It is not easy redesigning an icon. But that's what Volkswagen has now done to its Beetle—twice. The new squashed proportions of this latest version are both truer to the original form, more practical, and arguably more masculine. But does that make this latest Beetle a better car?
The test model we bought is a bright red base model, with VW's 170-hp, 2.5-liter inline, five-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual transmission. In other VW models, we found this engine to be underwhelming and its fuel economy mediocre. At least here the five-cylinder engine delivers punchy low- to mid-range torque and the sound isn't objectionable.
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