Yesterday while driving on the Meritt Parkway in NY going up to Conn, I went head to head with a Turbo Beetle, lets end any misconceptions here, for one thing the Beetle could not catch me, and going into some sharp turns he became nothing but a blur. The usual dumb grin I usually have on my face while driving was twice as big at this point. The beetle contined to follow me into Stamford, where we pulled over and exchanged a few words and went about his business, it's nice to get the "nod"!!

 

The Beetle's turbo 1.8L is a sweet engine but marred by a pedestrian and rather dated chassis. The same exact handling problems are seen in the Jetta/Golf/GTI derivatives since they all share the current MKIV platform.

To me the Beetle is the classic clown car. There is nothing appealing about the current model and not even the 1.8L Turbo engine and the upcoming Cabriolet model can make up for its glaring deficiencies.

A 'REAL' Beetle is RWD and has an air cooled opposite piston rear mounted engine. The new one is just a masked economy car that has nothing to do with the old one, except by name.

Unlike the classic Mini, the old Beetles were never known for their handling prowess or rally competition wins. Rather they are remembered as sturdy, reliable cheap transportation devices and since they were sold for much longer in the US than the old Mini ever did, they do have a stronger following.

Besides, the original **** ties of the Beetle have never sit well with me either. Remember that Hitler was the force behind the Volkswagen (People's car in German) Beetle before WWII. This is just a personal rant, so take it for what is worth.

 

Good job man!! I used to own a VW Golf then i sold it and got an S too. I went head to head with a GTS celica and the other day i was with a new 1.8T GTi. I also left him but he was close. Keep motoring. Have you done any mods to your car yet ? :smile:

 

>>The Beetle's turbo 1.8L is a sweet engine but marred by a pedestrian and rather dated chassis. The same exact handling problems are seen in the Jetta/Golf/GTI derivatives since they all share the current MKIV platform.
>>
>>To me the Beetle is the classic clown car. There is nothing appealing about the current model and not even the 1.8L Turbo engine and the upcoming Cabriolet model can make up for its glaring deficiencies.
>>
>>A 'REAL' Beetle is RWD and has an air cooled opposite piston rear mounted engine. The new one is just a masked economy car that has nothing to do with the old one, except by name.
>>
>>Unlike the classic Mini, the old Beetles were never known for their handling prowess or rally competition wins.

What about Herbie?!

Herbie's my favorite all-time movie/TV car. #2 being K.I.T.T.

 

Herbie was a cutesy Beetle but still a clown car.

 

Hi Stuman, no mods as of yet, anxiously waiting for the John Cooper upgrade which I for sure add on to my pride and Joy!!

 

>>What about Herbie?!

 

There's something you'll learn right off the bat when attending competition racing driver school. It's not the car that wins, it's the skills in the driver's head that overcomes all. The best way to modify your car is to mod the hell outta your head with the proper skills and training. That in itself will add HP, figuritively speaking.
One thing a lot of people either forget, don't know, or don't mention is that in a car race of any sorts, you're not beating the car.....................You're beating the driver. Driving skills is what determines a lot of races. Of course there's always the obvious race where you can tell its the vehicle that did the winning if you're in a V8 vs a 4banger.
With vehicles so close to each other's performance #'s such as the MCS vs the Celica GTS or the Turbo Beetle, it's not the car that's winning, IMO. With equal driving skills and knowledge those would be a tight race.
I find it amusing, but mostly annoying when I hear some 18 year old punk kid bragging about some race that he won with a car that has more power than his. It's obvious the other guy didn't know what he was doing.
Don't mean to sound like a downer or burst any bubbles here, but if that Beetle was sooo far back like a blur, than the V-Dub Dummie owner didn't know what he/she was doing. That should have been a close race. With a driver that knows what he/she is doing, it pits up well with an MCS.
Had an instance with a highly modded & NOSed Civic vs my '01 SVT Lightning. He was at the line at an intersection. I was in the lane next to him but stuck one car behind. He blasts off. I then use the spot he created to get around the car in front of me, and take off after him. He's using everything he has to get away. I pick him off a few seconds later. He then brags that he almost had me there. What a reject child. Told him if he really believed that, than to go back, line up side by side this time, and with the knowledge that we both have the intent on racing this time, which wasn't known before, and see what happens. He of course refused.
Cheers,

 

I think MINI-Madman has a point. But also consider this post by RandyBMC. I don't know Randy personally, but after reading his posts, get the idea that he has decent knowledge of how to handle a car.... Maybe his wife being in the car had something to do with it - but I'm guessing that the terrain and "race" settings had the most impact (this one sounded curvy; Randy's was straight line.)

 

Congrats, I8AMINI. What type of road was it? Just curious, as I had a similar encounter, and from the light, while we stayed within a car length or so, the Turbo Beetle did win the straight line contest. What wheels are on your car? That makes a difference with off the line acceleration as well.

As an update - the car is now faster than a turbo - the black Beetle that I ran against (closed track, professional drivers, don't try this at home) lives in the local area, and just today on the grocery store/dry cleaning run, I ran into him again. With the UJ from Cooperflags, he didn't realize it was me until the second stop light. He was surprised to see the car eek out a lead (so was I).

That said, the car is still the most fun up in the mountains on the twisties. We very much enjoyed the Alpine Rally drive that MINI5280 had here in Colorado on last Saturday!

Newest components: Borla exaust, Pipercross S intake.

As I said before, I will be faster MUUUUAAAAHAAAAHAAA MUUUAAAAHAAAHAAAHAAA!

Randy
randy@mini-motorsport.com

 

Even when the engine may not be on par with other cars, you can loose them when heading into twisties. There is no comparision in handling with the Mini.

 

a mini owners wet dream 75 miles of twisties ahead. motor on. brg mcs

 

>>I think MINI-Madman has a point. But also consider this post by RandyBMC. I don't know Randy personally, but after reading his posts, get the idea that he has decent knowledge of how to handle a car.... Maybe his wife being in the car had something to do with it - but I'm guessing that the terrain and "race" settings had the most impact (this one sounded curvy; Randy's was straight line.)


By the sounds of it though, the Beetle had a couple mods to it, whereas the MCS had a passenger and running stock by the looks of it. Stock to stock, they should run pretty close to eachother.

 

>>Yesterday while driving on the Meritt Parkway in NY going up to Conn.

Hey, who gave you permission to drive on my road , there are a lot more like it but that is the fastest. There is a push to widen the parkway to 4 lanes in each direction, but that would ruin the road for what it is, the entire lenght is designated as a scenic route and it should stay as such. The best thing about it, because of the terrain, there aren't too many places for cops to hide and if you drive the road often enough, you quickly learn where those are.

It would make a great motoring run for a MINI meet, at legal speeds of course

X2

 

>>Congrats, I8AMINI. What type of road was it? Just curious, as I had a similar encounter, and from the light, while we stayed within a car length or so, the Turbo Beetle did win the straight line contest. What wheels are on your car? That makes a difference with off the line acceleration as well.
>>
>>As an update - the car is now faster than a turbo - the black Beetle that I ran against (closed track, professional drivers, don't try this at home) lives in the local area, and just today on the grocery store/dry cleaning run, I ran into him again. With the UJ from Cooperflags, he didn't realize it was me until the second stop light. He was surprised to see the car eek out a lead (so was I).
>>
>>That said, the car is still the most fun up in the mountains on the twisties. We very much enjoyed the Alpine Rally drive that MINI5280 had here in Colorado on last Saturday!
>>
>>Newest components: Borla exaust, Pipercross S intake.
>>
>>As I said before, I will be faster MUUUUAAAAHAAAAHAAA MUUUAAAAHAAAHAAAHAAA!
>>
>>Randy
>>randy@mini-motorsport.com

It was the Meritt Parkway crossing from NY to Conn. Our race wasn't an off the line start, he started egging me on and with no traffic insight just went at it. I will admit my driving skills may have been better then his, as I use to race my 84 VW GTI Rabbit for sport some years ago. But I just didn't feel like I was milking my car with everything she had and the Beetle. absolutly could not keep up in some of the turns, maybe he didn't know how to take then, I don't know, but either way it was a blast!

 

AAAHHHHhhh, now it becomes clear to me - the key quote - "in the turns". I've had the opportunity to push 911s through turns. You should absolutely be able to run away from a Beetle in turns, and the momentum that you carry in exit speed will leave the VW in the dust down the straights as well.

Sounds like a fun road!