Beachbuggy,
DuneBuggy, Hotrod!
Superbuggy2165 is
about the ground up build of my 2165
VW Type 1 engined LWB GP Beachbuggy, Dunebuggy.
This model was actually called a GP "Superbuggy",
a sort of LWB Manx type buggy with big
arches and curves, too boot!. It was built,
pretty much to be a
streetracer beachbuggy that could accelerate
from 0-60 in under 6" and
handle like a sportscar, a sort of 911
beachbuggy if you like, ---- Mission
Acomplished!, it now does what it says
on the tin (or fibreglass...)!
(I know that there
are much faster VW's about ,especially the
amazing turbo conversions out there, but
its all relative, really, you've got to find
your own, and the cars happy balance of power,
handling, and grip.
My all time favourite picture,
this pic of SB2165, taken at Ogmore beach near
Bridgend, South Wales, UK, shows it off, in front
of one of its favourite places, however legally
, cars are not allowed on beaches in the UK,
Health and safety, etc, still I wouldnt drive
it anyway, too much salt....
I know that SWB dune buggies look
cooler most of the time, but I wanted to take
my kids out in it so 4 usable seats it had to
have, plus it
looks good lowered, plus LWB buggies are more
stable and handle better, plus blah, blah, blah....But
for for added cred, GP LWB beachbuggy's have
also "starred" in
a James Bond film (For Your Eyes Only).
I have added sections on the
general buildup, engine build, body/chassis,
and dune buggy wheels and tyres.
So in brief, the specs are :
Engine : JMR machining, 2165/Engle120 cam,self ported 40/35.5 043 heads, Scat 78 cast crank (oh the shame), Mahle 94mmB/P, 1 5/8 merged header and custom stainless steel straight through box.
Chassis : Lowered by dropped spindles at the front and spline rotation at the rear, aluminium side panels (Lotus7 look), IRS conversion, modified rear coil over shocks (shorter springs), 911 front seats-tombstone style, Machine 7 steering wheel, front discs.
Wheels & Tyres : Rear 10x15 custom Ultralite split rim alloys & 265/60 Tyres, Front 7x14 Superlite 1 piece alloys & 195/60 Tyres
HOW DOES IT DRIVE?
Strangely, you don't see many
descriptions of how a tuned VW performs on the
road, let alone a tuned beachbuggy or dunebuggy, so here's
my account :
With a torquey 2.2 litre engine, 1400lb bodyweight
and a Front/Rear weight distribution of 40/60
the car accelerates like a mad thing, you rev
up to about 6700rpm, let the clutch out, the
rear tyres scrabble for grip momentarily untill the car
uses its superb traction to launch to 60
in six seconds, while still accelerating
upto about 90mph where you have to change
into 4th ( using the stock 4.125 box ). The actual
top speed is about 115mph which isn't helped by its poor aerodynamics,
while it fuel economy tends to hover about the low twenties mpg due to my
driving style, if you can call it that.
Not much
can touch it on normal city roads, (the acceleration
is similar to a Nissan 350Z), but on a cruise
I tend to travel at about 70mph for reasons realated
to speeding fines, engine longevity , noise and
fuel consumption, and the fact that when you're
cruising you tend to chill a bit more and just
enjoy the views that a true open top car can
offer.
The handling is excellent
in the dry with superb front
and rear grip, and at higher speeds the rear
end squats down as you use the throttle to
launch you out of sweeping corners, just like
a 911. However in the wet its
a totally different matter, dangerous in inexperienced
hands, you really watch out on roundabouts,
as the car could easily 4 wheel drift sideways,
or oversteer on the smallest of puddles, so
you really must drive carefully and
smoothly. I try not to drive in the wet anyway
because of the dirt ( just like having a smart
motorbike, you have to clean it after a wet
ride) , plus with the top up its a horrible
place to be, all boomy noise, steamed up windows,
leaky water drips and very limited all round
vision, thanks, but no thanks. So basically
its an absolute pleasure to drive on any dry
day, including sunny cool days during autumn
or winter, and even at night where driving
a car like this seems so out of the ordiary
that it seems like an illegal activity.
Beachbuggy law no1 : Thou shalt have cool wheels!
The left wheel is my original 8x15 very heavy steel wheel, and the right wheel is my 10" split rim alloy Ultralite, relatively expensive but worth it, the split rim arrangement helped me to fit the wheels inside the rear wide arches precisely.
As a beachbuggy has
such an exposed rear end the wheel
and tyre sizes are vital to a good lookin'
rear! |
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This is what it looked like originally with the chrome steel 8x15 and 6x14 interceptors, quite good, but these wheels were very heavy, and lacked the class of alloys.They also looked a bit lost in the rear wheelarches. |
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