Surely that's Hugo's Beetle on the geek site, next to the A-Class outside the company offices?

I love pearlescent paint - had a Rover in pearlescent blue a couple of years back... the way it seemed to change colour in bright sunlight depending on what angle you were looking at it from was amazing

Geoff
---- -------
Got one of the first Mark 2 empegs...

Nothing, at the moment... any suggestions? ;)

Hugo

One of the first new Beetles I saw at a dealership had a pen in it. Much more effective at that then holding a flower. :)


#170... I got my order invite and I have ordered my 12 gig blue!!! YAAAAHHHHOOOOOOO

As far as I know the G60 is an engine they don't produce anymore. (like the Polo's G 40) They had to much problems with it. As you can remember it's been in some Corrados, too. Now their top-model is the 2.8 V6 with 204 HP. (used in the 4motion-Model)

TeeMcBee
Reg#948 - already ordered a Mk2.

Well - so it sounds better than it looks

TeeMcBee
Reg#948 - already ordered a Mk2.

You could mount a microphone there - as soon as VR becomes available

TeeMcBee
Reg#948 - already ordered a Mk2.

> The A Class looks really pedestrian parked next to it.

I'll remember to park my car next to the A Class then to make it look better. At least until Toby arrives... :)


--
Mike Crowe
I may not be speaking on behalf of empeg above :-)

The 1.8T engine is from what I've read pretty much on par with the 2.8 6 from everything I've heard. It turns out drivetrain losses in the 2.8, and a very efficient drivetrain in the 1.8 along with a good torque curve pretty much puts these two on par with each other in actual practice. That's why the 1.8 is being fitted into just about all the VW's in all their lines, and it's selling quite well as well..

Calvin

The Bug is a really great car, you just have to jump in one and haul ass around a few corners to know what I mean. :) I don't have one, but I almost bought one! ;)

Calvin

The old beetle was also incredibly unsafe. I've seen the crash test videos of the bug smashing into walls at all different angles and speeds and I'm quite impressed. I think the new beetle costs more than the old one inflation adjusted, but it's definitely worth it.

If only they made a VR6 4Motion beetle ragtop...

Calvin

An article I found.

http://www.beetlebuzz.com/features/safe.html

:)
Calvin

Regardless of safety, I wouldn't buy the new bug. It's the image it conveys. Nothing against you, mac.

Just wondering, what is a "foldable rearview mirror"?

About the article. They didn't really bring back the shape like he kept saying. The only shapes remaining from the old bug are in the wheel-wells and headlights. The new bug has a front-engine, cab-forward design that isn't shared by the old model.

Oh well, it doesn't matter. I'm not buying the old or new bug. I've already got a car that's probably safer than both.

DiGNAN
13653

I hope that a knowledgeable geography major from the far side of the Atlantic will point out that Bunker Hill is *not* in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Jim (of the Jamaica Plain Jims, summering for the past 12 years in Seattle)

I would imagine it is a rearview mirror that is capable of being folded.

Calvin "wise cracking tonight.. whoo whoo"

p.s. I would have to say that you're a fool to say the ONLY SHAPES IN COMMON between the old and new bugs are the headlights and wheel wells. the design vocabulary in common between the two cars is enormous and any person off the street can be pressed into identifying the huge similiarities in SHAPE between the two cars. (The position of the engine plays no role in the shape of the car.) Ha ha! nice try...

p.p.s. mac is the other guy ;)

p.p.p.s. safety is not big on my list of requirements on a car. that's why i feel ok driving a ragtop. vroom.

Oh, I don't know about the old beetle being unsafe... I had a 1972 Robin's Egg Blue Super Beetle (That's what my mom called it, when she gave it to me.)

I had a tie-rod snap at 55 on the interstate, and managed to dent all four fenders, the hood and the trunk as I rolled around the guard-rails.

Everyone who stopped asked me how I managed to get it to not roll over. My response was simple... "I just closed my eyes!"

I thought it was the greatest car when I had it, to the point that I bought another one to replace the mangled Blue one. Then I thought to check the frame, etc. and noticed it was cracked.

It was then that I "upgraded" to a chevette!

Anyways, it was a fun car when I had it, and free is always great, but in retrospect, it was a horrible car as far as handling, ride, etc. goes.

-Trevor

I know the general design is similar. The point is that I prefer the way the old one is designed. That part is a preference. And sorry, but the placement of the engine does affect the way it looks. In fact, it affects the one major gripe about the way it looks. The front end of the old bug was longer than the new because the engine was in the rear. Now that it's in the front, the car looks like a turtle, not a beetle.

And if safety isn't important to you, why'd you point it out?

by the way, I too thought the old ragtops looked pretty sweet. When are they making a convertable "new bug"?

DiGNAN
13653

I'm was just getting on your case with your comment on shape similarities. Obviously there are differences, for example, the lights that used to be on the wheel fenders in the old are integrated into the headlight assembly in the new. (So your comment about the headlights being the same isn't true ;). The point here is that any car design separated by decades will have design differences, but if it is intended to be the same model, then it should be easy to tell at a glance that they're related.

I pointed out safety because it was a quality that is different between the two bugs. I also pointed out handling, the shifter, the headroom, and other differences as well.


This is my car, by the way. :-) What you think? :>

Calvin

Ahh, very nice.

I can't tell from that picture, what's the year on that? I could tell from the back but not from the interior.

I actually own a '96. Sweet car, despite its own problems. I absolutely cannot believe that you were going to pick a new bug over it though. That's just nuts if you ask me.

DiGNAN
13653

I just have to appreciate cars that have qualities that are done right. The Bug is one of those cars, and is something that has to be truly driven to be appreciated. In a *Stock( condition comparison, the VW Bug has a much finer suspension, and shifter feel than my Spyder. The steering is equally responsive and tight, so essentially, from the driver's perspective the Bug is a Nice Car. It's also the closest approximation to an Audi TT you can get for that price. :)

Calvin

Okay, let's look at specs if you want to continue this nonsense:


spec.......eclipse......bug
HP.........205..........150
cylinders..6............4
liters.....3............1.8
MSRP.......20,187.......21,075


I just don't see what the big deal with this car is.

DiGNAN
13653

Edited by DiGNAN17 on 10/8/00 06:20 PM.

Consider the Miata. It's a 140 horsepower car, but the balance and handling is so fine it consistently ranks as one of the top ten cars year over year. The ability of a car to adjust its speedometer needle by standing on the gas pedal from a stoplight is not the measure of a car. Remember that! There's a lot to be said for example, about sitting down in a Miata and attempting to flip the thing over with turns. Or jumping in an S2000 and winding the engine to 10000 rpms and listening to the VTEC music. BTW: The S2000 (as well as its arch nemesis the Porsche Boxster) are also not cars known for jumping off the line at high speeds. Neither is the Bug and neither is the Audi TT for that matter. :*) Basically all I say here is you can't look at a balance sheet and conclude what the character of a car is. No way! Until you sit in these cars (including the bug :) and haul some ass around straights and corners what do your opinions mean?

Calvin

P.S. And I do appreciate being able to haul ass from a starting line and I think the Supra TT and Camaro SS are just roller coasters on wheels, awesome fun!

Ah, but D, you didn't count the bud vase!

See? Gotcha!

Eclipse=no bud vase.

Sorry, you lose.

___________
Tony Fabris

I understand what you are talking about. I'm not an idiot.

I happen to think that the eclipse takes turns better than any car I've ever driven. Escpecially when coming out of a turn. It zooms!

I understand what you are saying about "the feel of the car", but quite often, numbers like those are good starting points for a measure of how well a car performs overall. There is no way that I would prefer a 150 HP bug over my 210 HP turbo Eclipse. It's shaped better for performance than the bug, too.

As for the Miata, well, I had the choice of that over the Eclipse. Then I saw how pathetically small it was. It's completely impractical.

DiGNAN
13653

My Eclipse also has AWD, which doesn't appear to be available on the bug.

It also comes with a standard Infinity sound system w/tape and CD player.

DiGNAN
13653

OK, I promised myself I wouldn't get involved in this discussion, but... no willpower, I guess.

I just don't see what the big deal with this car is.

In a word: Nostalgia.

A lot of people remember the old VW Bugs with fondness (it's amazing how faded 30-year-old memories can be better than the way things actually were!) That old Bug was an icon for its time, and yes, while the New Bug doesn't look exactly the same as the Old Bug, it is so evocative of the Old Bug that recognition is instantaneous and universal.

As far as the qualities of the New Bug, it is a perfectly adequate, maybe a bit above average but certainly not an extraordinary car by today's standards. After all, it is just a VW Golf with funny looking sheet metal on it. (I say "just" a Golf, but a Golf in its own right is quite a good car.)

It's the nostalgia factor that elevates the New Bug to near-cult status. It's a good little car, fun to drive, and it is a passport to memories of what many people perceive as a better time.

tanstaafl



"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Hey! Stop slagging off all the cars I own!

I'm sure my miata would corner better than your eclipse - having had extensive suspension mods - though it wouldn't go as fast in a straight line (even though it's got a turbo, it's only very light pressure. It's only the nutters who have 240bhp at the wheels + nitrous in a miata...)

Hugo

It's only the nutters who have 240bhp at the wheels + nitrous in a miata...

And you don't think that somebody who builds a home-made MP3 player for his car and then spends the next three years refining it to sell to other people, and who surrounds himself with really strange people (i.e., Patrick who makes jet engines out of old turbochargers!) and who stays up all hours of the day and night answering purposeless e-mails and bbs posts like this one, qualifies?

I'll bet that Laura could point you in the direction of someone who could sell you a nitrous setup...

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

oh geez, sorry about that Hugo. I forgot you had a Miata too. I'm sorry!

What I meant to say is that it was too small for me. This was at the beginning of high school and I had 3 saxophones to carry around including a baritone. There was no way I was going to fit all that and a backpack into the Miata. That's what I meant.

And now that I think about it, yes, it should corner better than my car.


About the nostalgia, I don't think that's the reason most people buy it. Alot of the people buying it weren't even driving yet when it had its first time around. People now buy it because it's different and/or cute, and instead of buying a cute Neon (which is not as good a ride), or a more ordinary Golf (which is basically what the bug is), they go for a distinctively retro look. And seeking a retro look is different than nostalgia.

In a way, it's just like the PT Cruiser, which I was looking into getting but didn't because it was, again, too small for my needs (though not quite as small as the Miata). People buy the PT because it's super-retro.

In other words, I shouldn't have said I didn't see why it was so popular, I should have asked why this guy still thought it was a better car than the one he bought. But I really don't care anyway, so what does it matter?


Again, Hugo, sorry about that. What started out as just a statement that I liked the old bugs better than the new ones somehow got twisted into "I hate all cars you own"

DiGNAN
13653

I was only joking - but I love my miata & my bug.

One thing that has impressed me with the beetle is how well built it is. Ok, so it uses some oil (which is a shock having had the miata for 10 years and 91k miles with it *never* using a drop of oil between services), but the quality of the plastics and the design of the interior are wonderful.

I love curvy cars, they're so much nicer to wash than boxy ones :)

Hugo