MSRP: $16,990
As tested: $20,920
2.5-liter, inline 5,
150 hp
22 city / 30 highway
More info:
www.vw.com/rabbit
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Volkswagen convincingly won the Golf war, so it's anyone's guess why they would hop back in time to the Rabbit. Then again, one glance will tell you that the time warp has worked wonders. Starting with a design that seemed to be slowly morphing into an old Vega, VW has gussied up the little hatchback with rounder lines and a bolder nose and grill. And the new Rabbit's exponentially sexier sloping roofline vastly improves on the old Golf's 1950s flat-top look. In short, the design has gone from functional to fly.
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Inside the new Rabbit, we discovered a lot of pluses and a few irritating minuses. Heated seats, a bangin' nine-speaker stereo, 12-volt outlets in the front and the boot and excellent rear head- and leg-room all impress. On the other hand, cloth seats, a literal pump-action seat adjustment handle and annoyingly clumsy sunroof controls won't win any medals. Still, the Rabbit is quite well-appointed for the $21K range.
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The new Rabbit sports a 2.5-liter, 150-horse inline 5 cylinder motor. That sounds pretty wimpy in our neo-muscle car era, but the VW drives a lot friskier than we expected, mostly because of a fairly throaty engine note and an excellent transmission. Our tester featured a six-speed auto with a Tiptronic manual setting (about a $1,000 option). It's one of the best of its kind we've driven, and it has a convenient redline override, because RPMs zip into the crimson so quickly it can catch you by surprise. The Tiptronic practically begs you to rev the Rabbit 24/7, which could be murder on your gas mileage.
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It's no high-dollar exotic, but she'll have no issues hopping inside this sexy, sporty little animal.
-- by John D. Thomas |
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