When Volkswagen called up on the largest VW online forum and asked if they could modify the new 2012 Beetle "a little bit", VWvortex was chomping at the bit to get started. There were a few conditions however. For starters this is one of only a handful of preproduction autoshow cars in the U.S. and the car can't be driven on the streets as it was made to sit on a turntable and that's it. No registration, no plates, no airbags = no street legal. No problem they said, VWvortex decided steer clear of engine mods for now and concentrate on what could be done cosmetically. Secondly, time was an issue to get the car done to what was called "Stage I" level by VW's dealer conference this week so they could show it to dealers. That meant they had about 2.5 weeks to get all the parts needed, refinish the wheels, make sure everything actually bolted up to a brand new model and order a few other odds and ends. But the opportunity to be the first to modify a new Beetle doesn't come along very often and who would turn this down?

Inspiration for this project came from the forums and a discussion topic where people have been posting photoshopped images of modified Beetles. The GT3RS look suits the lines of this car well, even though a VW in Porsche RS style creates mixed feeling. The first major hurdle was trying to track down a set of Porsche GT3RS wheels in a 19" size. The stock wheels are $1,500 a piece. Getting a set of 19" GT3RS replica wheels has proven to be very difficult and compounding the issue is that the Beetle Turbo model has 19" wheels stock with 235-45R19 tires. So putting another 19" wheel wouldn't look all that special. Instead it was decided to try out a set of VMR710 20" x 9" wheels (!) with a 35 offset. So yes. The wheels seen in these photos are 20" wheels, custom finished in orange and wrapped in Continental ExtremeContact DW 245-35ZR20 tires from TireRack.com . With the additional wheel width and stock tire size, this plus-sized 20" wheel setup results in a tire profile that doesn't look like rubber bands wrapped around rims.



So the next logical thing was to install springs from H&R. The Golf/GTI 6 suspension setup bolted right up without a hiccup. Everything under the car looks like a virtual carbon copy of the Golf 6 GTI which is good news for the aftermarket. After installing the suspension and adjusting the ride height, a Borla exhaust from a Golf/GTI 6 was bolted on since all the hangers were in the exact same locations. However the chrome exhaust tips came up about 2.5 inches short of the rear valance (Beetle has slightly longer rear overhang) and the middle pipe section needed exactly an inch taken out to make it fit. Aftermarket exhaust system manufacturers shouldn't have to modify their existing Golf 6 setups too much to make them work for the new Beetle. Then a Forge carbon fiber dual intake system (also from a Golf/ GTI 6) was bolted right up in the Beetle without any other mods.

With the big wheels installed, the front brakes really looked tiny. APR was contacted for a set of Brembo Stage II front brakes. The kit includes 14" front two-piece cross drilled rotors, four-piston radial mount calipers, aluminum mounting brackets, stainless braided lines and pads. These too bolted right up with no issues and look great filling up the front wheels.

Lastly the vehicle needed some graphics to set it apart from others. A "Beetle RS" graphic was designed similar in style to the Porsche GT3RS graphic. In addition, the chrome strips on the lower door bumpers and on the front grill were blacked out.

So that is "Stage I" for this project. The next step is to try and graft on a 997 GT3RS rear wing and after that a turbo upgrade, exhaust and locking torque biasing differential will be installed to help put that new power to the ground. The overall look of the Beetle is said to change as the project continues to Stage 2, so stay tuned.



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