2012 Volkswagen Beetle

The New Beetle took the design community by storm when it popped into being in 1998, and once it went on sale, buyers immediately took to the car’s cute and friendly look. It was chipper and cheerful, with a flower vase on the dash, but it was utterly lacking in anything that suggested aggression or speed.
This approach nevertheless sparked a cult following, particularly in the U.S., where dealers got away with charging way over sticker price, at least at first. But a mid-term face lift didn't help the model look much more serious, and the overpriced, limited-edition European RSi model with its VR6 engine simply flopped. Nevertheless, the New Beetle stayed in production for an unusually long time, with the final 2010-model-year cars still utilizing the PQ34 platform, the basis for the Golf IV—in case you’ve stopped counting, the Golf VII will arrive in 2013.
With this new Beetle—note that the car no longer carries the capitalized “New” in its name—VW set out to vastly broaden the model’s appeal. The design brief was simple: Make it look sportier and more purposeful than the New Beetle. So instead of evolving the previous version, Klaus Bischoff's design team went back to the original design conceived in the 1930s. What they came up with is a car that’s six inches longer, 3.3 inches wider, and 0.5 inch lower than the New Beetle, and one that truly looks more aggressive. The new proportions imply motion, whereas the previous one always looked like it was standing still. There is some pronounced angularity around the daylight opening and the hood and bumper, and the taillights are wider. From some angles, the Beetle looks almost-sort-of Porsche-like. Daytime running lamps rendered in LEDs underscore the round shape of the headlights, making them resemble a glitzy Chopard watch.
A three-engine lineup provides the power. The smooth 2.5-liter five-cylinder is the base engine. It produces 170 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque; output is routed through a five-speed manual or a six-speed slushbox. It’s here that we’ll note that the Beetle is based on the latest Jetta, and as such, the base Bug will have that car’s simple and inexpensive twist-beam rear suspension. We will say that, in the Jetta, the setup performs well enough in all but the most aggressive driving. If more-sophisticated mechanicals are your bag, though, you’re better off with the Beetle 2.0 TSI, which gets 200 hp and 207 lb-ft of torque from its 2.0-liter turbo four. It comes with a six-speed manual or a six-speed dual-clutch-transmission, and the rear suspension is upgraded to a multilink arrangement (likely very similar to the forthcoming Jetta GLI’s). The TSI is visually distinguished by a rear spoiler and red brake calipers, and it also gets VW's XDS, a brake-based system that approximates a limited-slip differential.