Who said old Beetles can't handle? - Page 5

Tim the Grey · 15 Oct 2009, 13:56 (Ref:2561973)

I have to say I have long avoided Drag Racing, as it's just too short to be interesting! I shall now give it a go, if only whilst rolling numbers round my head!

Beany · 15 Oct 2009, 14:57 (Ref:2562005)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim the Grey

I shall now give it a go, if only whilst rolling numbers round my head!

You do have a point with the too short to be interesting bit...I'd say you are more likely to get Drag Racers turning to circuit racing (Like me) than the other way round....Once you've raced on a circuit, straight lining seems quite basic!

One thing I would say though is that, like other motorsports, there is actually a lot more skill and knowledge required than you think.

Here's a tip for anyone thinking of going to a Run What Ya Brung. If you are going to use a road based car on treaded tyres "drive AROUND the water." avoid it like the plague. Then wait until the other guy is ready to stage and just do a quick (dry) spin to remove all the rubbish off your tyres and then go straight up to the line while the tyres are still warm. Don't line up in the tracks of the previous people (move 8 or 10 inches to the left or right) especially if they were front wheel drive as most of them would have driven through the water or done a feeble burnout and carried the water up to the startline.

Works every time!

Maybe we should organise a 'Historic Racers' trip to the Pod or the Brighten Speed Trials!

911thillclimber · 15 Oct 2009, 17:34 (Ref:2562101)

I do not see how a Drag race is too short as that is the very point of it.
Go very fast = short race.

The day is action packed. No time for lunch breaks, and the action in the paddock/pits is just as interesting esp if you are a techie type.

Noticed that 10/10th's does not have a Drag Section?

My personal favorite, but I'm an ex Street rodder at heart....

morninggents · 15 Oct 2009, 23:10 (Ref:2562336)

Quote:

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

I do not see how a Drag race is too short as that is the very point of it.
Go very fast = short race.

The day is action packed. No time for lunch breaks, and the action in the paddock/pits is just as interesting esp if you are a techie type.

Noticed that 10/10th's does not have a Drag Section?

My personal favorite, but I'm an ex Street rodder at heart....

Reckon the top one's about right for the Spa 6 hours and the bottom one for the Goodwood 50s saloon race.

GORDON STREETER · 15 Oct 2009, 23:30 (Ref:2562345)

Quote:

Originally Posted by morninggents

Reckon the top one's about right for the Spa 6 hours and the bottom one for the Goodwood 50s saloon race.

I don't think the top one would go through Eau Rouge flat out though !
and as for the six hour, how many tanker loads of fuel would it use ? let alone an engine rebuild every lap

morninggents · 16 Oct 2009, 11:56 (Ref:2562666)

[QUOTE=GORDON STREETER;2562345]I don't think the top one would go through Eau Rouge flat out though !

But how many of us do?

Anyway ...... what's an old b***er like you doing up at that time of night ..... on your way out clubbing?

GORDON STREETER · 16 Oct 2009, 12:36 (Ref:2562687)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

I don't think the top one would go through Eau Rouge flat out though !

Originally posted by morninggents>
But how many of us do?

Anyway ...... what's an old b***er like you doing up at that time of night ..... on your way out clubbing?

I do once the tyres are scrubbed. and I suffer from insomnia since I stopped racing

zefarelly · 16 Oct 2009, 19:21 (Ref:2562902)

Roger, this is a quick Cortina . . . . although even at 1925cc its probably slower than the top ten U2TC cars . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PawGTjbphes

johnh875 · 19 Oct 2009, 07:39 (Ref:2564292)

Thanks for the reply Beany - I should add I had the swing axle jacking on a skidpan not the road! I don't think I've seen those videos before - thanks.

I've done "off street" drag racing in my ute - "race" prep consists of "installing" a coolant overflow catch bottle and token efforts at weight saving like the sump guard (4mm steel). Only run a 15.9sec time but it took some doing to get under 16sec.

Roger if the Bizzarrini (or any car really) has a strong clutch you could spend quite some time trying to get the optimum run out of that, it is all in the launch & first 60 foot.

I actually liken drag racing to golf, on the surface pretty simple but a lot of work to get right.

Beany · 19 Oct 2009, 10:05 (Ref:2564383)

Quote:

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

I do not see how a Drag race is too short as that is the very point of it.

True!...and I'm glad it's only 1/4 mile. It was nice to brag that my Beetle (with the old 2007cc engine) could out-drag a 911 Turbo, but if the track was 1/2 mile, I'd have been stuffed!!

This is what I used to get up to before getting bitten by the historics (ooh!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmmD-MIbzEk

Note: For comparison I've been told a Bugatti Veyron will run a 10.4 1/4 mile

Beany · 19 Oct 2009, 10:16 (Ref:2564392)

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnh875

Only run a 15.9sec time but it took some doing to get under 16sec.

Probably telling you something you already know, but have you tried pumping the front tyres up so they are hard as bullets!

Very few people think of doing it, but it costs nothing and can get you a couple of 10ths.

911thillclimber · 19 Oct 2009, 11:56 (Ref:2564519)

Interesting you were involved in the Darag Racing.

Back (sorry..) in 1970 I and an army of mates went to Santa Pod to watch and then had a dabble in my firends Model T Ford with a SBChevy.

We went hard into Street Rods for years till about mid 80's and then he dragged a Camaro SS and I bought my 911, selling the street rods and left it behind me.

He built a plane (selling the SS) and I went into hillclimbs with my now modified 911, and now my 911 powered Lola.

Every time I see a hot rod I look back, and hence at the drags now it all floods back.

Good times with the Bonfire Night meetings at the Pod!

Beany · 19 Oct 2009, 12:32 (Ref:2564571)

All this talk of horsepower reminded me of something.

Who remembers VW's advert for the Karmann Ghia? If only our politicians were this honest!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiBNtGSzrp4

johnh875 · 21 Oct 2009, 07:34 (Ref:2565996)

Played with rear tyre pressures, can't remember if I did the fronts or not. Also remember taking out the spare once or twice but not after that as I figured it was behind the axle & therefore helping traction...

As for the 1/4 mile being too short I disagree, the track I ran at was capable of running pretty quick cars & had heaps of runoff so I probably was getting close to 1/2 mile before hitting the brakes a couple of times (mind you still not a heap of speed). We had one car turn up & run 8.?? at 155mph in a street car (VL Commodore turbo), but no roll cage - he only got one run with us!

Getting back within the same universe as the topic, there was an offroad racing Karmann Ghia out here years ago! As in full-on desert race style, with 3 feet of suspension travel (in fact I think it may have been more). It ran a triple-weber'd PRV V6. The Karmann Ghia body was chosen for being rear-engined & also good for sponsorship profile.

911thillclimber · 21 Oct 2009, 21:33 (Ref:2566660)

Just to keep the Karmann Ghia bit going, tonight after a very long thread on 10/10ths a pic of my Lola with it's late 80's body has turned up!

Beany · 23 Oct 2009, 07:25 (Ref:2567687)

John875...Try pumping your fronts up to 40psi+ next time at the track. If it makes a difference on a 1550lb 'rear engined' Beetle, it'll make a difference on a big heavy V6 or V8 'Ute'

Not sure I'd like to run an 8 second 1/4, without a cage. Cars that run sub 9 second runs aren't the most stable things and once they go, they don't stop rolling!

911thillclimber...Great pic...I love that!! Does it come with a nomex batman mask?

911thillclimber · 23 Oct 2009, 17:38 (Ref:2568135)

All the details are on my thread in History on 10/10ths.

It's a bit different today. The Ghia was back in 1987.
Car now looks like this:

rogerwills · 24 Oct 2009, 18:55 (Ref:2568829)

This Citroen 2CV would give your beetle a run for its money I reckon Beany.....

http://www.fayerwayer.com/2009/06/ci...ri-citrorrari/

Tim the Grey · 27 Oct 2009, 18:20 (Ref:2570906)

Breadvan MK2... I love it.

Beany · 29 Oct 2009, 13:43 (Ref:2572001)

Quote:

Originally Posted by rogerwills

This Citroen 2CV would give your beetle a run for its money I reckon Beany..

Like a 2CV version of the VW 'Racetaxi' Splitscreen.

I think a standard 2CV would have given me a run for my money this season after the gearbox "specialist!!" put a ridiculously tall 4th gear in my car. I spent most of my season 'off cam'.....More Bonneville than Brands, which is why I was a sitting duck on the straights.

We're gonna pop the 4th from my old Drag racing box in there for 2010 which will bring the max down to around 104mph (may have to run taller Dunlop 'L's for snetterton and Spa though)

**skycafe** · 30 Oct 2009, 23:34 (Ref:2572766)

Jeepers, Beany's Beetle is a cool little effort; I well remember a Super Beetle briefly in IMSA RS series, and a SCCA GT5 beetle (tube frame) more then a decade ago, but all these other postings have just blown me away.
Madness. Total madness.
Yet, oddly I love it.

robert

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