hey all,

i was jus curious if anyone knew specific engine power and torque of a 1915 cc? d engine in my buggy is supposedly only a 1600 which i dunno yet but dun think itll b anythin impressive. so i was jus curious if theres much difference between the two in a drastic sense or would it jus b feasible to look at a subaru conversion if im gonna b forkin out money?

eeekk.. how long is a piece of string? Typical 1916cc with Kadrons and not-too-stupid cam has around 90hp at the tyres

yeah u can get about 2X the hp output at about 3 -4 X the price!
for that big go water cooled

hmm is 90 hp at the tyres alot for a buggy? i mean it dun sound like much but i hav no clue on how these things go, like if u were to compare it wit say between an excel and a wrx which would it be closer to?

90hp at the treads is a fair bit in a buggy it would really get up an move and no pipes or that stuff that leaks out all the time what do you call it the stuff you wash your car with ahhh thats it water :vader

water has got to be better since they dont make aircooled any more

but every thing has water in it now


bang for buck water wins every time no argument

If you like water go for a swim me air for ever unless i get out of dubs but that wont happen. Even if i was going to put a water bottle in my engine bay it would never be a subie or anything else 4cyl i dont see the point you are taking a old worn out 4cyl out and replaceing it with another one thats half worn out and you have no back ground history it may not even go and has been sitting in a recking yard for how ever long in the rain no thanks. In my bug i would never put somthing water cooled all you need is one stick one tree root and its all over call the tow truck even if there more reliable how long are they going to go with a broken off sump and i stick through a water hose ??

thanx for d info ppl! d 1916 sounds pretty damn good. So wat would u reckon it costs to get someone to do it. i kno noone can gimme an exact figure but ballpark would b great

owee. this is getting nasty.

I did not say they do not use a lot of Vw gear but I still stand by the Fact they Are not a VW made item and as such who cares what brand bits you use in them as they have no factory base model to go by. You can always stick to your VW motor if you wish. But even you are planing to use teh subi motor and not a VW motor.
This is the joy of a buggy you can use whatever you wish to try to adapt to them or if you want to stay with the tried and tested ideas you can do that as well.

I agree there is very little VW left in my buggy. The Body is gone, the floorpan cut in half, floor replaced with sheet, after market bushes, bearings, seals, subaru motor, kombi gearbox with all after market gears etc etc.

When you get right down to it the only thing VW left on my buggy is the torsion bar suspension, 1/10th of the original floorpan, and a kombi gearbox outer shell.

But I still think of it as a VW derivative. The VW scene is where buggies seem to fit in the world of cars. and I like taking my buggy to VW shows. I don't want the VW guys to think "A buggy is no longer a vw so why pretend it is. " So don't come to our shows any more. Cuz that would suck.

So I'm not arguing with you, I agree that at the end of the day you can do whatever you like to your buggy, or any VW for that matter.

I'm not pretending my buggy is a VW, but It will still be a VW derivative.

MUD BASHING ANYONE ?? You underestimate the power of the dark side. In time you will understand, it is ... inevitable.

Go for a drive is Baja Wes' V6 Baja and you'll know what I'm on about.

aawwwww group hug time!!

Yeah group hug. It's been one of those days, and I'm over it.

hey everyone sounds good wat everyones throwin out with ideas, but seems like a 1916 is gonna cost alot of money. i was sorta hopin that maybe i could get some bang within a 2-3k range. i mean the 1916 for 8500 im sure would go hard as but haha im a uni student so funds for me r strict.

does anyone kno wat the cost of turbo'ing would be? or a relatively cheap solution for power at all?

thanx heaps

Oh hi brad its amazing how you jump out from behind your rock when somone starts saying bad things about subies and yes 4wds are water cooled but there were desinged to be and there are no or very little water hoses in danger but you cant hide them that well in a buggie when water pipes go from back to front with a radiator sitting out in the open up front and remember one stick and your walking dude! or i could tow you with mine.
Mike m i agree no one knows manxs as subie beach buggies or what ever there a vw beach buggie and based on genuie vw stuff and i agree wes v6 would have some serious go in there and why would you wast your time with a stinken subie motor when you could have that i dont see the point maybe i cant see it but i build cars for off road not to take to the drags on the weekend and the most offroad action it will see is getting up your drive way, sorry if i pissed anyone off im just specking my mind

Ok this is a good indication of why either the v6 or the subi is a good choice for water cooled. As torque is what it is all about in offroad cars it is plain to see the facts.

i still like the warm fuzzy feeling i get when i'm up the end of the track/beach with a 40 year old car, technology and bits totalling $2000, while the 100 series owners are worried their 32x11.5s wont get them home and whether the scratches will buff out or need some paint, or else they've already turned around 'cause its too much to risk...

oh yea, its also about a real lack of $$$ for me. if my poxy old 1600 wont get me out at 3 pound, i'll have a bit of a dig and let it down to 2 pound. if that dont work, its exponential traction at 1 pound. with no valves in tyres it'll paddle through powder (try it youself, you'll get goosebumps when its off the clutch). when this motor goes, i'll see my freindy neighbouhood vw feind and redo a bitsa.

if i wanted and could afford something to do the canning & beyond, i'd strip and rebuild. this would be the time to consider a scooby donk. otherwise, they'd be more use in bay kombis chukking lazy laps of this wide brown land.

hey mick H im in sydney down near campbelltown. im tryin to put a new engine in my car an i was thinkin eitha a 1916, turboin the 1600 i got or goin for subaru power. suby would b d best specially if i could turbo dat

Im going to leave it here and say bring it out my style offroading not hard sand or the sanding quater and well see how good these really are as i have seen these motors offroad and i will be sweet so see you all in the bush if you can get there bye

Just wondering if your aiming for a mostly offroad, or onroad buggy? My subi powered buggy is a little pocket rocket on the road, has more go than my turbo laser running 15psi boost and other mods! But... comparing it to other vw powered buggies on the beach, it's no better, the extra power is ruined by wheelspin and extra weight.

Well said Ratbug.

I think most people need to put more effort into suspension, tyres and setup of the car and less into trying to make it a rocket offroad.

I have gone from a oil ozzing standard 1600 SP to a 1835 TP motor. On the dunes, the 1835 makes a fair bit of difference in getting up the harder dunes. But, offroad, on dirt/mud tracks and hills, it has made no difference.

Some people seem to be more concerned about how much power of how big there motor is, rather than how good the car is at doing what you want it to do.

Just my 2 cents....now with inflation down to 1 1/2...

Mark.

I think for beach use just about any motor will do. This was proved when we did the manx club run with the red rocket zooming about. Was either a 1300 or 1600 and standard as. The same for moderate off road. But if you saw where some of the guys like wes, brad, dyno, mud bashing go and quite a few others I reckon it does not matter if you use water or air cooled you need heaps of torque and to try and keep the revs down . That is why with the aircooled guys they like the type 4s and strokers. Otherwise you have to attact everything with a shit load of revs so you can get up it. Then again that always looks impressive for the bystanders :P
As for the aircooled Vs water cooled that is something that I suspect will never see agreement by both sides.