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LOGAN — “Seventy-five percent of why you should buy a car is because it’s pretty,” Claire says. But she’s just 11 years old.
“I will be able to drive in four years,” she added.
And her choice is the VW Beetle, one of which we borrowed from Volkswagen.
“I think it’s pretty and attractive,” Claire added.
To measure the practical 25 percent of her estimate, we filled the back with a large computer system without problems. The opening is extra large, and with the rear seats down, there is respectable cargo space.
Our loaner came with a transponder key that can stay in your pocket while you open the doors and start the engine.
We liked the ratcheting seats, which are very flexible. The dash is less stylish than the previous Beetle’s. The bud vase is gone, but there’s a stopwatch and proper e-Brake.
Related:
Review of the 2013 Prius Plug-In
When Toyota loaned us a Prius Plug-In, we were excited. We gave it the kid test, found the hidden exhaust pipe, and headed for the garage to test the EV part.We borrowed the convertible a few months earlier, but it rained the whole time. This car had a standard metal roof.
Our loaner this time had the Turbocharged Direct Injection engine. The two-liter engine makes 140 horsepower, and claims 236 foot pounds of torque.
We ran the TDI Beetle from Logan to Manti. Up the hills, the six-speed automatic transmission doesn’t shift down; rather the turbo boost goes up. The engine stays quiet, and we got 50 miles per gallon. The EPA estimate is only 39 highway, but we did far better, with a full load of occupants.
Volkswagen used a TDI Passat to set a fuel economy world record for a non-hybrid vehicle, beating the hybrid 64 to almost 78 miles per gallon.
We took one fuel stop for the whole trip, and the passengers stretched out a little. We spent almost $42 to buy 10.6 gallons of diesel. Even with the extra cost for diesel, that’s $15 cheaper than a gas Beetle would cost to go the same distance. TDIs now make up almost a fourth of all VW sales in the U.S
We got some pinstriping done in Manti (we were there for the Rat Fink Reunion), stayed over, and headed back. The sun visors weren’t big enough, leaving a big gap for the sun to hit our eyes.
The back seat wasn’t big enough for Claire; she complained, “My bum hurts!” a few hours into the return trip. “It’s small, which means the people in the back are squished, which leaves them sitting on the wrong place on their tailbones.”
After the drive, she stopped thinking with her tailbone: “It says buy me, buy me; I’m the most stylish thing around.” Brian Champagne has reported on cars for more than nine years. He holds a master's degree in communications from the University of the Pacific and teaches at Utah State University.
