VW Beetle v3 launched. Retro or rubbish?

solo · 21 Apr 2011, 02:20

hmmm.. okay.

I have a confession, I'm buying a 'people carrier', got family, got dog, got need for 7 seats.

I'm getting one of these.

301 Moved Permanently

(www.chrysler.com)

In my defense I do have an Infiniti (2009) M45 and a BMW 325 convertible (2004).

Krisidious · 21 Apr 2011, 03:05

I think the minivans have probably came a long way on safety. the remote doors are awesome. I have an expedition. seats 8... but gets like 17 or 18 mpg city and like 20 highway. I only drive like 20 miles a week if that. but when the Apocalypse gets here... I can drive over just about anything.

boofredlay · 21 Apr 2011, 03:25

Well my wife and I could not succumb to the minivan. We got this Mazda CX9 recently and love it.

Of course I still have my trusty truck.

Krisidious · 21 Apr 2011, 03:43

I had a southwest package 2002 Dodge work truck. the rims and tires were awesome. didn't like the drive selector and steering column. but it was a nice truck.

tfdesign · 21 Apr 2011, 07:21

@solo said:

I'm getting one of these.

Nice! That's the kind of thing I'd like. But the chances are that we'd wake one morning to find it gone!

tfdesign · 21 Apr 2011, 07:33

@krisidious said:

people keep bitching about oil... and how evil cars are. did you know that 16 super tankers put off as much CO2 as all the cars in the world?

How 16 ships create as much pollution as all the cars in the world

As 50 giant oil tankers lurk off the British coast, we reveal an even more scandalous threat to the global environment.

Mail Online (www.dailymail.co.uk)

I think you need to have to pass the "have I undergone a lobotomy?" test before seriously taking in the Daily Mail. A bit like the equally vacuous MOR Guardian newspaper. Melanie Phillips writes for the Mail. I know for a fact she's already had a lobotomy.

Rich O Brien · 21 Apr 2011, 08:15

"Buying a minivan is declaring to the world that your life is over"
- Jeremy Clarkson

tfdesign · 21 Apr 2011, 09:36

dacad · 21 Apr 2011, 10:46

@unknownuser said:

"Buying a minivan is declaring to the world that your life is over"
- Jeremy Clarkson

AHAHHAHA. Made my day (sorry Solo... hahaha)

Mike Lucey

I also like Juke. At first i didn't like it but it started to grow on me. The back resulted extremly well when you see it live, the front i just have doubts about the lighs on top. Then there's little details in design I reaaly like and think as a breath of fresh air in the automotive design, like in the interior the gear part is based on a motorcycle body (see the picture below).

About the new beetle, I think it's better than the previous speccialy in the interior (i couldn't seat in the back without my head touching the roof and it was too small inside for it's exterior size and i'm just 1.83m tall). The problem for VW, at least in Europe, is that beetle it's going to run against other small revival-design-premium-cars like Mini, Fiat 500, Alfa Romeo Mito, Citroen DS3 and even Nissan Juke, and the problem here (besides price) it that design wise any of them have more appeal (the interiors in the new beetle are even the same that other VW with a litle more shiny stuff), for me Alfa Romeo Mito speccially, but i'm a sucker for Italian design ). If you think about it, it's amazing how the VW manage to take away some of the charm in the beetle and make it a more "normal" car.

About the Macs beeing more to girls: the company i'm on right now has 9 computers for graphic work related stuff - 4 of them are Mac with 30 inch screen that the graphic designers use, and i'm on workstation with dual screen setup with 27 inch screen that can run laps around the macs but there's not one single day that i don't drool over this mac screens.
Besides the colour and contrast beein way better that this samsungs, that i honestly don't care when i look at them, right now i'm imagining how good they would look i'm my home because they really are a beauty. So if that's true i guess i may have something of girl on me...ha ha ha

Regards

David

boofredlay · 21 Apr 2011, 13:08

@unknownuser said:

About the Macs beeing more to girls: the company i'm on right now has 9 computers for graphic work related stuff - 4 of them are Mac with 30 inch screen that the graphic designers use, and i'm on workstation with dual screen setup with 27 inch screen that can run laps around the macs but there's not one single day that i don't drool over this mac screens.
Besides the colour and contrast beein way better that this samsungs, that i honestly don't care when i look at them, right now i'm imagining how good they would look i'm my home because they really are a beauty. So if that's true i guess i may have something of girl on me...ha ha ha

Regards

David

Why not grab one of those monitors and convert it for use on your PC

I think Mattias Adolfsson was reading our forum. Here is his daily sketch

marvins_dad · 21 Apr 2011, 14:40

Finally, a topic that I have a little insight into...
I'm a moderator over at NewBeetle.org - we have been waiting for the unveiling and speculating over spy photos for about the last year.
They stopped production last year (no 2011 model) - but they basically killed the New Beetle a couple years ago, only offering one engine...and not too many different trim packages.

I really like the new look. It is more masculine, which is what they were going for. They had a concept back in 2005-06 to introduce the changes to the body called the Ragster that had a low slung "chopped" roof. Ever since that came out I wanted to see what a chopped new beetle would look like. This is as close as I have seen.

Hell, the profile looks more like the original Beetle than the New Beetle. ncandrei at newbeetle.org put together this comparison to show the original/New Beetle and Beetle.

One major complaint has been the interior of the new beetle - the textures look great when new, but after a while they start to fall apart...cup holders don't work. The headroom was always a huge plus though. I know several 6-foot+ folks that drive New Beetles because they can't fit in other cars.

With the peppier engines that are going to be offered I could easily see folks flocking to the reboot. I have a TDI (diesel)- and they are supposed to be putting the clean 2.0 TDI into the beetle at some point.

I still want to see/drive it and wonder what the pricing is going to be as well as the engine options/trim and colors.

The New Beetle community is split, but I would say more like 75/25 that like the car to those that think that they wrecked the curves that the new beetle had with the reboot. I welcome it, hopefully it will help to boost the new beetle community in the long run - which has become lethargic in the past few years as the new beetle has become older and folks move on to other vehicles after having to deal with servicing a VW.

Anyhoo - can't wait to see one in the flesh - er, steel and plastic.

david_h · 21 Apr 2011, 15:23

call me a nostalgic old Fuddy but whether it's retro, or reboot, or update. . .

in my mind. . .there is no bug like the old bug. Truly a work of art

solo · 21 Apr 2011, 15:32

The next version will look like this:

marvins_dad · 21 Apr 2011, 15:42

I'd hit that! LOL

I spent last weekend with 350+ old beetles and vw's, they are definitely works of art. I do appreciate the modernization of current watercooled ones, especially in Texas in the summer...A/C!

david_h · 21 Apr 2011, 16:06

Oh yes. Im not that big of a phillistine. . AC is always good. But some people are willing to sacrifice a certain amount of comfort for class.