What\'s your favourite VW urban myth?

Ok, there are all sorts of urban myths about VWs. I thought it miught be cool to collect them all. So write yours up, put whether its true and give it a rating out of 10 for how lame you think it is.

I'll get the ball rolling...

Myth: "Adolf Hitler drove a beetle"

True or False?: False. Actually, hitler couldn't drive at all. However he was chauffered around in a beetle a few times, although I hear his prefered ride was a blower benz.

1-10 lameness: 4 reasonably lame.

that the vw symbol on the hub caps makes a swastika at certain speeds
or that a porshe motor bolts straight in

That VW's float? never tested this one.

Myth :"Porsche motors bolt straight into kombi's, a mate of mine used to do it all the time"

True or false? : Usually false. What they usually mean is that a friend once read about a kombi with a porshe motor in it. A 356 motor would bolt in pretty easily, but any other porsch motor is not that easy.

1-10 lameness: 2 very lame

why did Dr. porsche create a car that was so round in appearance? ( the beetle )

due to the run off after the body being dipped, it was more efficent, unlike the morris minor factory he visited and noticed how much of a difficult job to clean out the body cavity after being dipped..

so there another mind boggleing fact to add to your note book..

[ Edited on 14-11-2005 by h ]

Beetles are a simple car, therefore anything that needs doing to them is simple also..... NOT! 😵

do vw's float? yes!

i do have pictures at home, but you can look it up on the internet. i think a man travelled the english channel (?????) in a beetle with only minor modifications ie a snorkel for air intake.

dont quote me on the english channel, but i do know that it is true

Helbus wrote:Myth :"Porsche motors bolt straight into kombi's, a mate of mine used to do it all the time"

True or false? : Usually false. What they usually mean is that a friend once read about a kombi with a porshe motor in it. A 356 motor would bolt in pretty easily, but any other porsch motor is not that easy.

1-10 lameness: 2 very lame

dont forget the porsche 914/4 motors ie the t4 motor only difference being the heads and exhaust

That when they catch fire you can't put it out?
True or False?: False. But you have to TRY to put the fire out!.I think this Myth has something to with the magnesium in the engine case catching fire.
A friend had a beetle catch on fire at the local traffic lights and a guy ran over with a fire extinusher and was about to open the engine lid and someone yelled out of a passing car "Dont you know you can't put Volkswagens out when they catch fire?".And with that our rescuer put down the extinusher (to save waisting it i quess???)moved everyone away to watch the fire spread and gut my mates 1st car.Made the front page of local rag an all!
Lameness?ask my mate who had invested blood,sweat and tears.10+

Too many things wrong with this quote to bother listing!!!!!!
Looks like another myth has been invented to spread miss information through the gullible VW world..........

barls wrote:

Helbus wrote:Myth :"Porsche motors bolt straight into kombi's, a mate of mine used to do it all the time"

True or false? : Usually false. What they usually mean is that a friend once read about a kombi with a porshe motor in it. A 356 motor would bolt in pretty easily, but any other porsch motor is not that easy.

1-10 lameness: 2 very lame

dont forget the porsche 914/4 motors ie the t4 motor only difference being the heads and exhaust

whats wrong with it andy the 914/4 motor is the same case as the t4 motor in a kombi only the heads and exhaust is different may be also the cam not sure on that one. if you dont believe me ask hipchic in melbourne she has the 914 motor in a bug

That Beetles are fuel efficient - what with that tear drop .40 drag co-efficient.. not bloody likely!

lameness rating - 6

That 1916cc vw engines are the best. :P:P:P:P

(this is not aimed at anyone, just stirring the life long arguement that goes on on this forum! lol)

alex

Serial killers drive VWs.

True/False:??

Lameness: ??

Ted Bundy: Yes (Beetle)

David Berkowitz: Yes (Kombi)

[ Edited on 14-11-05 by modulus ]

"VW's just keep on going".... a myth which leads some people to believe that they never need to do any maintenance, such as changing the oil or replacing fuel lines.

barls wrote:whats wrong with it andy the 914/4 motor is the same case as the t4 motor in a kombi only the heads and exhaust is different may be also the cam not sure on that one. if you dont believe me ask hipchic in melbourne she has the 914 motor in a bug

yup, I do. I didn't put it in though, just bought it like that 🙂

that beetles are better with vw engines in them

NOT BLOODY LIKELY

subibaja wrote:that beetles are better with vw engines in them

NOT BLOODY LIKELY

I wonder if you've started running yet??

Hi

An old guy told me that they got the shape of the beetle buy putting a block of ice in a wind tunnel. I reckon you would end up with a puddle of water.

Steve

highly unlikely since VW didnt use a windtunnel until they introduced the second series of cars such as the bay kombi, but funny.

1303Steve wrote:Hi

An old guy told me that they got the shape of the beetle buy putting a block of ice in a wind tunnel. I reckon you would end up with a puddle of water.

Steve

also like the reliability one. had a couple of people when i broke down genuinely shocked "i thought kombis never broke down!"

Didnt Ivan Millat drive a kombi ?

phatratpat wrote:Didnt Ivan Millat drive a kombi ?

no fords and a 4wd

Seats on Ovals are filled with Jew hair instead of Horse hair.

Beetles do float! Con from VW Village in Kensington has a pic of him floating his beetle under the harbour bridge. i heard the car lasted only 3 months after that even though they fish oiled everything before and after:jesus

I rest my case

Andy wrote:Too many things wrong with this quote to bother listing!!!!!!
Looks like another myth has been invented to spread miss information through the gullible VW world..........

barls wrote:

Helbus wrote:Myth :"Porsche motors bolt straight into kombi's, a mate of mine used to do it all the time"

True or false? : Usually false. What they usually mean is that a friend once read about a kombi with a porshe motor in it. A 356 motor would bolt in pretty easily, but any other porsch motor is not that easy.

1-10 lameness: 2 very lame

dont forget the porsche 914/4 motors ie the t4 motor only difference being the heads and exhaust

Myth: "Your gonna die driving a kombi. Have you seen what happens to them in the TAC ad on TV where the white Kombi hits the semi trailer?"

True or False?: True and False. I don't think it would actually matter what you were driving i the situation shown on that particular TAC ad. You would be very unlikley to survive

1-10 lameness: 4 reasonably lame.

Myth: "Kombi's are no good, they break down all the time"

True or False?: True and False. Theye are good, and yes they can break down all the time. But lets start on some other vehicles as well. Magna, English makes, Hyundai, and lets not forget the most common owned and probably most common broken down vehicle, the Commondore.

1-10 lameness: 6 lameish.

maybe hitler farted in the direction of an ice block and walah

yeah the paint dip and the hub cap are the ones ive lived by

I can second the myth about them floating, a dad's mate was telling me (hearsay) when i just bought mine. That it happend to him once when they were rallying in VIC, they missed a corner and went into a lake, the driver was going to bail out when my dads mate Vaughn said "No wait i heard they float" sure enough, the engine kept ticking over just enough to get them to the other side no worries. I dont know how well some bugs would float now though, with all the seals and seams not being changed since factory. :P

The Porsche engine ( yeah bolts straight in ) and hubcap ones are my faviourites.... and also that VWs go for ever n are cheap to fix.

What about that they all explode and catch on fire when you havea front end smash. I can NOT recall seeing a front end burnt out car at any wreckers only rear end fire damage where the fuel line has come off.

Ralph Nader ( US 1970s ) has a lot to explain

that the magnesium engine case will ignite if you have an engine fire. The whole car will burn down first.

VW's can go at maximum speed all day.

squizy wrote:VW's can go at maximum speed all day.

mine can, what's wrong with yours?

LOL, in truth I'm scared to see just how fast mine will actually go. Tends to get very floaty over about 80mph.

Myth: "beetles are just little porsches, they go and handle just as well."

True or false: I'm tending to say false, although I know some people will disagree. The better porsches have got, the further they have moved away from the dynamics of beetles. Eg. no more swing axle, no more push rods, no more torsion bars, no more semi trailing rear end, no more aircooling.

Lameness: 1, really just romanticism and beetles were the basis for the 356 so it's not too vague.

[ Edited on 15-11-2005 by pete wood ]

Myth: "it's easy to make beetles do wheelstands" ALA Herbie

True or false: simple answer NO. Hard answer, Yes if you have lots of money and a powerful engine.

Lameness: 4 out of 10.

That standard beetle pushrods have timber/wood on the inside and have a metal coating...... Some old bloke told me this the other day..

All cars will float - for a while. Floated a honda civic across a flooded track once. was pretty funny!

PUNCH_BUG wrote:I can second the myth about them floating, a dad's mate was telling me (hearsay) when i just bought mine. That it happend to him once when they were rallying in VIC, they missed a corner and went into a lake, the driver was going to bail out when my dads mate Vaughn said "No wait i heard they float" sure enough, the engine kept ticking over just enough to get them to the other side no worries. I dont know how well some bugs would float now though, with all the seals and seams not being changed since factory. :P

Just curious, if the bug was floating how did it get to the other side? spinning tyres in water surely wont move the car would it?

momentum from when they hit the water ???


myth only hippies drive kombi's..........true & false, not so much any more tho 😉

the spinning wheels do cause a forward momentum sez, but only at certain speeds. push the car too hard and the water will just splash, but put the wheels at the right speed and the tread will catch water and push you along... very slowly.

the man who floated his beetle across the mystery (english channel???) distance used tractor tyres with huge tread

Makes sense, my bad. Must move pretty slow with standard tyre’s, wouldn’t want to have bold ones

Myth: ‘A Beetle’s back seat always catches on fire’

True/False: True! Once had a couple mates in the back seat of my beetle, whom weigh about 80kg-ish each, the springs underneath the back seat touched one terminal of the battery each thus blowing a big hole in the centre the battery, once I saw smoke coming up around the back seat after hearing a very loud bang (which I didn’t know what it was yet) and knowing that there’s hairy stuff which can set alight easily under the seat I scream “get the f*** out”. Lucky my beetle was convertible and I was able to rip it straight out and throw it before it caused much damage.

Result : underneath my back seat being black with less hair, smelling for a while and having to clean up all the battery acid

Lesson learnt: ALWAYS COVER YOUR BATTERY (VB case worked well for me)

Lameness: 7, unless your smart and cover it before it happens then you have nothing to worry about

^ they came with a cover from the factory AFAIK but people remove them, just like cooling tins, thermostats etc 🙂

I suppose we are lucky to have the original fibreglass/ plastic hard cover on our battery still.

a friend told me the other day that statistically serial killers are more likely to driver volkswagons.. i had no witty retort so i had to stab him to death.

No one would ever steal a Volkswagen because the gearshift is in a funny angled pattern.

If they are talking about the picture on the ashtray that is in 3D then I can't understand that one, as VW's have a standard H shaped gearshift for all forward gears!

US Myth...

A couple had been awakened by the sound of a crash on the edge of their property on night. They looked out and saw two eighteen-wheelers had been in a head on collision an immediately called 911

The policeman told them both drivers had been killed on impact and asked if the trucks could stay there until the investigation was over. The couple agreed.

A week later the angry homeowner called the policeman and demanded the wrecks be taken away immediately, when the officer arrived with the tow-truck he understood why. Coming from the crash was to most horrible stench he'd ever encountered. When they pulled the trucks apart they found the cause of the smell, in between the trucks was a VW Beetle, smashed flat with three people inside.


....oh yeah, splits are NOT rare...