I think the simple reason is I use a type 4 with alu cylinders and - as you mentioned also - a huge intercooler and water-meth injection plus knock control. Cooling abilty of all that is enormous.
Its a deadly combination on th track with mostly all stock type 4 engine parts, safe from the alu cylinders.
Not for everyone I totally agree, but just showed to me it CAN be done. Thats all I wanted to convey, whereas your post suggest that it could NOT be done. Thats just not true.

YMMV ;)

Hi Humble

Your motor is not intercooled so your not seeeing its full potential, Wally's is and that's one of the reasons he can get what gets out of his Type 4 set-up.

In the words of Corky Bell, intercooling is more cake

Steve

Another aspect which I don't think anyone has considered is where you live.
I bet it's a lot easier to run a hypo aircooled mill in europe than in Australia or the US.
I saw 48 degrees c on my dash temp guage the other day.
Try and keep your heads cool in THAT ambient temperature.

Wally let's promise NOT to discuss this when I vist in August!
I don't want you to kick my Subaru lovin arse to the kerb mid roadtrip !!!
:lmao::lmao::lmao:

Its easy to get carried away with more is best, may be less is the new more, its debatable, but if you're objective is just Max hp you may never happy, its just numbers, you want enough hp to do the job, whatever that job is, road cars have no Datum, other than how it feels to the owner,so they dont count, with competition cars, far more important is chassis sorting and throttle response, i had 380 hp turbo horses way back, but in truth, it went best and won races turned down to about 285, where it had no lag, how did i beat supposed 450 hp ex factory cars,? because its whats under the max that matters. even today, we have two 400 hp Subies in our series, they are beatable, they either get so hot they have to back off the motor, or the tyres cook up with a similar result, the clever guy turns his down after qualifying on pole, then has to race and work for a living, the other guy wins often, but then doesn't make the second race, its gone to limp mode. the quickest way to go quicker is to throw parts away, lose weight from wherever you can, and further sort the dynamics of your car, then, if competing, look long and hard at your driving technique. I was staggered recently at the lap time of two different saloon cars, both were 'historic' both weighed nothing but are legally in my class, they had no more than 185 hp but vanished up the road, lapping up to the 4th place , i came in 5th, A LAP down, their corner speed was staggering, only possible with low inertia, they would have beat me even if i had had 500 constant rated hp. if you keep it simple and light, and easy to work on, you will find success.

Don't worry Ron, we're always good, you know that!
Now I can say that even some of my best friends run subaru powerplants in their vw's, so people think I'am unbiased :lmao:

Good post Spanner! Very true.

Wally has good points :) But atleast subaru engines are boxer :lmao:

That 4-cyl "911" is sweet:p Probably costs arm and leg ( + $40 000 ).

Good friend, coworker, has also beetle with a-arm front suspension under build, he used to consider even a motorcycle engine :lmao: I turned his head for a while telling that can make it as fast or faster perhaps and more low end torque with boxer engine.

A good friend of mine is running a Subaru turbo engine and 5 speed Subaru gearbox (Subarugears conversion) in his 15 window T1 and i've never ever driven a bus before with such great driveability and low end torque (he's running a 175hp Forrester engine) as his.
My 1967 SO42 is currently running a 1776 type1 engine (witch is on his last legs) and the plan is to replace is with a standard 120pk NA EJ20 engine and KDFi injection.
There are more and more 'hardcore' aircooled VW drivers (friends of Wally and me) who are considering an Subaru swap for their VW's (beetles, buses and type3's) mainly for the reliability and the power to $/euro ratio :p

Instead of a subi, try a wbx (waterboxer) vanagon motor. Just another option most dont think about. In

:)^^^^^^^^^This is a thinking man;), but ive been trying to keep it a secret,;) VW actually have made a water cooled Beetle engine, frankly, they are a revelation for circuit racing and endurance work, those that deride them have only heard the negative stories from bad owners that got lazy with the coolant changes, modern coolant has eliminated the lazy factor, many are now showing good pace in drag racing, mine has 8 hours on it from this seasons circuit racing and has just normal checks between events, but needed no work whatsoever, i'm quite bored with it, its so reliable the turbo may well be going back on.

Hi

I have soft spot for the WBX, they would be much lighter than a Subaru motor, you just don't get the 16 valves and variable cam stuff with them.

I did many ks with a modified one, the only issues I had was an occasional blown hose and a water pump.

Steve

@spannermanager i love my wbx motor. It's the best thing I ever did to my bug. Mine is also Turbo'd as well. Due to me having issues getting it tuned has kept me from getting to drive it at all. But I'm hoping to get to see what the wbx has to offer being boosted. I loved it as a N/A motor. Your right tho.... Most people don't even think of the wbx motors that vw made.

WBX people are about. Things have just slowed to an almost halt with mine. Other things have taken over, like a house! I'm thinking 150 BHP with the easy mods I'm looking to do will be nice on a DJ base engine