Month: June 2013

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Monday – Cabin Fever

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Jeremy Another sunshiny day – just wish the sunroof in the Beetle would open a little bit further! At least when it gets too hot there is an electric blind to keep the heat down in the cabin.

For anybody who remembers sitting in the rear of the last generation Beetle, this one does seem to have more leg and headroom, despite the lower roof line. You can also lower the two back seats for a bigger boot space.

The Beetle cabin is very lovely place to be. There’s a neat centre armrest that just seems to sit at the right height, lots of cubbyholes and a trendy, drop down glovebox that looks very retro indeed.

I’m off to London today – tomorrow’s report will reveal how well the VW copes with the hustle and bustle of the Kings Road….

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Saturday – Fender Bender

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Jeremy Remember when you were lucky to find even a radio in your new car? Then came tape machines, CDs and now we frown if a car doesn’t have an aux jack for an iPod – or offer a wireless Bluetooth connection.

I’m happy to say our Beetle Sport test car is equipped Bluetooth – not just for calls but for music too. It means my mobile phone can stay in my pocket while it sucks all the Daft Punk tracks off and plays them through the music system. Cool. It’s also very easy to set up for Luddites like me.

And what a great music system! The £495 Fender speaker upgrade is well worth the cash. Much more enjoyable than the glass sunroof that only opens a couple of inches and deafens you with wind noise.

The package includes a thumping sub woofer that sits upright in the boot corner. It does eat into some of the luggage space but so what – the sound is phenomenal.

Our test car also has an ambient lighting back which can be adjusted to change colour between red, white and blue! So, at night, the door trim now lights up to match my mood – brilliant!

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Friday – Tough As Old Boots

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Jeremy  It’s Friday – surely we are due another Bank Holiday? No, well, I’ll have to make do with driving the toughened up, all-new Beetle to the coast instead.

On the way down to Poole I passed a gem of a ‘proper’ Beetle, which naturally gives us the opportunity to print the picture about. How did VW manage to design a car back then that really was so classless, iconic and timeless too?

They carried on making the classic-shaped Beetle in central America for years after it stopped in Germany  – in fact, they may well still make them in Mexico now. But the point is, VW could have just as easily stuck a new engine in the old car, beefed up the brakes and added some modern technology to the old car. It would have been a huge hit and outsold new Mini for sure!

That said, the low, squat shape of the newest Beetle model is brilliant. I love the styling from every angle, the little spoiler on the rear of our Sport model and the chrome trim along the bottom of the doors.

I’m not so excited about the 1.4 engine. The 2.0 petrol of the 2.0 TDI are definitely the way to go, even though that does drive the price up. Buy your new Beetle wisely…

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Thursday – Not Powered By Flowers

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Jeremy After admiring the design of the latest Beetle when it arrived yesterday, today it was time to put our Sport model to work. First, it really is a lot better than the last model. The 1.4 TSI engine is used in a whole range of sporty VW cars and it gives the Beetle just enough get up and go to be entertaining.

Only just enough mind, for real thrills, you need to seek out the 2.0 TSI. One of the problems with this 1.4 version is that you have to work the six-speed gearbox very hard indeed  to coax any excitement from the power unit.

The Beetle’s high revving engine is awkward to drive around town, feels a bit better on winding A-roads, then comes into its own at higher speed. That said, you will struggle to get anywhere near the 42mpg VW claim in the combined cycle – the engine needs to be worked too hard for that.

I found the Sport mildly entertaining to drive at speed. It does go around corners a lot better than you might imagine but the steering and ride is nowhere near as good as an equally chic Mini Cooper or the Peugeot RCZ we tested last week.

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Wednesday – Summer Bug

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Jeremy  Owning a Beetle was a right of passage back in the 1970s. Jessica drove hers from the family home in Cornwall to the south of France to ‘study French‘ – my blue convertible was a complete disaster and ended up in a court case!

Even so, just like a classic film that should never be reworked by modern day Hollywood, there were plenty around who argued that VW should not have brought the Beetle back 13 years ago in a modernised form.

I owned one of those too, to go with my 1963 VW camper van. But while one of them had bags of charisma and oozed cool, the other didn’t. No prizes for guessing which.

So, the arrival of the new ‘new’ Beetle this morning was greeted with mixed emotions. More butch, better looking and equipped with a much stronger range of engines, how does the latest model fare?

Well, all I can tell you so far after a quick drive to the shops, is that the Beetle is considerably better than the last one. I’m loving the stylish interior, the attention to detail – and that fact the sun started shining the minute it pulled up on the driveway.

More tomorrow when I’ve soaked up the atmosphere a little more…

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Tuesday – Second Sitting

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Jessica My initial thoughts when I first got into this car were, what is the point? Surely driving something that looks like it is trying very hard to be flashy without the engine power to substantiate the bling is a hollow affair.

Why not buy a sports car that really is a sports car? Is this the equivalent to buying a fake Prada or Louis Vuitton bag? Is it good for the ego to look like a you are keeping up with the Jones’?

With these thoughts spinning through my head I set off on Saturday afternoon from London to find I needed to be athletic with the high set pedals to drive effectively in heavy traffic.

Trying to link in my phone via Bluetooth and understand the music controls linked to my iPod was a challenge – it was just as well the route the to M3 is a slow one, particularly with Beyonce as an attraction at Twickenham Stadium.  I’m not convinced that having to work in braille fashion to adjust volume and select tracks is conducive to a safe drive.

However, once I got in the car for a second sitting I began to enjoy it a little more, it can be pushed and if driven with determination it became more fun.  I still think the clutch needs refining to make the driving experience more sporty and less saloon.

I do like the aerodynamic dimple on the roof, a lovely touch. It’s just a shame the whole car is not thought through more effectively both ergonomically and aesthetically. Oh, and please say ‘no’ to the orange digital display – something less mundane would look so much better.

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Monday – Final Thoughts

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Jeremy Despite a few niggly faults, the RCZ is an exceptionally good drive – even with the entry-level 1.6 petrol engine under the bonnet.

The 156bhp version delivers a 0-60 mph time of 7.8 seconds but, for some reason, it just feels faster. It helps make the Peugeot responsive and more engaging to drive than you might expect. The RCZ is a delight to steer in to a corner.

I found that the A-pillars do restrict visibility rather a lot and there is a nasty blind spot  in the door mirrors – otherwise the vast expanse of glass in the cabin gives the RCZ a more spacious feeling than the class-leading Audi TT coupe.

I think my main complaint about the car is the driving position. Apart from the high foot pedals (see earlier reports), the seats are unsupportive and the steering wheel is just plain ugly.

There’s no doubt the RCZ would be a fantastic secondhand buy but the next generation model needs to address these issues to turn a good car into a great one.

 

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Sunday – Daft Pug

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Jeremy – It felt like the whole of England was out today – doing what English people do best. Queuing and shopping.

Fortunately, that meant the Wykeham Arms in Winchester was quieter than usual and a 50 minute dash down the A303 past Stonehenge was well worth the effort.

I downloaded the new Daft Punk album onto my iPod for the trip but it only took a few miles before I became frustrated with the RCZ‘s music system. I judge an entertainment system by how intuitive it is – this one isn’t.

Once the iPod is connected, all its functions are taken over by the Peugeot. I eventually had to stop the car and scroll through the ‘artists’ painfully slowly on the RCZ dashboard interface before I realised this could also be completed by the stalk control on the steering column.

Now, you really do have to know the workings of your stalk control and remember them because it’s totally hidden behind the steering wheel itself. Having the controls on the front of the steering wheel would be a much better and safer system.

There are lots of things to like about the RCZ but quite a few features, that would be annoyingly simple to rectify, that aren’t.

 

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Saturday – Pedal Low

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Jeremy Just back from a 300-mile round trip to horsey Newmarket in the RCZ – plenty of driving time to get more of a feel for the Peugeot.

What’s good about this designer coupe is that despite carrying only 156 horses under the bonnet, it feels remarkably composed and refined on the motorway. The 200bhp model must be even better.

What’s not so good is that returning via central London, the Peugeot was seriously tricky to drive in stop-start heavy traffic. The reason? It’s those high foot pedals again. Every change of gear was awkward. You also need to be aware that the RCZ also has a big blind spot in the door mirrors.

I’m still in two minds about this car. I like the styling, the concave rear screen, the curvy bits and the new front end. However, the driving experience and interior just don’t match the promise of the cool design.