Volkswagen Beetle 53 Edition, road test (Engine, performance, handling and consumption)

At Highmotor we have a star with a name of its own. It is rare for a car to have a proper name, but when you see the cover photo nobody has forgotten Herbie. The legendary film Beetle that had a life of its own has now become a special edition of the new Beetle.

Under the name “53 Edition” there is an equipment pack that includes a customised exterior and eye-catching 17-inch retro-style alloy wheels. The engine chosen to test the new Volkswagen Beetle is the 1.6 TDI with 105 CV, an engine that is not sporty but offers enough power for everyday driving. And it is precisely the engine we are going to talk about in the first part of this unusual road test.

Engine and performance

Within the diesel range of the Volkswagen Beetle, this 1.6 TDI with 105 CV is the entry-level engine, followed by the 2.0 TDI with 170 CV. Contrary to what one might think, it is a suitable engine for almost any situation. It is not a performance engine, but it copes well when overtaking or joining a road.

In terms of figures, it has 250 Nm of torque and accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 11.5 seconds, which are not extraordinary numbers, although they are offset by this engine’s low consumption, even with the 17-inch wheels our test unit had.

In use, it is an engine with good response at low revs (it pulls from 1,500 r.p.m.) and it keeps pulling up to 4,000 revolutions, so it has a good usable range. Although it is a relatively small engine for daily use, it is more than sufficient.

The gearbox paired with the engine has only five speeds, but they are very long, so a sixth gear is not needed. For example, at 90 km/h in 4th it runs at only 2,000 revs, and at 120 km/h in 5th it also barely reaches 2,000 r.p.m. The feel of the gear lever, as is typical of the brand, is precise.

Handling

The old New Beetle was a heavy car with considerable inertia on the road, but this has changed completely in the Volkswagen Beetle, which is now a much more composed car with no inertia. On the road it is very stable and allows certain sporty liberties.

It is comfortable on poor road surfaces thanks to a fairly generous tyre profile and a suspension that filters irregularities well. Comfort is also noticeable in terms of soundproofing, since very little noise gets in (and much less compared with the previous generation, which was very loud and where wind noise was more noticeable).

The brakes stand out for their effectiveness: all four are discs, and they slowed the car at the slightest touch of the pedal (they were incisive because the car had covered few miles). And the steering struck us as quite direct and with a rather firm feel.

In short, it gains in stability and dynamism over the previous generation, and with this diesel engine the response is respectable while keeping consumption in check. It is not the most sporty Herbie , but it is practical for everyday driving.

Consumption

Despite the 17-inch wheels (with 16-inch wheels the car would be even more economical), consumption on the open road averaged around 5 litres per 100 km, and if we pay attention to the accelerator and use the gearbox well (shifting at the right moment and keeping revs always between 1,500 and 2,000 r.p.m.), it is easy to get around 4.5 litres per 100 km on the road.

In town after our usual test route around Vigo, average consumption was around 6.5 litres per 100 km, while on the motorway on the Madrid > Vigo > Madrid route the average consumption was 4.8 litres per 100 km.

In the second part we will analyse the design of the Beetle 53 Edition, as well as the interior and the space it offers its occupants. Throughout the test we will also compare it with the legendary New Beetle to see how this iconic model has evolved.

Photos | Diego G. Moreira