The grandparent isn't talking about quite the same thing. The Beetle's engine is called a Boxer engine, and you can find modern cars using it (mostly Porsches a

The grandparent isn't talking about quite the same thing. The Beetle's engine is called a Boxer engine, and you can find modern cars using it (mostly Porsches and Subarus). They have advantages and disadvantages, just like V shaped and inline engines. The differences in geometry don't have much of an effect in fuel efficiency though.