The continuously tested Volkswagen
10/08/2011
The automobile magazine Automobil Revue tested no car as frequently and as intensively as the VW Beetle.
As early as 1949, a long-distance test of the then Type 11 Beetle was published. The car, which cost 6,250 Swiss francs, drove at 99 km/h, took 28.9 seconds to reach 80 km/h from a standstill, and 7.5 to 9 liters ran through the carburetor per 100 km.
In 1952, it was the turn of the VW De Luxe . Including folding roof, heater and defroster, it cost 6,970 francs. And it accelerated to 80 km/h in 23 seconds, reached a top speed of 105 km/h and consumed 7 to 9 liters per 100 km.
1954 saw the next Beetle in the long-distance test, this time a black De Luxe model. With 31 hp, the Beetle ran at 110 km/h, reached 80 km/h in just 20.5 seconds and required 7 to 9 liters of fuel for 100 km.
Then they took a short break and waited until 1961 for the next long-distance test. In the meantime, the VW De Luxe already had 34 hp and only needed 16.6 seconds to accelerate to 80 km/h. A real 115 km/h testified to the progress made by the Beetle, which now cost 6,675 francs.
Another six years later, the Volkswagen 1300 and 1500 once again took part in the long-distance test in 1967. For 6,885 francs, it was possible to accelerate to 80 km/h in 16.2, the top speed had risen to 122 km/h (124 in the VW 1500), but fuel consumption had also increased to 8.5 to 10.5 liters per 100 km.
In October 1970, a Volkswagen 1302 S was then subjected to the AR short test under the title "Rear engine with almost no disadvantages". 50 hp from 1,584 cm3 generated propulsion up to a top speed of 134.5 km/h, 80 km/h was reached after 12.2 seconds, 100 km/h after 19.2 seconds. The increased performance and the low compression ratio took their toll at the filling station with 9.4 to 12.6 liters of petrol per 100 km (total test consumption 11.0 liters).
Five long-distance tests (with many thousands of kilometers driven) and one short-distance test, as well as a number of smaller test drives for a product that had in principle only been marginally modified, testify to the importance that the VW Beetle (or Type 11, or 1200, or De Luxe) had enjoyed over the years.
