, I got mine CPO from VW for a very nice price because manual beetle and dieselgate. In my best Demuro voice, “bumper to bumper warranty”.

What is likeable: (1) all the driving experience stuff is pretty dialed, it is quick, has a nice transmission, and the steering is pretty good(see below about suspension) (2) interior is a good place to be, seating position is nice, not too upright or too low, and my daughter can sit behind me and her feet don’t touch my seat (3) hatch has decent space, 15 cubic feet means family overnights are no problem (4) my three year old really likes it and can climb into the back pretty much on her own.

What is not likeable (1) the suspension is too soft for its quickness, when you put your foot in it from a stop, the car rocks back too much. And I’m torn about the suspension because even though it’s soft, it’s also comfortable. Beetles ride high, 5.7 inches to be exact but that in and of itself doesn’t bother me. I’d like something a little firmer I think and if firmer means going lower and it looks a little better, I’d be open to that trade off because even at 20-30mm lower, it’d still be a reasonable height.

What’s undetermined: (1) gas mileage, I think I get about 18 around town and 30-32 on the highway; I feel like I should get better mileage around town but highway seems more than adequate; (2) a roof rack would be nice but frameless doors complicate things (3) 18 inch, heavyish wheels, they look nice though...

I’m hoping to snap some more pictures this weekend and get in just a nice relaxing hard drive in it. Have a Good Friday Oppo.

DISCUSSION (5)

I have another burner, try to guess it! > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
09/08/2017 at 00:22

Nice! I’ve always had a soft spot for these although I’ve never done a whole lot of research on them.

Apart from styling, interior, etc. What are the biggest differences between this and a Golf?

Also I’d recommend just doing shocks first. Granted, it won’t help body roll, but should firm up the suspension a tad and be much cheaper lol.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > I have another burner, try to guess it!
09/08/2017 at 00:29

Thanks. The 2012-present Turbo Beetle is built on the mk 6 GTI platform with the same 2.0T and 6 speed. But it’s got the softer suspension, the engine(and dsg if you have one) is slightly detuned by 10hp, and it has a little bit smaller rear seat.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > I have another burner, try to guess it!
09/08/2017 at 00:34

The other big difference between this and a golf is price, particularly on manual cars. When new, the Beetle is more expensive but used they tend to be cheaper, particularly with a manual(I’m guessing golf buyers are more likely to want a manual). The closest golf/gti I found in price with a manual was a 2012 2 door 2.5 golf with 10,000 more miles. The closest GTI with comparable miles and year but no CPO warranty was $3,000 more than this.

I have another burner, try to guess it! > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
09/08/2017 at 00:34

Wait, there’s a difference between the GTI and regular golf platforms?

I’m not familiar with V dubs as you can tell :)

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > I have another burner, try to guess it!
09/08/2017 at 08:58

No, platforms are the same, some of the golfs(tdi and euro wagons) had a torsion beam whereas the gti had multilink,which is what the turbo beetle got whereas lower beetles had the torsion beam.