Test Drive: 2013 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible

By Kevin Harrison

Confidence is something that a lot of us usually struggle with. We tend to second guess based on popular opinion, based on history or based purely on self-esteem.

Volkswagen is a company that has once before exercised a fair amount of confidence and has had mixed results.

They were confident, much in the same way Hyundai is, that they could play amongst the big boys in the premium luxury segment by introducing the Phaeton a while back. Many wondered if people would actually be willing to fork over $100,000 for a Volkswagen. And many people didn’t. That led to the Phaeton’s demise after just a short while.

On the other hand, Volkswagen was confident that re-introducing the Beetle back in 1998 would result in strong sales, re-igniting the cult following of the original Beetle. Many wondered if going retro on a classic would work as well and clearly it did. So much so that the Beetle is once again an icon for the brand.

And then there was my confidence. To be honest, I didn’t have much when I picked up the Cabriolet version of the Beetle. If you’re an avid follower of mine, which, let’s be honest –isn’t too many people, then you’ll know that I’m not big on convertibles. To boot, I’m even less keen on convertible versions of non- performance cars.

But alas, when the Beetle Convertible arrived in my driveway I gave it a mission: give me confiden

Now, the Beetle didn’t get off to a flying start. Despite its screaming red paint, and more masculine styling, I still had a homophobic slang hurled by way by two gentlemen in a pick-up truck. No, wait. ‘Gentlemen’ isn’t quite the right word, is it. Let’s go with homophobes. Luckily for them, and subsequently for the Beetle, my confidence in myself is unmatched thanks to constant encouragement from my parents my whole life. So take that! Uh… anyway.

So, on the looks front, it looks like Volkswagen still has a bit of work to do in terms of making the Volkswagen a little more masculine. That said, I’m not one that thinks that way. While I think the coupe version is a hell of a lot more appealing, attractive and masculine, I still think the convertible looks good. With the roof up, it still keeps the overall shape of its solid roof brother and while the wheels may look a bit small under those massive flared wheel arches, but they are an attractive design and the overall wideness of the car gives it a bit of an aggressive stance.

Inside, my tester was fitted with an exterior colour matching dash, matched with a beige interior and some black on the centre console and on the steering wheel. This is a bit much in my mind but most people who were in it found the colour combo to be agreeable. I guess beige must be making a comeback or something.

Interior room is both good and bad. Since the Beetle is a rather wide car and its overall shape mimics a dome, both shoulder and head room are plentiful. Unfortunately rear legroom is close to non-existent, especially when the driver’s seat is set to my ideal driving position. Not even a child would be comfortable back there. It really is more of a shelf for your jacket or bag. And while the Beetle’s trunk space stays constant whether the roof is up or now, it’s more of a cubby hole than anything else. Plus, factor in the tonno cover (which is meant to convey the ‘classic’ Beetle convertible look) which is generally housed in the cubby hole, and you’ve got even less space. That said, no one buys a convertible for practicality and the rear cargo room is bigger than that you get in the other VW convertible, the Eos.

Speaking of the tonno cover, the procedure to put it on is very retro. As in you have to actually do it manually. Now, I have no problems with doing things myself rather than having electronics do it for me, however the process is so tedious and takes a rather long time. And if you’re traveling about with the top down and all of a sudden mother nature decides she’s rather you just go home, you have to stop and take your time getting it off. I tried putting the tonno cover on and off only once for the sake of reviewing it – otherwise it stayed in the trunk for the rest of the week, I just couldn’t be bothered spending 10 minutes fumbling about with it every single time.

The engine uses Volkswagen’s olden 2.5 litre five cylinder engine which produces 170 horsepower and 177 pound feet of torque. For the average Beetle convertible buyer, I would wager that those numbers are more than adequate. And to be honest, I did as well. It may have been because I had spent a week in a 100 horsepower hatchback the week before, but when I need the Beetle convertible to go, it did. Not blisteringly fast, but fast enough. My beef is the fact that Volkswagen is still using this engine in 2013. They may be chalking it up to being trusty, but for me it’s just plain overstayed it’s welcome. It’s unrefined, buzzy and can be slightly sluggish. But there may be another reason why Volkswagen is sticking with it. It’s pretty damned efficient.

I was amazed at how well the Beetle convertible did for fuel consumption. In fact, I was downright blown away and I still am. The Beetle convertible is officially rated at 11.2 L/100 kms in the city and 8.7 on the highway. I did mostly city driving and I was able to beat both those ratings. Seriously. I returned 8.0 L/100 kms and believe me, I wasn’t attempting to drive frugally. I have absolutely no explanation for this one other than the automatic transmission tends to upshift as soon as it can, however most automatics are geared that way these day and it’s very rare that any auto journalist meets the official ratings, let along beats them both. How is it possible that I did mostly city driving but beat the highway driving rating? I don’t know, but that is much welcomed news if you have the Beetle convertible on your short list.

As far as steering feel goes, I actually didn’t find it too be too bad, much in the same way that getting tazed isn’t too bad compared to actually getting shot. All electronic steering found on modern cars these days are quite numb and useless. The Beetle is no different other than I found there to be some slight feedback at lower speeds.

You may or may not be aware that I’m not really a fan of convertibles in general (to find out why, click here) and unfortunately my reasoning holds true with the Beetle. Throw it into a corner and it will remain stable. But increase speed or increase directional steering and you’ll get that same wobbly feeling that you get in most convertibles. With that said, if you treat the Beetle the way it’s meant to be treated, it feels planted for the most part. Just drive it normally and it actually feels quite solid. And the good news is it feels Germanly (I know that’s not a word) solid on the highway. Wind noise isn’t as bad as I was expecting, in fact it was downright good aside from the odd sound of wind bouncing off the soft top every now and then, but overall it feels the way a Volkswagen should.

And perhaps that’s ultimately what gave me my confidence in the Beetle convertible at the end of the week. I felt confident driving it despite the reputation it holds of being a girl’s car (whatever that means) and despite the fact that it has an outdated engine, a softop and tonno cover from the 70’s and rather numb steering. By the end of the week it had won me over. Why? It’s a Beetle! Everyone had Superman, Spiderman or Batman as their heroes while they were growing up. Not me. My hero was Herbie the Love Bug. And despite all the faults I can point out with this Beetle convertible there’s something about it that makes you feel happy. It goes back to the days after Hitler was defeated, it goes back to the days when hippies ruled the earth and it goes back to the days of Herbie. This is one loveable car in any form and I can’t fault anyone for buying one because of it.