Autocrossing a Looker?
alex d:
Quote from: Nico86 on February 10, 2020, 18:51:58 pm
I probably should have asked this before writing all of this, but maybe your definition of "autocross" is different in the US than it is over here ?
yes autocross in Europe and in the US are two completely different sports :)
Nico86:
Quote from: alex d on February 11, 2020, 09:20:55 am
Quote from: Nico86 on February 10, 2020, 18:51:58 pm
I probably should have asked this before writing all of this, but maybe your definition of "autocross" is different in the US than it is over here ?
yes autocross in Europe and in the US are two completely different sports :)
Yeah I saw that afterwards :D Then there's not much more to do than what has always been done on VWs for a mild flat track use.
Putting a bigger front sway-bar and camber compensator is something yes, but the tires will have to fit them too. Installing big sway-bars with 135s front and 205s rear will be totally useless as this tire combination, as nice looking as it is, is actually giving quite awful results when you drive anything else than a straight line.
Shocks as well, KYBs, gas-shocks, and what's often put on lowered Beetles are terrible. Very narrowed front beams are quite awful as well.
And your ride height will have to be adjusted for all of this to be efficient. Forget the classic cal-look "rake", it's only good for the 1/4 mile. Looking at a lot of rally Beetles/Porsches you can see the back sits actually slightly lower than the front, that's what helps getting into tight cornering and keeping traction. Though I believe it's mostly true for 1302s/1303s, on a Beetle with a classic front beam raising the nose closer to the rear height will improve things already a lot.
I have never tried the rear-sway bar myself, but I've always heard bad things about it especially on a swing-axle car, and on a wet road. Camber compensator or axle belts seems to be the most efficient. The Z-bar, I have heard as many guys telling me to remove it than guys telling me to keep it.
The first thing I would do before buying any of this would be to put money into good wheels and tires in the right sizes. In my opinion it's the first thing that will really change the way a car handles. Then from this to try and test different things. Stock sway-bar vs. bigger sway-bar, then replace the shocks, then a camber compensator, Z-bar vs. no Z-bar, ride heights, etc... and see what feels good with your driving.
I also believe a Beetle with a few of these things tuned properly can do as good as a lot of more powerful cars. I don't know what's your engine but if you got a few more hp's than a stock VW engine it could be really fun !
andrewlandon67:
Quote from: Nico86 on February 12, 2020, 04:02:47 am
Quote from: alex d on February 11, 2020, 09:20:55 am
Quote from: Nico86 on February 10, 2020, 18:51:58 pm
I probably should have asked this before writing all of this, but maybe your definition of "autocross" is different in the US than it is over here ?
yes autocross in Europe and in the US are two completely different sports :)
Yeah I saw that afterwards :D Then there's not much more to do than what has always been done on VWs for a mild flat track use.
Putting a bigger front sway-bar and camber compensator is something yes, but the tires will have to fit them too. Installing big sway-bars with 135s front and 205s rear will be totally useless as this tire combination, as nice looking as it is, is actually giving quite awful results when you drive anything else than a straight line.
Shocks as well, KYBs, gas-shocks, and what's often put on lowered Beetles are terrible. Very narrowed front beams are quite awful as well.
And your ride height will have to be adjusted for all of this to be efficient. Forget the classic cal-look "rake", it's only good for the 1/4 mile. Looking at a lot of rally Beetles/Porsches you can see the back sits actually slightly lower than the front, that's what helps getting into tight cornering and keeping traction. Though I believe it's mostly true for 1302s/1303s, on a Beetle with a classic front beam raising the nose closer to the rear height will improve things already a lot.
I have never tried the rear-sway bar myself, but I've always heard bad things about it especially on a swing-axle car, and on a wet road. Camber compensator or axle belts seems to be the most efficient. The Z-bar, I have heard as many guys telling me to remove it than guys telling me to keep it.
The first thing I would do before buying any of this would be to put money into good wheels and tires in the right sizes. In my opinion it's the first thing that will really change the way a car handles. Then from this to try and test different things. Stock sway-bar vs. bigger sway-bar, then replace the shocks, then a camber compensator, Z-bar vs. no Z-bar, ride heights, etc... and see what feels good with your driving.
I also believe a Beetle with a few of these things tuned properly can do as good as a lot of more powerful cars. I don't know what's your engine but if you got a few more hp's than a stock VW engine it could be really fun !
Well, I'm still gonna keep the nose down a good bit, but my tires aren't anywhere near the extreme 135/205, they're 175 front 185 rear, and only a 2 inch narrowed beam to make up for the wide 5 discs pushing the wheels out. In my mind my 1914 should push my heap around a little course pretty well ;)
Martin S.:
When my car was close to stock other than maybe a Bug spray, a Fourtuned header and a HD sway bar, my friend and I decided to make a skid pad at a local mall empty parking lot. We spray painted a big circle into the pavement and then took turns driving in circles, straddling the line as fast as we could. His stock early 240Z and my 68 bug. It was interesting to see how close the two cars were in max speed.
Until a cop showed up and said wtf. ???
Nico86:
175 and 185 sounds like a good setup ;) And a narrowed beam is fine as long as in the end you are close to stock track width. You can now play around with different settings and adjustements, and take a look at getting good shocks. If you ever get into racing some more take a look at tires with a lower profile.
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