Volkswagen New Beetle Turbo S 2002

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This Bug can fly.
Here's a question almost all automotive product planners face from time to time: If you can't alter the basic shape, how do you sustain interest in an established model?

There are two answers: Cut off the top, or boost engine output, and with the New Beetle embarked on its fifth year, VW is applying both tactics. A convertible version is due this fall as a 2003 model, and a new hot-rod version, the Turbo S, is available as you read this.

These updates, as well as a variety of small cosmetic tweaks, show that current VW management hasn't forgotten the lessons of the original Beetle, which the company stuck with almost to the point of ruin. Volkswagen made hundreds of small engineering updates to the original Beetle throughout its half-century life span, but all were subtle, and most were invisible. Although the latter-day Beetle faces the same fundamental challenge--a profile that is essentially immutable--it also affords more latitude for tangible adjustments.

Consider the Turbo S, for example. Tramp on the gas, and it's instantly apparent that you're managing considerably more muscle than in any previous U.S.-market Beetle, old or new. This isn't entirely a good thing. The ballsier New Beetle hustles from stoplight to stoplight with more authority, for sure, but applying full throttle in a lower gear requires careful attention at the helm, because torque steer is far more of an issue here than in any previous iteration of this car. That is not to say that the New Beetle Turbo S will supplant the Saab 9-3 Viggen as the poster car for this front-drive malady. But the new powertrain contributes far more to the steering than its predecessor, despite the mitigating effect of its electronic stabilization program, standard equipment with this model.


The power increase is no surprise. VW has boosted output of its 1.8-liter DOHC 20-valve turbocharged, intercooled four in all its applications--Passat, Jetta, GTI, and New Beetle--and the New Beetle is the last to benefit. Boosted is the correct term, too. The Turbo S's increase--180 horsepower and 173 pound-feet of torque versus the base 1.8T models' 150 horsepower and 162 pound-feet--is mostly due to more turbo boost: 11.6 psi versus 8.7.

Allied with a new six-speed manual transmission--the only gearbox available with this package--Volkswagen engineers expect the Turbo S to shave 0.8 second off the 1.8T model's 0-to-60-mph times. Doing the arithmetic relative to our long-term New Beetle 1.8T would put the S in the mid-six-second range, with a quarter-mile time in the low 15s.


Beyond its extra punch, the Turbo S includes just about every goody in the New Beetle inventory--power sunroof, Monsoon audio with a six-disc CD changer, leather seats, power windows and mirrors, keyless remote entry, stainless-steel foot-pedal cladding, and tasty aluminum trim touches inside. We particularly approve of the white-on-black instrument lighting, which replaces the previous neonesque red and blue. The design of the 7.0-by-17-inch alloy wheels is unique to this package, although the P225/45R-17 all-season tires and slightly stiffer spring and damping rates are also available on GLS and GLX New Beetles with the 1.8 turbo motor.

Another element common to these three models is a deployable spoiler, which resides just above the rear window. When the New Beetle made its debut, this device was programmed to pop up at 93 mph. This seemed a bit extreme to VW's U.S. marketing people, who finally got their colleagues in Germany to reduce deployment speed to make the spoiler visible in everyday traffic. But the compromise--40-mph deployment, 10-mph retraction--creates a problem. Deployments and retractions are audible, sounding like pieces falling off the car, and in urban traffic they're also frequent.

Clearly, VW should rethink this element of the New Beetle, but aside from that--and the vast plastic mesa of the upper dashboard, another limiting factor that's baked into the design--the Turbo S is an engagingly lively Bug, delivering enough juice to run with some of the taller dogs in this class for about the same money: $23,950. Whether guys--and guys are what VW is looking for here, since some 60 percent of New Beetle buyers have been women--will perceive the Turbo S as a legitimate alternative to cars such as the Acura RSX and Toyota Celica GT-S remains to be seen.
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 3-door sedan

BASE PRICE: $23,950

ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 20-valve 4-in-line, iron block and aluminum head, Bosch Motronic ME7.1 engine-control system with port fuel injection
Displacement: 109 cu in, 1781cc
Power (SAE net): 180 bhp @ 5500 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 173 lb-ft @ 1950 rpm


TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 98.7 in Length: 161.1 in Width: 67.9 in Height: 59.0 in
Curb weight: 3000 lb

C/D-ESTIMATED PERFORMANCE:
Zero to 60 mph: 6.5 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 17.9 sec
Standing 1/4-mile: 15.3 sec @ 94 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 131 mph

PROJECTED FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city driving: 23 mpg
EPA highway driving: 30 mpg
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/volkswagen-new-beetle-turbo-s-first-drive-review-specs-page-2

 
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