2014 VW Beetle GSR: Power supplants flower

Posted by hpayne on May 15, 2014

The Volkswagen Beetle has come a long was since the “people’s car” was introduced to the U.S. market in 1949. In celebrating the Beetle’s 65th birthday this year, VW gives us a turbocharged, 210-horsepower bug aimed at more male-oriented consumers. (Henry Payne / The Detroit News)

Introduced in the States in 1949, Volkswagen translated literally as “people’s car.” So what’s German for “boy toy”?

In celebrating the Beetle’s 65th birthday this year, VW gives us a turbocharged, 210-horsepower bug aimed at young lead-foots. Did I say bug? This limited edition yellow and black-striped compact is a bumblebee with sting.

The GSR completes the Beetle’s third-generation transformation from chick car back to everyman car. Emphasis on “man.” Where the iconic, rear-engine 1949 Beetle Type 1 (the original design debuted in Germany in 1938) was a no-frills tool for buyers who needed affordable transportation, the front-engine New Beetle launched in 1998 quickly gained a reputation as a “chick car.”

If the original was a sexless utility vehicle, Beetle 2.0 became a statement car for the independent female. At its peak of 80,000 in sales, New Beetle’s buyer demographic skewed heavily female, 72 percent-28 percent. How could it not? It came complete with a flower vase on the dash, for goodness sake.

But as any Woodward cruiser will tell you, chicks may buy a dude car, but dudes will shy from a chick car. Thus, Beetle 3.0 was launched for model year 2012.

The redesigned, more manly bug was stretched (by 6 inches), flattened (a half-inch lower), widened (by 3.3 inches), and squared off to broaden its demographic appeal. The fenders are still round, but less like a grapefruit and more like a bicep. Its windowsill lines rose, its roof got squashed — like Charles Atlas had leaned on it. Its face got more masculine. Its chin bore a toothier, wider grin. Heck, with the round lights it almost looks — dare I say it? — Porsche-like. More to the point, the vase disappeared and the Beetle got a turbo. Power supplants flower.

And if anyone didn’t get the hint, here comes the limited edition GSR for 2014.

Volkswagen has blessed Beetle with a sporty R-edition design package, which is also found on the upmarket Volkswagen CC, Tiguan, and Toureg. The Beetle R-line is basically a rebadged 2013 Turbo, and the GSR is the queen — er, king — bee. In keeping with the nostalgia brand, the GSR is a throwback to the 1973 “yellow black racer” (that’s gelb schwarzer Renner in the mother tongue, thus the acronym GSR) sold only in Europe. The 2014 GSR engine gets 10 more horsepower over last year’s turbo. Its butt gains a spoiler. Its fenders are stuffed with 19-inch, 10-spoke “tornado” wheels that look like turbine blades on a jet engine.

This is a bug on testosterone. A He Beetle. Heck, its chin is practically growing stubble. It begs to be taken to the track. So I obliged.

While race testing on a crisp May weekend at Autobahn Raceway outside Chicago, I took a few hot laps in the Bug as well. As a young lad, I watched “The Love Bug” perhaps 2,000 times. It was one of my favorite flicks, a Disney fantasy about a David among Goliaths. But outside the movie theater, I never imagined I’d see a trackable Beetle. Until now.

Lumped into a track group with other sports sedans — Porsche Boxsters, Chevy Corvettes, BMW Z3s — the Beetle was overmatched, but hardly a misfit. From a standing start, the torquey turbo burdens the front-wheel drive bug with ferocious torque steer. But at speed, all that low-end torque helps launch the car from corner to corner like a scared rabbit. The car’s 6-speed manual shifter (topped with a bumble-bee colored knob, natch) is a might mushy, but with power on demand, I didn’t need to row the box like, ahem, some 8,000 RPM, 2.0-liter Civic engines I know.

Ferdinand Porsche designed the Beetle’s slippery shape for the Autobahn nearly a century ago, but today that shape is hardly state-of-the-art at .36 drag coefficient. Fortunately, however, the chassis is. The GSR shares the Golf GTI’s nimble front strut and multi-link rear suspension architecture. Stir in precise electronic steering and the Beetle was a hoot to throw around.

That said, it is hard to place the GSR. At 30 grand it is in the same shopping aisle as the sporty Ford Focus ST or Subaru WRX, yet not as racy. Its performance is more comparable to a Fiat Abarth or Mini Cooper S, yet its larger chassis — based on the VW Jetta — offers substantially more interior room than its little Euro-brothers.

The GSR is a unique car for the uniquely style-conscious boy racer who likes tooling around town in a Beetle with an exterior louder than Jim Carrey’s suit in “The Mask.” Which is why VW is only making 3,500 of ’em (mine was #216).

But hang up the suit, and the GSR shares the Beetle R-line’s exquisite attention to detail.

Men and women alike will admire a vase-less interior that is luxurious yet practical — with a nod to the Beetle DNA. The instruments are big and easy to read (including old-school odometer reset button, bless you). The dash embeds VW’s familiar, ergonomically friendly controls, yet sports two glove boxes in a nod to the ’49 original. The seats are black leather yet manually adjustable. The side pockets are made with elastic straps to store a 1-liter bottle if necessary. Unlike other two-door coupes, the Bug’s backseat has loads of headroom for the over-6-foot crowd.

At night, LED lights wreath the headlights. Turn a corner and the GSR’s inside fog light illuminates — better to see the apex, my dear. It’s all attention to detail one would expect from a car company determined to broaden an old brand’s appeal. So how’s the He Beetle doing? Not bad, thanks for asking.

I asked males young and old what they thought of the GSR during my test, with near universal approval. Still, it’s an acquired taste. “Love the look, but its shape is still buggy,” said one 20-something. Well, yes. The cold, hard numbers? In its second year of release, the Beetle sold more than 43,000 units — its best performance since 2004. Not on pace to sell 21 million like the original, but a healthy niche vehicle nonetheless. Males are coming back to the brand — if gingerly. Dudes are now 35 percent of buyers and with the turbocharged R-line, VW hopes to keep ’em coming.

Now how about stuffing the Porsche 911’s 520 horsepower, twin turbo under the hood?

2014 VW Beetle GSR

Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger coupe
Price: $29,995 base ($30,850 as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, direct-injection, turbocharged inline 4-cylinder engine
Power: 210 horsepower, 207 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.0 seconds (Car & Driver); 127 mph top speed
Weight: 3,164 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 23 mpg city/31 mpg highway
Report card

Highs: Turbo-riffic; A treasure of useful gadgets
Lows: Mushy manual gearbox; Loud paint job not for everyone
Overall:★★★

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