Racing my bug - UK

[Chris Percival]

A couple of weeks ago I raced my bug at my local circuit. I have attached a picture. I have a movie too, but its about 45 MB, could it be hosted here on germanlook.com?

[Wally]

Chris,
Very cool!
Nice picture also. How did it go? How did your brakes hold up?
Any oil pressure problems in long curves?

Hope to see the video somewhere...

Walter

[Tim]

Very impressive with your other post in superbeetleonly.com. I am building a 1303 for circuit racing in my country but for somehow the project is progressing very slow that I most likely cannot meet the coming race in June. I look forward very much to seeing your movie.

Tim

[Chris Percival]

Yes, here is that post in question: http://www.superbeetlesonly.com/cgi-bin/iB3/ikonboard.cgi?s=3eb8f256553fffff;act=ST;f=7;t=39

The car went very well, brakes (stock disks and drums) were fine, no fade problems, mainly because I really didn't have to slow down much for the corners! :D No oil pressure problems, I have a deep sump, which I guess helped (although I didn't have any problems last time without the deep sump).. Battery in the front helped, although I also carried round my toolbox, as I had nowhere else to put it! Car was fantastic, just need more power...

[vujade]

seems like you had alot of fun :)

wish we could get something like that going here in the SE US.

[Sandeep]

Chris,

Really cool ! I'm looking forward to doing that this summer.

OK, We can host it here. How can you send us the video ? Its 45MB. Too big for email.

Suggestions ?

Also, if you have more racing pics, we could put them into the general gallery ... or maybe we should start a racing gallery as soon as more of us get our bugs on the track ?

email is ssyan@digitalminds.ca for submissions.

Sandeep

[NYBugman1972]

You probably could host it on www.imagestation.com and put a link on the forum. I know they support mpeg hosting, but I don't know if there is a size limit.

EDIT: It's 40 megs max for video. Any way of editing it down?

[Chris Percival]

I could cut it down, but a friend of mine did it, so its not so easy for me.. I will try to find some way of hosting it (maybe just temporarily)..

[Sandeep]

Chris,

If you could host it temporarily, I could download the video through the link, and then host on GL.com, with your permission ofcourse.

Sandeep

[Chris Percival]

Thats the plan, I sent you an email to ssyan@digitalminds.ca..

[Sandeep]

Nice bit of driving Chris !

The video's have been uploaded to the multimedia gallery. 7.25mb clip and 44.3mb clip. BROADBAND REQUIRED :D

Sandeep

[NYBugman1972]

Nice driving! Makes me wish there was a track that was close to me. Oh wait, there will be:D One of these days I'll get to see what my car can do. Whoopie!

There were some really cool cars there. I especially liked the Mini that passed that yellow Vauxhall/Opel in the beginning. Also, what's with the Mk2 Golf, or as I like to call him, "Capt. Understeer"? It got a little scary for a second there:eek:

The "jet engined" triumph was pretty cool and that oversteering Subaru Legacy was a nice bit of excitement.

I can't wait for the next installment!

[Alex]

That Golf guy made me laugh. Each time he took the corner he tried to undesteer just a little more.

Great video. Nice rides on the track.

Alex

[Chris Percival]

Fantastic! Thanks Sandeep... Yes, great video isn't it? I had fun making it! I don't think I was able to lift the front inside wheel though, more tweeking required.. Thanks to my friend Dale from www.bathaircooled.co.uk for making it.. Next time I hope to mount a camera inside the car.. :D That golf got a telling off from the marshals when it came off the track...

[Chris Percival]

Note also that the small video is just a small section of the large video, its not the same video..

[Rob]

That's a great video !

Did you do a lot of suspension / engine work to the car ?

Rob.

[Chris Percival]

Mods include:

toplineparts.com adjustable struts
Bugpack front and rear uprated anti-roll bars
Rear wing
Simex 185/55/15s and Toyo Proxies T1-s 195/15/15s
Porsche 914 2-litre alloys
Porsche 3 spoke steering wheel
Weber 32/36 carb
custom exhaust
Cobra Aqua 4x4 racing seats
Custom and speed parts strut brace
Re-located battery to spare wheel
Kamei front spoiler

[NYBugman1972]

Not too shabby for a car that's mildly warmed over. Imagine racing with a moderate T4?!

Kudos and Huzzah to you!

[Sandeep]

When I was watching the video, the background music made me think of GranTurismo 3....

The Golf was hilarious !

Sandeep

[Tim]

Chris, your bug handled great in corner. What spring rates you were using? The relocation of the battery to the front must have helped a lot. I hope my 1303 will handle as nice as yours on the track.

Tim

[Aurumen]

chris,

you have really good technique (at least on that one corner)...keep it up. Car looked good and it inspired me to go out to the garage and finish my darned engine :)

Nick

[Chris Percival]

Thanks for the kind comments guys.. I am glad I have flown the flag for bugs and inspired people a little..

Springs are stock, sqeezed into the adjustable struts. Stock torsion bars at the rear. It goes to show it doesn't take that much to make an 03 handle well...

[Pillow]

Great job Chris!

I love to see them being raced... Not just all bling bling for shows running dubs.

FWIW in the US I bet anyone could find a local SCCA club to at least auto-x with. Not anywhere close to a real road course, but still great fun.

[jakriz]

G'day Chris,
Its fantastic that u are on the track. Good to see others getting into it. I noticed in your pic that u have alot of body roll & that u mentioned that u have the standard springs & torsion bars out back. I have type 3 wagon (variant) torsion bars in the back of mine & 80mm springs up front rated at 150pounds. The pic that I've attached shows my car cornering in third gear at about 120kph (75mph) I've probably got about 2 degrees max body roll & it's trying to get both inside wheels off the ground. U think that u are kiking butt now, wait until u do some more suspension mods & get some more power!
Take care & keep in touch
regards
Jak Rizzo
Downunder

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/index.mv?photo+83328.jpg

[Tim]

Hi Jak,
What sizes of sway bars you are using? I am gathering all the datas to build my 1303 for racing.
Thanks
Tim

[jakriz]

G'day Tim,
the front bar is quite large it's 26mm or 24mm, but the rear bar is only 19mm & is non adjustable.
regards
Jak

[Chris Percival]

HI Jak, thanks for the info. First upgrade for me will be more power. I would love to even get near 75mph in third!

[jakriz]

G'day Chris,
If I was u I would totally forget about more power & concentrate on handling, brakes & tyres. I would even get a close ratio gearbox before the bigger motor as well. My new gearbox is actually a 1300cc twin port swingaxle box converted to IRS. The 1300 gearboxes come with the 1.58 third & 1.04 4th as standard. This makes u quicker alone, u don't want to increase top speed, just the accelleration out of corners. The 1302 & 1303 boxes are drastically overgeared & I now find that the car is so snappy that the nose rises from third to fourth! Its great.
Please don't take this info the wrong way Chris, this is just from my experience & if I can help someone through my mistakes then the mistakes were worth it!
regards
Jak

[Chris Percival]

The trouble is (an especially with the Castle Combe action day's with their no overtaking on corners policy), that when I get to a corner I am usually held up by slower cars. As I am usually faster than most other cars through the corners but slower on the straights, it makes sence to me to upgrade the power (to me anyway). Is it that, bang for buck, my money is best spent on handling to increase the overall performance? Don't forget that my engine is almost stock.. Did you spend money on a engine, then wish you had spent the money elsewhere?

As far as gearboxes go I have the AT box with 3.88 r&p, but even here I feel that the gearing is not high enough! Don't forget that I am using only 15" rims with 195/55/15s on, so lowering the gearing significantly. I only use 3rd for the 2 chicanes! Everywere else is flat out in 4th...

[jakriz]

The rule about overtaking is the same with us, but we also have the rule that if u are holding someone up in the corners that u allow them to pass u on the straight so that they are first into the corners at the end of the straight.
As for the gearbox, I used to think the same thing, I had a 1303 box with the 3.88 & a .89 4th, but my motor was only coming on cam at the end of the straight at 5500rpm in top. U really need it to come on cam mid straight, all your power is no good to u when u have to slow down for the corners again. Just something for u to think about. It will probably become more apparent whe u have the big motor & u know exactly where your peak power is in the rev range, then select your gearing to suit.
regards
Jak

[Chris Percival]

Mine doesn't even rev to 5500.. However I will take what you say into consideration. I think it needs to work well as a package (which backs up what you say). A performace level has to get set, then everything upgraded to meet that target. If/when I do get a bigger engine, then suspension and brake mods will definitely go with it, as they are quite easy and relatively cheap to do compared to engine mods, and as you say, just as advantagious..

[samcat]

Chris,

Do the handling mods BEFORE you get more power... That way you kinda get used to the new feel of the car before the extra power is put in.

One change at a time too, makes it easier to track down a problem. ie car starts understeering more after doing a change then you know what caused it... if you change a bunch of stuff then who knows what changed it.

And dont forget good tyres (best u can afford). I put my 2l T4 in, but left the same tyres on which were CHEAP... That resulted in me loosing traction on a corner and sliding into oncoming traffic....

Cya,
Sam C

[Chris Percival]

I will just limit the throttle! :)

I am with you on tyres..