ABT has big plans for the little Volkswagen Beetle

13 years, 5 months ago - 12 July 2011

Squint your eyes just so and a Volkswagen Beetle can start looking like a Porsche 911. And with good reason: the two were designed by the same man using the same basic principles.

So with common heritage, it's little wonder that the latest model is already started to follow its sportier brother's lead. No, we don't mean an endless array of special editions from the manufacturer – we mean tuning packages. And lots of them.

Just like the 911 attracts aftermarket tuners by the truckload, undoubtedly so will the new Beetle, and ABT Sportsline is among the first to line up. The German tuning house has big plans for the sportier new bug, from full aero kits and upsized rolling stock to suspension tuning and extensive engine mods. ABT figures it can get the base 1.2-liter TSI up from 105 horsepower to 140, the 1.4 from 160 to 210, and the 2.0 from 200 to 230, with similar gains for the diesel models, as well.

Sounds promising, and to keep our interest piqued, ABT has released a couple of renderings of what we can expect.