Volkswagen’s rear-engine model is making a comeback. According to sources deep inside VW’s corporate headquarters, the corporation is presently developing a compact car with a rump-mounted engine and water cooling that closely resembles the original Beetle in terms of design and function.
What is known so far is that Volkswagen will place the engine on top of the transaxle and place the radiator in the nose of its famous people’s vehicle. Only two variations will be available in the United States: a 130-inch-long Beetle reincarnation aimed at the Smart ForTwo and a basic, four-door notchback that is probably going to be marketed as a smaller, less expensive Jetta. Three wheelbase options and two body styles will be available worldwide. The price range will be between $10,000 and $14,000.
Other information? Power steering won’t be available to save money, but ABS, satellite navigation, and a sunroof will be. Third-world nations will get two-cylinder engines, and rising markets might even get one-cylinder ones, but three-cylinder turbocharged engines with direct injection will probably power American cars. According to our sources, Ferdinand Pich was substantially responsible for the decision to bring back the rear-engine Volkswagen. Pich, the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, the inventor of the original Beetle, allegedly persuaded VW Chairman Martin Winterkorn that the rear-engine design, which was dynamically problematic, was endearing enough to succeed.
We have no doubt that a rear-engine design can be developed to securely operate in a budget-friendly little automobile. According to one executive, the business intends to “implement [stability control] to handle handling difficulties.” The rear-engine concept, however, has not yet won us over.
VW departed from the market for people’s cars long ago in favor of wealthier regions. Pich’s ambitious vision for the brand most recently included vehicles like the unsuccessful Phaeton. Back to a rear-engine, bottom-of-the-market econobox now? Given the gaps and subpar products in VW’s mainstream lineup, perhaps its executives should refrain from veering off course and focus on the company’s core competency instead: making automobiles for, you guessed it, regular people.
In This Article...
Where is the engine on a VW Bug?
The outcome was the first Volkswagen, which was also a rear-engined vehicle for the first time since the Brass Age. The Beetle is the most widely used and manufactured automobile ever, with 21,529,464 units produced.
Why do beetles have backward-facing engines?
Because the Beetle had rear wheel drive and its engine was placed where American automobiles typically had a trunk, it had more traction when driving through muck and snow. Long before the hatchbacks of the 1970s, the Bug was the first car with a slanted and tapered rear.
What powerplant powers a Volkswagen Beetle?
Power and acceleration. A 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbocharged engine with 174 horsepower is standard on the Beetle. Additionally, a six-speed automatic transmission is standard.
Are the VW Beetle’s engines still in the back?
In 1997, Volkswagen unveiled the New Beetle, a compact automobile that heavily borrowed from the outward styling of the first Beetle. The New Beetle has its engine at the front, driving the front wheels, and luggage storage in the back, in contrast to the original Beetle. There have been other special editions made available, like the Malibu Barbie New Beetle. [3]
The New Beetle was superseded by the Beetle (A5) in 2011 for the 2012 model year. It is also frequently referred to as the New Beetle. Various variations of this model were still being produced in Puebla, Mexico, up until the final vehicle rolled off the production line on July 10, 2019. [4]
Why are the engines in the back a Volkswagen?
Senger told Digital Trends, “With a long-distance car, you have no chance to put 60% of the weight on the front axle. By positioning the electric motor over the back axle, vehicles of any size will have enough weight over the driven wheels to maintain traction on slippery or wet conditions.
How Much Horsepower Does the VW 1600CC Produce?
The initial Volkswagen 1600 Bug engine had a 60-horsepower output. Just enough for the car to reach a top speed of 60 mph on the highway. Up to 105 horsepower could be generated by contemporary engines built to fit into a vintage Bug body.
Where Is the Engine Located in a VW Bug?
The VW Beetle from the 1970s has a rear engine. Cargo capacity was provided by the sizable bubble-shaped hood. You had quick access to the engine’s top through the back hatch.
What Size Engine Does My VW Beetle Have?
The engine of the car you are likely looking at might not match the original owner’s handbook because it is between 40 and 50 years old. The engine code stamp can be found at the top of the engine. The size of the engine is indicated by the first three letters or numerals. If it’s a 1970s-era Bug, the engine is probably 1600cc, however modern Beetles can have engines that are up to 2.5L (151 ci) in size and turbocharged.
What is a 1641 VW Engine?
Many VW bug enthusiasts have fitted this popular replacement engine in their vintage vehicle. The additional 41cc still enables it to fit in the existing engine space without requiring a big rebuild, and its 87mm bore produces a little more horsepower. Many Bug owners continue to support their 1600cc engine.
Which Year VW Bug is the Best?
A 1967 Volkswagen Beetle will draw the highest offers if it is put up for auction. Design elements from the 1967 are unique to that year and cannot be found in any other year. That does, however, reduce your parts supply. A 1968 to 1970 model offers the most genuine parts for restoration projects to the do-it-yourself technician.
Which vehicles feature an engine at the rear?
There have been a number of vehicles with rear-mounted engines over the years. Even more if we include the cars with rear-mid engines.
Vehicles have typically had a back engine from the very beginning, and this phenomena persisted for a while in the history of the automobile. However, front-mounted engines gradually caught up to rear-mounted ones. Engines are placed at the front of about 98% of all manufactured cars because this gives the car enough balance and weight distribution.
However, the popularity of rear-engine vehicles is starting to revive thanks to the influence of the Volkswagen Beetle, which was once the world’s best-selling car, and the Porsche 911, the most renowned sports car.
Re-emphasizing the significance of rear-engines to the speed of the cars, the majority of sports car engines are now located in the rear-mid section of the automobile to take advantage of balance and center of gravity. Additionally, rear-engine vehicles offer more power and traction, supporting the car’s maneuverability.
Without the Beetle or the 911, these are the top rear-engine automobiles from the past.
Volkswagen stopped placing the engine at the back sometime ago.
Volkswagen is once again ceasing Beetle production. once more in Mexico. After producing more than 21 million examples of the original rear-engine Type I Beetle, Volkswagen ultimately decided to stop producing it in 2003. At the time, Volkswagen de Mexico’s facility in Puebla was still producing the first-generation people’s car. After 16 years and two generations of the front-wheel-drive Golf-based New Beetle, Volkswagen is now stopping that vintage run in order to free up some production space for a small SUV aimed at the North American market.
VW is temporarily ceasing production of the Beetle (the “With no immediate plans for another resurrection, the word “New” was removed from the moniker during the second generation. A throwback style craze that included the New Beetle, Chrysler’s PT Cruiser, and the Chevy SSR sport truck was in full swing when the car was reintroduced as the New Beetle 20 years ago. SUVs are in style right now, not retro fashion.
In a statement, Scott Keogh, president and CEO of the Volkswagen Group of America, said: “Without the Beetle, Volkswagen would not be in the position that it is today. It has demonstrated our company’s capacity to fit round pegs into square holes in the automotive sector from its first import in 1949 to its current retro-inspired appearance. Even though its time has passed, we will always value the part it played in the development of our brand.
In 1964, the Puebla facility began building Beetles, and in 1998, manufacture of the New Beetle, which debuted in 1998, was assigned to it for all international markets. The Puebla plant produced more than 1.2 million of the first-generation New Beetles and another 500,000 after the second-generation model debuted in 2011.
The final Beetle will be finished in Denim Blue and sent directly to Volkswagen de Mexico’s regional museum in Puebla, where it will be on display perpetually, at least until Volkswagen decides to resuscitate the name and model once more. This week’s production is the last. The last two U.S.-built Beetles, a pair of Kings Red vehicles with specially made commemorative dashboards, keys, and quilted interiors, will be added to the corporate collection of Volkswagen of America.
Do Volkswagen Beetles have radiators?
Rear-wheel drive was a common feature of the Beetle, which makes sense given where the engine is located.
The Beetle was also air-cooled rather than water-cooled. As a result, the radiator was missing from the Beetle. At least Beetle drivers weren’t required to travel with emergency water bottles in case the radiator ran dry.
How does the engine in a Beetle operate?
The combustion of the gasoline charge in the cylinder produces high pressure and drives the piston downward, converting the linear power produced by the chemical reaction in the cylinder through the piston and connecting rod to rotational power in the crankshaft.
Why did VW cease production of the Beetle?
As far as we know, VW has never given a formal response. However, based on our study, we have been able to put together a few major explanations for the decision to halt manufacture of what is undoubtedly the most iconic car in history:
- Platform-sharing The A4 and A5 platforms from Volkswagen served as the foundation for the New Beetle generations. Online rumors indicate that one of the reasons VW canceled the Beetle was due to the technical difficulties associated with switching to the Volkswagen Group MQB Platform. This assertion, coupled with the Beetle’s low sales record, was cited as another justification for the decision.
- Sales effectiveness and buyer preferences
- The Beetle’s poor sales performance was the primary factor in VW ceasing production. Volkswagen attributed the termination of production of the original Beetle in 2003 to diminishing demand. When the final model left the Mexican assembly line, it was still essentially an old automobile, despite modifications and revisions over the years. Following the decline of the original Beetle in Western nations, the markets where it was successful also “The outmoded Beetle had been sufficiently modernized to the point where it was no longer practical. In the late 1990s, The New Beetle was introduced in an effort to “Profit on the fondness for the original vehicle. The New Beetle and its successor, the New New Beetle, never sold in particularly large quantities, despite some early success (due to the market preferring the blend of retro appeal and new amenities). By 2018, Volkswagen’s total sales were made up of around 4% of the A5 Beetle. It was a specialized product that was just not making enough money to support its continued manufacturing. Consumer preferences had evolved away from affordable hatchbacks and toward SUV/crossover vehicles. As a result of the model’s low sales results, it was discontinued.
- Electrification
- The idea that Volkswagen discontinued the Beetle so they could concentrate more on impending electric vehicles is another frequently advanced argument. This is a legitimate argument, but not nearly as compelling as the one based on sales performance, since there is no question that VW, along with the majority of other manufacturers, has moved its focus to electrification.