Review: Volkswagen 1Y New Beetle Cabriolet (2003-11)

Review: Volkswagen 1Y.I New Beetle Cabriolet (2003-05)

Overview

Released in June 2003, the Volkswagen 1Y Series I (1Y.I) New Beetle Cabriolet was a two-door, four-seat convertible with a soft-top roof. Manufactured in Puebla, Mexico, the front-wheel drive VW 1Y New Beetle Cabriolet was powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that was mated to either a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.

Based on the Volkswagen Mk.4 Golf platform, the front-engined 1Y New Beetle Cabriolet was 4129 mm long, 1721 mm wide, 1502 mm tall and had a 2516 mm long wheelbase. Furthermore, the power operated, soft-top roof had three layers and took thirteen seconds to open/close, though latches had to manually opened/closed.

The Volkswagen New Beetle Cabriolet had MacPherson strut front suspension and a torsion beam rear axle with trailing arms.

Safety equipment

Standard safety equipment for the Volkswagen New Beetle Cabriolet included dual front airbags, front side airbags (located in the doors) with thorax and head protection, ABS, electronic brake force distribution, automatically deploying rollover hoops located behind the rear seats and front seatbelts pretensioners and load limiters. From October 2004, the New Beetle Cabriolet was also fitted with active front seat head restraints.

Brakes

The VW New Beetle Cabriolet had 280 mm by 22 mm ventilated front disc brakes and 232 mm by 9 mm solid rear discs.

Features

Standard features for the Volkswagen New Beetle Cabriolet included 16-inch alloy wheels, a ten speaker sound system with six-stack CD player, air conditioning, leather seats, heated front seats, front fog lamps, heated glass rear window, remote central locking, power windows and mirrors, tilt and telescopic steering wheel adjustment and an immobiliser.

Review: Volksagen 1Y.II New Beetle Cabriolet (2005-11)

Overview

In October 2005, the Volkswagen 1Y Series II (1Y.II) New Beetle Cabriolet was released. Visually, the 1Y.II New Beetle Cabriolet could be identified by its polycarbonate headlight lenses, revised tail lights (white circle inside a red circle) and new bumpers and wheel guards.

Safety equipment

Compared to its 1Y.I predecessor, standard safety equipment for the 1Y.II New Beetle Cabriolet was initially unchanged. From December 2009, however, electronic stability control and traction control were fitted as standard.

Features

Lower prices for the 1Y.II New Beetle Cabriolet resulted in changes to standard features – cruise control was added, but the six-stack CD player was replaced with a single CD unit and the full leather seats were replaced with leather trim. Furthermore, the Tiptronic sequential gearshift function was omitted from the automatic transmission.

2010 New Beetle Black Orange edition

In March 2010, a limited-run Black Orange edition of the New Beetle Cabriolet was released; these were distinguished by their 17-inch alloy wheels with sports suspension, tinted windows, ‘leatherette’ seat trim, leather steering wheel and gearshift, cruise control aluminium pedals and a removable windbreak. Furthermore, two colour combinations were available: black gloss paint finish with silver alloy wheels and ‘Orange’ side decals; or a Red Rock Metallic paint finish with black roof, alloy wheels and decals.

Brochure

• Brochure: Volkswagen 1Y.II New Beetle Cabriolet (November 2010)

Related links

• Wikipedia.org: Volkswagen New Beetle