2005 New Beetle GL

I just traded my 2000 1.8L Turbo in for a 2005 GL with 70,000 less miles on it. I thought that was a good move, but I've noticed that the '05 revs up to much higher RPMs at lower speeds...is this normal?
I knew that the GL wouldn't have as much ooomph as the Turbo, but the transmission really sounds like it's overworked when I do 70 on the highway. It only has 41,000 miles on it and the service record is up to date.
Any comments or suggestions? (I just want to make sure that this is normal and that my engine isn't going to wear out or something!)

Thanks so much!

the 2.0L has horrible gearing for 4th gear at 70mph its 3000rpm.

Yeah, my 07 2.5L with 5spd is around 3 grand at 70mph also. I've heard of guys swapping in the 6spd from the Jetta 2.5L. My guess is that the tranny engineers are from a country with no interstates or autobahn. Somewhere that they almost never get above 45 mph.

Thank you for the info. Do you think the fact that the engine has to work so hard at higher speeds will wear it out faster or cause problems? I have a 45 min interstate commute everyday and don't want my engine to blow up!:)

it wont wear out and cause damage. Just make sure to check the oil level every 1000 miles and top off as necessary. You will most likely burn 1qt every 1000miles (common and normal for 2.0L) I would reccomend also using 5w40 mobil 1 synthetic engine oil up to 100kmiles then 10w40mobil 1 synthetic oil after. =)