The 21st Century Beetle from Volkswagen

It became an iconic phenomenon since its first made in the 1930's and it garnered tons of nicknames such as Kafer, Fusca, Bug, Buba, Kabuto-mushi, or Pendong, This car made it as part of pop culture as Herbie or the original Bumblebee from the old Transformers cartoons. It even spawned its own version for the younger generation in 1997 as the New Beetle. Now, the arrival of the 21st Century Beetle truly shocked the world that the bug is back to stand out the crowd. This "new" generation Volkswagen Beetle is no longer your grandparents' Beetle of yesteryears and now, this new bug's ready to go to work.

2012 Volkswagen The Beetle

2012 Volkswagen The Beetle

The exterior design of the 21st Century Beetle looks scrumptious, juicy, tender, crispy, and more like a Porsche 911 Carrera. Once you look at the outside of the 21st Century Beetle's exterior, you can't resist its temptation of its cool beauty. That cool beauty comes from its cue design that is somewhat inspired from the 2005 Volkswagen Ragster Concept car and it uses the PQ35 platform lifted from the Volkswagen Jetta. With this platform, the 21st Century Beetle is now longer than the previous "New Beetle" because of the 4,278mm length.

2012 Volkswagen The Beetle interior

The previous New Beetle's interior looks somewhat rubbish and I don't like the way how I feel inside. It's like watching daytime television or letting kids watching cartoons on Saturday evenings. Now, on the 21st Century Beetle's interior, it looks more like its ready for some Saturday Night Live! It packs pace, shows character, and above all else, it looks luxurious. The best part about the 21st Century Beetle's interior is the new Fender Sound System. You probably familiar about Fender as the brands behind the mega popular Jazz Bass and Mustang. Yes, you should be familiar that these guitars are popularized on the anime K-ON! About the Fender Sound System, it produces clear sound quality and it was so clear, we recommend listening to character songs of K-ON's Mio Akiyama and Azusa Nakano while driving the 21st Century Beetle at the Shutokou, Autobahn, or Route 66. I mean hey, this is the best time to sing "Don't Say Lazy" while taking a road trip with the 21st Century Beetle!

The 1.2L TSi engine equipped on The Beetle produces 105PS/5,000rpm of power output and 175Nm/1,550rpm of torque output. This helps the car reach 0-100kph in 10.9 seconds and achieving the top speed of 180kph. Meanwhile, the 2.0L TSi engine equipped on The Beetle produces 200PS/5,100rpm of power output and 280Nm/1,700rpm of torque output. This helps the car reach 0-100kph in 7.5 seconds and achieving the top speed of 223kph. On The Beetle 1.2L TSi variant, it is equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission but on The Beetle 2.0L TSi variant, it is mated with the 6-speed DSG transmission packed with Manual Mode. These engines were only the beginning because the 1.4L TSI, 1.6L TDi, and a 2.0L TDi engines will follow shortly.

The Beetle offers host of driving aids that help the driver navigate correctly and safely such as Bi-Xenon headlights, Electronic Stability Program, and ParkPilot for effective reverse parking.

Depending on the variant; Beetle, Design, and Sport, The 21st Century Beetle comes in 11 color variations such as Candy-Weiß, Denim Blue, Saturn Yellow, Schwarz, Tornadorot, Moon Rock Silver Metallic, Platinum Grey Metallic, Reef Blue Metallic, Reflexsilber Metallic, Toffeebraun Metallic, and Deep Black Perleffekt.

My comment:

No longer the old Beetle from your grandparents' ages, the 21st Century Beetle is now made to be more retro-futuristic because of its seductive looks, refined interior, Fender Sound System that yells "Don't Say Lazy" while driving, list of engines, and the sizing that made it obvious to have one if you had it with the previous model.

I'm impressed that this new model always stick to its global market availability we're hoping that the 21st Century Beetle will hit the Philippines soon and thanks to Ayala Group gearing up for Volkswagen's return to the Philippines, we might have a chance but let's be patient...

Photo: Volkswagen