2012 volkswagen beetle

compact - coupe

             Still a sad looking curvy car with a duck billed front end, the new Volkswagen Beetle still has the charm of its ancestors. ​

    Up front this car has some minor problems and is still in need on an attitude adjustment.  Why would you say this, well the new Beetle still has that happy warm look.  This is good for teenage girls, but if you want to bring in the hardcore tuners, then you need to add an evil smirk to that front end.  This smile is most prominently seen through the lower “happy face” grille.  Within the grille comes the biggest cheap factor for the front end.  That being the cheap plastic deflector which one, draws your eye and two looks really cheap.  If Volkswagen wants to put this car more upscale they need to drop the chrome and make this black.  Sure this is good for airflow, but its not good for a bad attitude feeling.  Added to the attitude adjustment of the grille, they could sharpen up the edges of the fog lights to add a bit more evil up front. ​

            Along the side Volkswagen has added more flat features which in turn will bring down the bubble appeal of the Beetle.  This in turn has made the car have more of a sport appeal, and gives the car a lot more to work with. ​

​            Out back there seems to be a bit of some sport appeal with an added spoiler.  The only problem is that it is so small you could mistake it for a bump in the roof.  I am aware that this is needed for rear drag, but they could have given it a better design.  Come on VW lets try and beef this up when the sport version comes out.  One other poor feature out back is the Civic inspired tail lamps.  Take a close look at the "C" look in the tail lamps, then look at a 2008 Civic coupe and tell me if they are not long lost brothers.

​            Overall It is nice to see that Volkswagen has kept the look of the original and did not go too overboard with new features, like Chevrolet did with the new Camaro.  The overall appeal is still that of the original, a cheap, fun car, built to go anywhere for anyone.  The only major downside to the new Beetle, is that it is a pure road going car and this time there are a lot more people playing in this pool.

Everett J.
#autolooks

​Front End = D+
            Good – Symbol placement, Headlight design/setup, Hood-line
            Bad – Fog light design, Lower grille design/appeal

Rear End = C
            Good – Exhaust placement/design, Bumper fit and finish
            Bad – Rear spoiler design, Name placement

Side = C+
            Good – Wheel size, Bodyline
            Bad – Window design, side skirts

Overall Appeal = C
          Good – Outline, Mysterious appeal
          Bad – Sad, Slow, Curvy

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COMPETITION:
2010 Kia Forte Koup
2011 Scion tc
2012 Honda civic
2012 hyundai elantra coupe