A radiator in a Volkswagen Beetle? The engine's in the front? What's going on here? I am not too experienced with the new ones. I know the old ones inside and out, every square millimeter. I can assemble one with my eyes closed. My friend just got a 2003 Volkswagen Beetle. I took a look at it, looked okay. I wanted to see the engine, so I went to the back and opened the lid. I saw no engine! Although I had serious doubts, I opened the front hood. There it was. It was in the front! A Beetle with a front engine! I stared in complete disbelief. Am I being tricked here? Then about five minutes later I needed to jack it up to spin the wheels. So I jacked it up, got in, and hit the gas. That's when I realized that it was front wheel drive. A front wheel drive, front engine, watercooled Beetle?
What is going on here? I think you are pulling a fast one Prime, having read many of your answers to other peoples question. But I share your sentiments - What the hell was VW thinking of. It's called progress my friend! Front engine, front drive is more stable, goes better in snow and such. And any aircooled engine expands and contracts so much that they leak oil. Plus, like you I love the old cars, the heater works like a welding torch! The new beetle has been this way since it came out, air cooling was dumped because it is not as reliable as water cooling is more efficient. Rear wheel drive is not used as with front wheel you can obviously direct the power, VW just made some changes that they thought were for the better. The original Beetle was designed from the outset as a rear-engined, rear-drive car.
The New Beetle is basically a Golf wrapped inside a different set of packaging. The floorpan, drivetrain and engine choices all come directly out of the Golf. The New Beetle is one of those retro craze of cars like the MINI and the Fiat 500, which at one time although quite utilitarian are now being sold as fashion icons. Yup, its based on the Mark 4 VW platform (and still is to this date, even though all of their other models are based on the Mk5 platform). Theres no trickery here :-P..just a fun, perky, reliable new version of the classic beetle. Okay I guess 40,000,000 air-cooled VWs produced plus millions still on the road doesn't testify the reliability of the Air-cooled. The "new" beetle (snicker) is not a reliable car, maybe in 2009 but when they came out, they were horrible. Expensive to fix, not too fun to drive, expensive to fix, did I mention expensive to fix. I dont call them beetles, I call them a jettas/golfs with a hump, because like a previous answer said, its basically a jetta/golf. One more thing, Air-cooled VWs were phenomenal in the snow simply because all the weight was in the back. They also make great rally cars. You have been in a coma for ten years. I think you are pulling a fast one Prime, having read many of your answers to other peoples question.
The scale of the course is almost indescribable, with long views in every direction and the bunkering is appropriately rugged and unique. The course played a bit slower than I expected, likely due to heavy rains but it was still plenty firm and fast considering the adverse weather and the fact that the course is still relatively new. The design allows for multiple options on every hole with the possible exception of the redan, which I found a bit one dimensional and no where near as good as its older brother at NGLA. The ground game is in full effect here at Old Mac and you could spend countless hours fooling around each of the green complexes and never get bored. I really enjoyed Old Mac and I think it fits in beautifully with the other courses at the resort. I'd rank it as my third favourite of the four at the resort but I reserve the right to change my opinion upon further review in the future. Again, I truly feel that this course takes the longest to figure out and having only played two rounds, I can say that my education at Old Mac is far from complete. I can't wait to see it again and hope to get back soon. As mentioned in my previously written reviews of Bandon Dunes, Pacific Dunes and Bandon Trails, I took very few photographs during my time at Bandon due to inclimate weather. Also, many of the photos here were taken by two of my playing partners during my trip, Bryan Izatt and David Elvins. Thanks to both for providing memories for a lifetime!
