For all the confusion out there about beetles and what they can do, one topic never seems to be broached. It's actually very very close to the heart of your average VW drag racer.
What does a beetle weigh?
What year model you ask...
This is where it gets interesting. I'd love to see a 12 second daily driver N/A superbug, and I'd like to see it parked in my driveway, but it seems noone goes this way.
What does your car weigh in at, and what have you done (if anything) to put it on a diet? :puke
I always knew my bug was a little heavy, but was surprised that after removing all the tools, and the backseat, and about fifty bazillion little things that collect in a car over time my '71 super still weighed in at around 870 kilos, with me standing next to it.
please post year model and weight, this could be very interesting!! c'mooonnn...
and anyone else with a vw, what the hey, tell us how fat she is.
:thumb
My old 1302 weighed about 960 kgs before I fitted the turbo and heavier transmission, I like a little bit luxury so it had lots of speakers, cruise control etc.
Stevenn[ Edited on 16-9-2005 by 1303Steve ]
Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
Years ago, mine weighed 790 at Eastern Creek scales with half a tank of fuel, a spare starter motor and spare wheel under the bonnet... all-steel IRS Cal Oval
Peter, the green super that dieter holzl drives used to be a
12sec N/A car. Sorry we never weighed it. The only weight reductions were the back seat and some sound deadening.
Also the bumper brackets were litened. It had a 2386 that Craig Brown from Crankshaft Engineering built that ran a 12.93 @ 101 with 9:1 on pump fuel, with fanbelt, muffler,and
steel wheels with Mcreary tyres under stock steel guards.
Ratios were:4.125 diff, 3.78, 2.06, 1.48, 1.125. I think his normal road tyre was a 205 X 70 radial which was acceptable
on the highway. Rod Richardson's bug has this tyre, but a
1.26 4th! It weighs 1680lbs @ 11.93(?) & 1750lbs ran 12.20.
Pagey may be able to give you the exact numbers.
i think it was about 670kg for my beach buggy. i was expecting it to be lighter. its only a two seater short wheel base, with about 15L fuel in it. but two or three average guys can still lift the front of the car up 🙂
Before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you judge them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
anyone else got an idea of what their cars weigh? surely there must be a few drag racers on here who know what their cars weigh........
crikeys.
that's great dangerous, btw, but i'm looking for the impossible dream: ultra reliable AND long lasting and 12 seconds, and N/A, not 700 kms later and looking at a crank that sounds like it has a wet rag wrapped round it from all the fractures. seen too many stroked cranks come back from crack detection covered in white labels with expletives on them 😉
now back to the topic!
weight!
hel70y, saw you at the drags, looked like you were having fun, and it does seem heavy for a car like yours :duh what ET did you run?
let sleeping dubs lie
hypo-vwAustralias 1st 10sec street beetle (Jan 2007) 10.49secs@132m
in 1999 I built my 1962 beetle sports sedan which I ran in the hillclimb championships , winning both the NSW & AUSTRALIAN in 2000 , in the 2ltr-3ltr sports sedans . Prior to some moron in CAMS deciding that all sports sedans were to be weight restricted in comparrison to engine size , I had completley gutted my beetle removing every single double panel , inner front skirts , inner front apron assembly , drilled holes all through the heater tunnels , holes through both the front & rear apron panels , fibreglass guards , fibreglass bonnet , fibreglass decklid , fibreglass bumpers with alloy brackets , fibreglass running boards , cut out door internals and removed window regulators , handles etc . EVEN ALL THE BOLTS THAT I FITTED THE PANELS WITH WERE ALUMINIUM . As the 62' sat on the track without driver and with the heavy 2.9 type-4 engine , in weighed 640kgs . What a weapon !!
my best ET was 17.2, disappopinted actually, i was expecting a bit better but everyone there was saying that its good for a 1800cc. I did have a fun time and did not expect to make it past the first round of bracket racing, and somehow i made it to the finals, then did my clutch on the last race 🙁
Now i have found after pulling my engine out that my bottom end is F*****. 2L here i come...when i can afford it...if i dont sell it
Before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you judge them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
Peter Leonard wrote:anyone else got an idea of what their cars weigh? surely there must be a few drag racers on here who know what their cars weigh........
crikeys.
that's great dangerous, btw, but i'm looking for the impossible dream: ultra reliable AND long lasting and 12 seconds, and N/A, not 700 kms later and looking at a crank that sounds like it has a wet rag wrapped round it from all the fractures. seen too many stroked cranks come back from crack detection covered in white labels with expletives on them 😉
now back to the topic!
weight!
hel70y, saw you at the drags, looked like you were having fun, and it does seem heavy for a car like yours :duh what ET did you run?
lol... let's a get a cracked stroker crank thread going! 😉
I was working at this truck depot couple years back,
thought I'd drive onto the scales and admire what I
expected (Mid 800 kg with everything in I thought).
I couldnt believe it when saw 980 kg " what in my Oval " !
I'll have to dig out all the Crap thats accumulated in there
and stand along side and see...... when I get a chance.
Oh and HelToy , I watched you at the drags and thought it looked good off the line, did it slacken off at top end?
it slackened off heaps top end. i never had any problems off the line, i pulled infront just about everytime but i loose heaps of power top end, i have a choice between reving out in third gear or switching to forth and boging down. Saving for a 1916cc rebuild or selling her and saving my money...what do you guys think?
OvalGlen wrote:Oh and HelToy , I watched you at the drags and thought it looked good off the line, did it slacken off at top end?
[Edited on 4-6-2005 by OvalGlen]
Before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you judge them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
HEL-70Y wrote:it slackened off heaps top end. i never had any problems off the line, i pulled infront just about everytime but i loose heaps of power top end, i have a choice between reving out in third gear or switching to forth and boging down. Saving for a 1916cc rebuild or selling her and saving my money...what do you guys think?
OvalGlen wrote:Oh and HelToy , I watched you at the drags and thought it looked good off the line, did it slacken off at top end?
[Edited on 4-6-2005 by OvalGlen]
I dont know what combo you have but having a light buggy, you dont need to make oodles of bottom end torque. To make HP at the top end you sacrifice the bottom end and, to some extent, the driveability.
I have a friend with an 1800 74 x 88 berg engine that runs low 14s NA and mid 12s with a 50 shot of NOS. Runs an FK8, IDAs and around 8:1 CR. Short box (1.14, 4.125) in a full weight "67. The engine has been together since '88 and sees 8k pretty regularly.
With the right combo (heads, cam, induction, exhaust and box), and lots of seat time you should be able to go a lot faster with the same cc's
I just dont want to open up the bottom end and put it back together without making it bigger, i figure while im there i might as well. it sounds like your friend has made a few more $modifications$ then what you have a said. thanks for the tips, so hopefully the right combo in a 1916 should go better.
Do you know what type of pistons he is running?
Before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you judge them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
I just dont want to open up the bottom end and put it back together without making it bigger, i figure while im there i might as well. it sounds like your friend has made a few more $modifications$ then what you have a said. thanks for the tips, so hopefully the right combo in a 1916 should go better.
Do you know what type of pistons he is running?
Berg sourced, so I guess cima/mahle 88mm. Forgot to mention 6" slicks. Heads are 40 x 35s. Theres a lot of time in the rear suspension set up to
My oval only weighs 770 kilosw and that's with a 6 kilo toolbox, 2 litres of oil in a container and half a tank of fuel. I don't get it I've added bracing between the chassis forks by the gearbox to the 6 point roll bar and the car took over 10 litres of paint when it was painted. The body is all stock, the windows are glass.
I've removed the sound deadening and put some more modern stuff back in and there's no back seat.
