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At least now there's a good and interesting alternative to the Mini. Any euphoria with this version should last.

• Comfort

  On normal suspension and 18-inch wheels it picked up far too many surface imperfections. You can't get the Beetle with the Golf's clever adaptive damping - well, we can't have the Beetle outperforming the halo GTI, can we?

  

• Performance

  You'll be able to get it with the 2.0-litre TFSI engine out of the Golf GTI, only in the Beetle it produces a slightly lower output of 197bhp and 206lb ft. Other engines will be available, from the brilliant 1.2 TSI to a 1.6 diesel with Bluemotion tech. We only got a chance to try the top 2.0-litre, but reassuringly it's still as smooth as ever. There's plenty of punch in all the gears so 0-62mph only takes 7.5secs.

  

• Cool

  Better than before to be seen in, but still not really cool.

  

• Quality

  Inside, there's a nod to retro - the weird glovebox, the body-coloured dash plastic, the pulley grab handles - but mostly it's stock VW parts bin switches. Weirdly, though, some of the plastics feel cheap and that glovebox is especially poor. Flimsy stuff, and not what you expect from Volkswagen.

  

• Handling

  The steering is more precise and, because of the wider track, there is an impressive amount of grip. But don't go thinking you'll be getting a cute Golf GTI - the Beetle doesn't have quite the precision of the Golf. It's just not as crisp.

  

• Practicality

  The Beetle isn't practical, because the sloping tail cuts out rear seats and boot space. But at least the rear seats fold. And the cabrio doesn't lose boot space when the roof folds, because it just sits on top like a rucksack.

  

• Running costs

  It's available with a 1.4-litre TSI and a 2.0-litre diesel and petrol - that diesel returns 57.6mpg and emits just 129g/km of CO2.