2012 Volkswagen Beetle Turbo

Volkswagen began building buzz for the 2012 Beetle long before we caught a glimpse of the first spy shots. Volkswagen could hardly blame us. At first blush, this new ¬Beetle—don’t call it the New Beetle—appears to be a GTI wearing a puffy jacket, packing as it does the same 200-hp, 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder and six-speed dual-clutch automatic.

Volkswagen wasn't just asking us to stretch our imaginations to cope with the notion of a sporty-looking, engaging Beetle. Those two attributes alone are enough to put it more in line with original Beetle design, and, as a result, give the 2012 Beetle a portly Porsche 911 appearance.

To be fair, there's much more to the 2012 Beetle than a revised nose. From the front, the Beetle still greets onlookers with a wide-eyed grin thanks to large, round headlights and a smiling grille set low in the front fascia. The Beetle also wears a plunging, hooked hood that harkens to both the previous generation and the original Beetle we all know and love.

Our Turbo tester came wearing an attractive rear spoiler that lent the vehicle a fair helping of athleticism, as did the Bug's 18-inch dual-tone alloy wheels. The trim matches the depth of the vehicle's rocker panels and trails into the rear fenders nicely. And speaking of fenders, the 2012 Beetle wears sheetmetal that's as expressive as ever, though the new design backs away from the semi-circles of models past.

Slip indoors and the 2012 Beetle still offers a surprising amount of headroom. The hardtop bests the 31.4-inches available in the Volkswagen by a hefty 10.3 inches. From behind the wheel, it's clear that the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle Turbo desperately wants to seem sporty. Edge is clearly not a part of the Beetle Turbo recipe.

The base 2012 Beetle is saddled with the same loathsome 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine found elsewhere in the brand. Likewise, the Beetle's suspension tuning has been penned for comfort, yielding plenty of body roll under a hard shuffling. And despite offering disc brakes on all four corners, the 2012 Beetle doesn't offer a performance braking experience.

Then there's the fuel economy issue. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that buyers should see 22 mpg city and 30 mpg highway out of the Beetle, and we were met with around 23 mpg combined during our time with the vehicle. Given that the Beetle isn't overly quick or powerful, that figure is embarrassing for a hatch this size, especially given that Volkswagen recommends premium fuel for the most performance possible.