Eighty years. Yup, that’s how long the VW Beetle has been around. It’s one of the most iconic cars in automotive history – recognised and loved by many for its distinct shape, which really hasn’t changed much in eight decades, and rich heritage.
This year, the Beetle celebrates its 80th birthday, and Volkswagen Malaysia (VPCM) is celebrating with a nationwide dealer celebration and everyone is invited. The nationwide birthday celebration will take place on the 17th of March, Saturday at all authorized Volkswagen dealers from 11am till 5pm.
Visitors at the party will be able to test drive the Beetle Sport 1.2TSI (above & below)and enjoy fun themed activities and refreshments for the whole family. Those who take part in the test drive will also stand a chance to win a lucky draw price of a LEGO Creator Expert Volkswagen Beetle at the dealership. Check out our review of the Beetle Sport here.
The Beetle Sport is priced from RM147,888 and is available in a variety of colours that will delight owners – Bottle Green (above), Pure White, Tornado Red, Blue Silk, Dark Bronze and Habanero Orange.
The Beetle comes with paddle shifters, cruise control, 2-zone Climatronic air-conditioning system, 6.5” Composition media with touch screen display with App-Connect, leather trim “Vienna” seats with front seat lumbar support, bi-xenon headlamps and LED daytime running lights.
A 1.2-litre turbocharged TSI engine with an output of 105PS with a maximum torque of 175Nm under the hood mated to 7-speed DSG automatic transmission ensures an exhilarating ride with every drive.
Customers can enjoy a rebate of RM5,000 for a Beetle, as well as cash rebates of up to RM15,000 on other Volkswagen models. All Volkswagen models registered from the 1st of January 2018 also come with a 3-year (or 45,000km, whichever comes first) free maintenance package.
You know the hard part about this job is not doing it, because with practice it becomes almost second nature. We’re not born to do this job though, nobody is, it all stems from passion for anything and everything automotive, short of a ride-on lawnmower. But I’d have a go at that too if given the chance…
No, the hard part of this job is returning the review cars that we reeeeeally liked. In fact some of us motoring scribes have even gone as far as to buy the cars we liked reviewing so much; yes, it happens more often than you’d imagine. The Mazda3 hatch was one such car, I think there were at least 4 who bought this car after reviewing it for their respective publications / websites. For me it’s only happened once in my career, with the Proton Satria GTI.
Well in that respect then, so is this, the VW Beetle Sport 1.2 TSI. Now anyone who knows me, knows very well that I’m more into retro, classic and old-school type cars as a personal choice, seeing as how my daily-runner is a car that’s older than 80% of you reading this, and comes from a time when this laptop I’m hacking away on didn’t even exist yet. Heck, websites didn’t exist yet. And the thing is, I’ve never been into Beetles. Ever. The Beatles yes, but Beetles, no.
I won’t deny though, that the allure and appeal of the Beetle, now spanning 80 years (yes, eighty!) has never really waned. From the early models (above) to this latest one, there have always been followers for this most iconic of cars.
So iconic that in the span of eight decades, its external design (above) hasn’t really evolved that much, except maybe to become more streamlined, sophisticated, sporty and pedestrian friendly. Oh, and metallic paint of course. Also, I doubt this new one floats…
It still sports ’round-eyes’ and almost comically exaggerated wheel-arches, just like the original, and even pays homage to the latter on the inside, where the whole dashboard is colour coded to the exterior. Even the additional glove-box (below) is a direct copy of the one found in the classic Beetle. Epic.
It’s kinda hard to not like something as cool as this. But the similarities with its forefather pretty much end there, because under this new Beetle’s hood is an engine, and the boot this time is conventionally at the back. Speaking of engines, the Beetle Sport is powered by a 1.2-litre turbocharged (TSI) 4-cyl engine capable of 105Ps and 175Nm of torque, mated to a 7-speed DSG with paddle-shifts.
Earth-shattering figures these aren’t, and well, maybe they’re not supposed to be, since this isn’t a Beetle RSI, remember that? Let’s sidetrack: Behold the maddest production Beetle ever….
The VW Beetle RSI was limited to only 250 units, and since it was a special edition of the vehicle, the Beetle RSI came with a 3.2 liter, 24-valve V6 engine which could produce 220bhp at 6200 rpm. (Photo & Text from AutoEvolution)
This Beetle Sport though has nowhere near that kind of oomph, but in all fairness, it shouldn’t anyway. There’s a bit of turbo-lag during initial acceleration, but once that turbine spools up, this little fella becomes pretty sprightly. It cruises into triple-digit speeds fairly quickly if given the beans, and of course being a VW, chassis-rigidity and NVH are right up there with the best of them.
There isn’t much room in the back for passengers, especially with me at the wheel, but surprisingly, the boot is huge for a car in this class (see gallery). One big gripe I had though is the position of the seat-belt anchors. Because this car is a 2-door, you’ll notice that the B-pillars (below) are much further back than they would be in a 4-door car, so even at 6’2″ and my driving position, I was having a hard time reaching back for the seat belt, located on the aforementioned B-pillar. I can only imagine how difficult it would be for more petite drivers.
I use the word ‘petite’ because throughout my time with the Beetle Sport, it only seemed to be the fairer-sex who were taking an active interest in checking out the car. Unless of course it was me they were checking out… no, I don’t think so. Really.
Another issue I had with the Beetle was the ridiculously large rear blind-spot created by the huge C-pillar (above & below). It looks great styling-wise, affording the Beetle a chunky swept-back coupe-ish look, but from the inside, I nearly reversed into a fork-lift which managed to hide perfectly in the said gargantuan blind-spot. So yeah, craning your neck to have a look-around before reversing is a must, and thankfully the Beetle Sport does have parking/proximity sensors to assist.
These are minor gripes though, because when it comes to actual driving, the Beetle Sport is every bit as fun as the original promised to be so many decades ago. It feels light and agile, spirited even. It feels like it wants to take the longer route, and because it’s so much fun to pootle around in, you will find yourself indeed taking that longer route to get somewhere, just so you can drive this thing more.
The Beetle Sport warrants me to use a term I coined a while ago, when it came to describing the Mazda MX-5. I called it a ‘happy car’. Weird right? But that’s what it was. It was the kind of car that makes you happy to drive, the kind of car that makes you want to drive it just for the hell of it. That’s exactly what this Beetle Sport does too. It even makes you feel happy just walking up to it…
Priced at RM147,888 (NSP) it’s by no means cheap, but then again, what price can you really put on something that makes you happy just seeing it parked in your porch? Heck, if this thing was a convertible, it would be perfect. – Chris Wee.
If you are looking to buy a new vehicle to surprise the folks this festive season, Volkswagen Malaysia has you covered. For a limited period, the automaker is offering a number of its models with incredibly low repayment schemes. As such, you are now able to own a VW for just RM25 per day, but you will require to tabulate daily payments to know what the exact figure for monthly payments.
During this festive campaign period, customers can enjoy cash rebates and savings mentioned earlier for the Polo, Vento, Jetta, Golf, Passat Comfortline, Passat Trendline and Tiguan Comfortline. The Polo and Vento are available for RM25 per day which equates to roughly RM700 a month. At these prices, you are saving RM7,000 on the Polo and RM11,000 on the Vento models.
The Jetta is priced at RM35 per day with a savings of RM10,000, Golf is RM45 per day with RM21,000 savings, Passat Comfortline and Trednline are at RM51 per day with a savings of RM15,000 and finally the Tiguan Comfortline is priced at RM51 per day with a savings of RM5,000.
All repayment schemes mentioned earlier are calculated based on a 9-year loan/installment plan. So, for the full details, it would be prudent to speak with a VW sales consultant before making a decision.
For customers to be eligible of this deal, vehicle bookings need to be made within the promotion period and is subjected to VW’s terms and conditions as well as stock availability. If you are interested to learn more about these deals, visit the automaker’s Malaysia website at www.volkswagen.com.my.
If you are one of those car buyers who considers unique number plates as an extension of your car’s personality and to a certain extent even your own, well this news should intrigue you. Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan Malaysia (JPJ) has introduced vehicle registration numbers beginning with “VW” for cars registered in Wilayah Persekutuan. This would be good news for those considering a Volkswagen as their next purchase. Such a number plate would not only stand out and be considered unique, but could prove to be a valuable investment.
Unique number plates are a sought after item these days. Many a car buyer, superstitious or not, pay top dollar for vehicle registration numbers such as these. Even if you aren’t into that type of thing, a VW series number plate for your VW should fit very nicely.
As a mean to allure potential car buyers even further, Volkswagen have announced that they are still conducting their trade-in programme for the Jetta and Passat until the 31st of March 2017. The programme allows you to trade in your VW and purchase a new one at a lower cost than usual. Apart from that, the automaker is also offering a limited early bird discounts until the 31st of April for the all-new Tiguan which will be launched soon. The small and cheerful Polo is also being offered at RM69,888 for a limited time and so are a number of other VW models.
So, if you are in the market for a new VW and reside in KL, you should be in for a real treat because it will be sometime until such a unique sequence of alphabets come along again in the near future.
Same cheerful hatchback, but at a more afforable price
Volkswagen Cars Malaysia has seen it fit to drop the price of their stalwart hatchback to an acceptable RM69,888 for a limited time. Owners only need to pay RM737 as their monthly loan repayment, however, it’s best to visit your nearest VW dealer to know exactly how the repayment scheme actually works.
What you are getting for your money, is the same cheerful Polo we see zipping around our city streets. It’s powered by the same 1.6-litre 16-valve Multi Point Injection (MPI) engine that puts out 103bhp and 153Nm of torque. This powerplant is paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic. VW say that when driven sensibly, the Polo should be able to to achieve a fuel consumption figure of just 6.3 litres per 100km.
Despite the reduced price, VW didn’t skimp on equipment, the Polo is fitted the the new RCD 330G head unit that offers a number of connectiviy options well as the multimedia ones which include a CD player (WMA/MP3), USB and iPod connectivity, AUX-IN support, SD card slot and Bluetooth with MirrorLink connectivity.
If you are interested to know more about the Polo, visit the VW Malaysia website at www.volkswagen.com.my or visit your nearest VW dealership.
