2017 Volkswagen Pink Beetle — Cool looking, but just another Beetle
By Dan Scanlan - MyCarData
“Ain't that America home of the free; Little pink houses for you and me ………..” John Mellencamp may have had it easy finding little pink houses, but it was tough finding one the right shade for my pink VW’s beauty shots.
Well, not really pink — sort of fuchsia, with a hint of metallic purple, despite the #PINKBEETLE name on its rounded rump.
So that’s why this 2017 Volkswagen Beetle coupe is - Fresh Fuchsia Metallic paint. And if neither it nor the homes I found for these shots look pink in our winter Florida sun, it’s the best I could find, while I guess VW didn’t want anyone to think these Bugs were cosmetic sales people.
There are more angular bumpers and a more aggressive stance. Chrome-rimmed oval headlights circled by LED daytime running lights on rounded fenders. There’s a wide-mouthed center intake with gloss black slats, framed by fake side intakes with slim turn signals. The round fenders perfectly encircle 17-inch Hankook Kinergy GT rubber on 20-spoke satin alloy wheels with dark gray painted inserts.
• Pink place — Pieces of pink pervade the Beetle interior, although it isn’t too posh, just comfy. You step over a black and satin alloy kick panel and settle into firm and fairly comfortable black cloth seats with a unique plaid insert (sorta like the Golf GTI’s), complete with pink stripes. They are manually adjustable with a bit of lumbar support adjustable via a lever.
The gloss black dashpad houses the infotainment touchscreen with the powerful and clean 8-speaker AM-FM-SiriusXM-CD with SD card slot. The main screen accesses the major functions including VW Car-Net App-Connect, USB and Bluetooth connectivity for compatible devices and the backup camera and parking sensor displays. Voice command easily handled radio, media and phone. Familiar knobs below that handle single-zone air conditioning with seat heaters.
But leg room is tight unless the front seat occupants give up some space, although there’s plenty of head room under the rear hatch. That hatchback opens high enough to clear my head, with decent storage space aided when the split folding rear seat backs flip flat. The rear window gives a generous rearward view, somewhat framed by tall rear head restraints. All in all, a comfortable and quiet place for two and a friend.
The turbocharger kicks in at about 3,000 rpm, then our 16,000-mile-old Beetle squeaked its front tires as it hit 60 mph in a peppy 6.9 seconds, compared to 7.3 seconds for a slightly heavier Dune edition convertible we tested earlier in the year. Passing power was available with only the slightest of turbo lag, downshifts coming quickly. This was a fun point-and-shoot Bug. The same can be said for the strut-type front suspension with lower control arms and an anti-roll bar, and multi-link independent rear suspension with coil springs, telescopic dampers, and an 18-mm-diameter anti-roll bar.
The Beetle has a supple and comfortable ride that reacts quickly and smoothly to bumps with no harshness. We found neutral handling and minimal body roll in sweeping turns, the Beetle just hanging in nicely. And while it’s no GTI, the Beetle seemed to enjoy being thrown into a turn where just a hiss of controllable understeer showed up, throttle and steering plus some gentle stability control keeping the fun and safety high. It is a capable and sporty little hatchback. With a firm and responsive brake pedal and 11.3-inch-front/10.7-inch rear disc brakes, we had solid stops and no fade after repeating some hard hits from 60 mph. The power steering was very direct and precise in feel, with a tight turning radius. My only annoyance — no traction control shut-off.
• Beetle basics — A base 2018 Volkswagen Beetle, now with a 2-liter turbocharged four with 174 hp, starts at $20,220. Our 2017 Pink Beetle started at $21,690. Either way, what we had is all standard, with no options on our buggy, for an as-tested price of $22,710 with destination — a nice price for a fun-if-basic buggy.
Like I said when we compared convertible versions a few months ago, the MINI and Fiat are shorter, the latter almost 30 inches less than the Beetle. The MINI feels quicker, but both take about 10 seconds or so to hit 60-mph. Both are agile and fun to play with on a curving road, the MINI a bit more substantial and happier to play. Front seat room and cargo space are better in the MINI, while back seats are tight in both. As for looks, all three rank high in playful and cute.
• Bottom line — This may be the coolest-looking modern Beetle. But it is just a Beetle, albeit gold-plated — sort of.
2017 Volkswagen Pink Beetle
Vehicle type - 4-passenger compact hatchback coupe
Base price - $21,690 (As tested - $22,710)
Engine type - DOHC, 16-valve turbocharged/intercooled cast iron in-line four
Displacement – 1.8 liter
Horsepower (net) – 170 @ 4,800 rpm
Torque (lb-ft) – 184 @ 1,500 rpm
Transmission – 6-speed automatic w/manual shift mode
Wheelbase – 100.1 inches
Overall length – 168.8 inches
Overall width – 71.9 inches
Height – 58.6 inches
Front headroom - 39.4 inches
Front legroom – 41.3 inches
Rear headroom – 37.1 inches
Rear legroom – 31.4 inches
Cargo capacity – 15.4 cu. ft./29.9 w/rear seat folded
Curb weight – 3,020 lbs.
Fuel capacity – 14.5 gallons
Mileage rating – 24-mpg city/33-mpg highway
“Ain't that America home of the free; Little pink houses for you and me ………..” John Mellencamp may have had it easy finding little pink houses, but it was tough finding one the right shade for my pink VW’s beauty shots.
Well, not really pink — sort of fuchsia, with a hint of metallic purple, despite the #PINKBEETLE name on its rounded rump.
Yes, Volkswagen of America actually designed a Pink Beetle to support FAB-U-WISH and The Pink Agenda, all to raise money for breast cancer research and care. And when one was auctioned for $30,272 to benefit those charities to a 12-year breast cancer survivor, a production version was brought to market after Beetle fans said they wanted one after seeing the concept version at the 2015 New York Auto Show.
So that’s why this 2017 Volkswagen Beetle coupe is - Fresh Fuchsia Metallic paint. And if neither it nor the homes I found for these shots look pink in our winter Florida sun, it’s the best I could find, while I guess VW didn’t want anyone to think these Bugs were cosmetic sales people.
• Beetle beauty — This is the first factory-offered shade of pink Beetle in VW’s history, and the first-ever vehicle officially named as its own hashtag. And truth be told, it’s your basic Beetle with some cosmetic changes.
Unlike the original Beetle of the 1940s to 1980s, and the New Beetle of 1997 to 2003, which were one big half-circle with two rounded sets of fenders, the 2012-to-current Beetle ( that its name) is a chopped hot rod-inspired curvemobile with a more pronounced and flatter hood line, with a fastback rear.
There are more angular bumpers and a more aggressive stance. Chrome-rimmed oval headlights circled by LED daytime running lights on rounded fenders. There’s a wide-mouthed center intake with gloss black slats, framed by fake side intakes with slim turn signals. The round fenders perfectly encircle 17-inch Hankook Kinergy GT rubber on 20-spoke satin alloy wheels with dark gray painted inserts.
Gloss-black mirror caps get repeater turn signal slits, while the lower doors have glossy black and polished aluminum trim meant to mimic Beetle running boards of old.
The rounded rear gets a black-over-pink spoiler attached to the hatchback under a big window. A big chrome VW emblem doubles as its release handle, and noisily motors open to reveal a tiny back-up camera when you reverse. C-shaped LED taillights live over the rear bumper’s thin red reflectors and a gloss black lower fascia with twin exhaust pipes peeking out of one corner. And dead center on the hatch is the #PinkBeetle, although no one called it that color when they saw it. Speaking of that paint, it was smoothly applied, with an iridescent glow in the sun.
• Pink place — Pieces of pink pervade the Beetle interior, although it isn’t too posh, just comfy. You step over a black and satin alloy kick panel and settle into firm and fairly comfortable black cloth seats with a unique plaid insert (sorta like the Golf GTI’s), complete with pink stripes. They are manually adjustable with a bit of lumbar support adjustable via a lever.
The 3-spoke steering wheel gets a pink accent on its flat bottom, with a sportingly thick leather-clad steering wheel and the usual stereo, cruise control, phone and trip computer controls on gloss black spokes. There’s a silver-ringed 160-mph speedometer dead center under the hard black plastic dashtop, with the trip computer display under it and smaller 8,000-rpm tach and gas gauge framing it all. Pink also accents the door caps and handles, as well as ringing the outboard air vents and framing the center screen.
The gloss black dashpad houses the infotainment touchscreen with the powerful and clean 8-speaker AM-FM-SiriusXM-CD with SD card slot. The main screen accesses the major functions including VW Car-Net App-Connect, USB and Bluetooth connectivity for compatible devices and the backup camera and parking sensor displays. Voice command easily handled radio, media and phone. Familiar knobs below that handle single-zone air conditioning with seat heaters.
A USB port and MP3 input are in a rubberized nook at the base of the center stack, next to the silver start/stop button, gearshift, twin cup holders and height adjustable armrest with a bit of storage inside. There’s two gloves boxes; one a retro top-hinged “Beetle bin” in the golden upper dash. No door map pockets, just twin elastic bands.
The front seats slide and flip forward for fairly easy access to the rear bench seat, access aided by nostalgic looped grab handles on the B-pillars.
But leg room is tight unless the front seat occupants give up some space, although there’s plenty of head room under the rear hatch. That hatchback opens high enough to clear my head, with decent storage space aided when the split folding rear seat backs flip flat. The rear window gives a generous rearward view, somewhat framed by tall rear head restraints. All in all, a comfortable and quiet place for two and a friend.
• Pink passage — The rumors say the next Beetle might be electric — a buzzing Bug. But for now, pink power comes from a Bug-standard turbocharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder TSI engine made in Mexico under the nose and a slick-shifting 6-speed automatic that shines when set in “Sport” mode, which kept it in a lower gear and more quickly in the turbo boost. So our Beetle buzzed along quite nicely as it returned an average 26 mpg on regular.
The turbocharger kicks in at about 3,000 rpm, then our 16,000-mile-old Beetle squeaked its front tires as it hit 60 mph in a peppy 6.9 seconds, compared to 7.3 seconds for a slightly heavier Dune edition convertible we tested earlier in the year. Passing power was available with only the slightest of turbo lag, downshifts coming quickly. This was a fun point-and-shoot Bug. The same can be said for the strut-type front suspension with lower control arms and an anti-roll bar, and multi-link independent rear suspension with coil springs, telescopic dampers, and an 18-mm-diameter anti-roll bar.
The Beetle has a supple and comfortable ride that reacts quickly and smoothly to bumps with no harshness. We found neutral handling and minimal body roll in sweeping turns, the Beetle just hanging in nicely. And while it’s no GTI, the Beetle seemed to enjoy being thrown into a turn where just a hiss of controllable understeer showed up, throttle and steering plus some gentle stability control keeping the fun and safety high. It is a capable and sporty little hatchback. With a firm and responsive brake pedal and 11.3-inch-front/10.7-inch rear disc brakes, we had solid stops and no fade after repeating some hard hits from 60 mph. The power steering was very direct and precise in feel, with a tight turning radius. My only annoyance — no traction control shut-off.
• Beetle basics — A base 2018 Volkswagen Beetle, now with a 2-liter turbocharged four with 174 hp, starts at $20,220. Our 2017 Pink Beetle started at $21,690. Either way, what we had is all standard, with no options on our buggy, for an as-tested price of $22,710 with destination — a nice price for a fun-if-basic buggy.
There’s lots of compact cars out there, but not many are 3-door hatchbacks, leaving us with the MINI Cooper and the Fiat 500 Lounge. A 101-hp 500 starts at $19,000, while the 134-hp MINI Cooper starts at $21,000.
Like I said when we compared convertible versions a few months ago, the MINI and Fiat are shorter, the latter almost 30 inches less than the Beetle. The MINI feels quicker, but both take about 10 seconds or so to hit 60-mph. Both are agile and fun to play with on a curving road, the MINI a bit more substantial and happier to play. Front seat room and cargo space are better in the MINI, while back seats are tight in both. As for looks, all three rank high in playful and cute.
• Bottom line — This may be the coolest-looking modern Beetle. But it is just a Beetle, albeit gold-plated — sort of.
2017 Volkswagen Pink Beetle
Vehicle type - 4-passenger compact hatchback coupe
Base price - $21,690 (As tested - $22,710)
Engine type - DOHC, 16-valve turbocharged/intercooled cast iron in-line four
Displacement – 1.8 liter
Horsepower (net) – 170 @ 4,800 rpm
Torque (lb-ft) – 184 @ 1,500 rpm
Transmission – 6-speed automatic w/manual shift mode
Wheelbase – 100.1 inches
Overall length – 168.8 inches
Overall width – 71.9 inches
Height – 58.6 inches
Front headroom - 39.4 inches
Front legroom – 41.3 inches
Rear headroom – 37.1 inches
Rear legroom – 31.4 inches
Cargo capacity – 15.4 cu. ft./29.9 w/rear seat folded
Curb weight – 3,020 lbs.
Fuel capacity – 14.5 gallons
Mileage rating – 24-mpg city/33-mpg highway