Oh what fun it is to have a bug with Subaru EJ 22 engine!!
For example, last saturday: I was on the Autobahn here in Germany, heavy traffic. I was on the left lane, 6 motorcycles behind me and some cars in front of me. We were driving at a speed of 75 miles (120 Km/h), then the left lane became free and I could go faster. As I was doing 125 miles (200 km/h) I moved over to the right lane to let the motorcycles go. The first biker came up to me, looked over and gave me :thumb and noded!
My bug is not looking like a fast car, that is why people are surprised by it´s performance.

I tested the third gear that day, too. I can do 100 miles)an hour (160 km/h) in third gear!!! That is a 6.500 rpm.



[ Edited on 9-7-2007 by subaruboxer ]

Sweet as. Nice looking Beetle too!:thumb
I wish our government would get with the times and allow us to do the same in Oz. We used to have unlimited speed highways in the Northern Territory (Desert part of oz) but the decided to scrap that and make some money and police it with a 110 kph speed limit. It seems that driving endless distances at unrealistic boring speeds is safe whilist having police campaigns on how "Fatigue Kills' and other slogans etc.
Damn government likes taking our cash but gives little in return.:cussing
- Adam

Hi Adam,
I think it is just a matter of time ´til we will have a speed limit on the German Autobahn.

200kph LOL. Nice post mate it made me laugh. Was it scary ? I Cant wait to get the Notch done. The radar detector is a must with conversions like these in AUS. FTP!

Don't get caught with a radar detector.....
Glad you got it all sorted.How did the cooling system go?? Were the temps OK?

yes it is very satisfying have a fast beetle - aircooled or Subie - especialy with that sort of respect from performance 'junkies' like bikers! :thumb

very cool.

Hi Mick,
I got that one wrong! It is indeed very tempting to go to fast in certain areas. My beetle is just like it was last year. But this year I have to use it as my daily driver, because I sold my Subaru Legacy RS (Turbo).
I rode 5.500 km with my beetle this year (that is may til today). I had several similar funny encounters with sports cars etc., but this one was just the last.

[ Edited on 11-7-2007 by subaruboxer ]

200kph is good. I've calculated mine will do 192kph, in third. It won't go any faster in fourth because my gearing is too tall (0.70:1 4th) compared to the massive air resistance in a Baja.

I haven't had a chance to test my top speed though. There is nowhere to do it here, and besides, the baja is so unaerodynamic you don't really want to go very fast in it All the air goes under the high front fenders and makes it wander a lot.

But I don't like my conversion cos it's fast top speed wise. I love it because it's so smooth, it sounds great, it runs beautifully, it has torque everywhere, I can rev it to nearly 8000rpm if I want to, it has digital climate control and it gets the same fuel economy as the old VW motor did.

Hi Wes,

you are right it is not just the top speed that makes a beetle with Subaru engine so good. The torque is the biggest fun factor to me, too.

I would do it again, even if we would have a speed limit here. The fuel economy is really good, 8,5l for 100 km is great!!

[ Edited on 7-9-2007 by subaruboxer ]

Nice one Jorgen

Just done the maths (we still use MPG in the UK, 33mpg), what gearbox are you running?
I have a 'project bug' and this is tempting for use as a daily driver

Around town I think I get about 10L/100km, if I didn't get into the throttle so much I'd probably get better. On the highway it only improves to around the 9L/100km, again hindered by the terrible Baja aerodynamics.

My gearbox is an L-bug box with longer third (1,22) and fourth (0,82) gear. I paid 800 € outright for it. It is really good!