VW Beetle 1.4 TSI Sport review

It’s the new Volkswagen Beetle. And despite substantial design modifications (it’s wider, longer and lower as well as distinctly sleeker) it’s still easily identified as a modern incarnation of the classic air-cooled model.
Sitting beneath the sharper looks is a platform made up of an amalgamation of current VW parts, mostly from the Golf. All Beetles get multilink suspension up front, but if you want the sophisticated multilink rear suspension that the Golf benefits from you’ll have to buy the range-topping 197bhp 2.0-litre TSI model, which is unlikely to be here until 2013.
Every other Beetle model, including the 158bhp 1.4 TSI Sport tested here, gets torsion beam at the rear. Other engines will include a 1.2 TSI, as well as a 1.6- and 2.0-litre diesel.

Price: £21,220; Top speed: 129mph; 0-62mph: 8.3sec; Economy: 42.8mpg; Co2: 153g/km; Kerb weight: 1359kg; Engine type: 1390cc, 4cyl, twin-charged; Power: 158bhp at 5800rpm; Torque: 177lb ft at 4500rpm; Gearbox: 6-spd manual
by autocar