Maximum HP for stock chassis

[tmcdade]

Approximately how many HP can a stock super beetle handle before I have to beef up the chassis? I'm buying a new engine soon, and I want as much horsepower as I can get, without beefing up the chassis.

[tom'72]

What exactly do you mean with beefing up the chassis, full roll cage, Käfer cup Brace, seem welding the chassis?

[tmcdade]

I mean without changing the chassis to make it stronger to handle the extra horsepower - without adding a roll cage, etc. Simply a stock chassis

[evilC]

Which chassis, what car etc. Link pin, ball joint, strut front end, swing axle or IRS????? Having competed several vehicles the best performance per £/$ comes from stiffening the chassis to get it to handle before playing around with HP. I would always go down that route before adding any extra HP. Its a no brainer for me. I actually have the results to prove the theory

evilC

[tmcdade]

On a Stock Super Beetle - Ball joint, strut front end, IRS. The more I think about it, the more I realize how much it's necessary, as you said evilC. I'm only 19, and I have no welding skills, etc. to do the work myself. I live in Ohio, and there really aren't any reputable VW facilities around here to help me stiffen the chassis, that's why I just wanted an engine w/ as much HP as a stock chassis/frame could handle, and I wouldn't have to mess w/ the frame/chassis. BTW, I'm looking at a CB Performance Hideaway Turbo:
http://cbperformance.com/turbostreetengine.asp

[evilC]

Ah the glamour of horse power!

There is no such figure that the chassis will be limited to so its a bit of an unanswerable question. I would decide exactly what you would like to do with the car and then work out how to acheive it. Thats all part of the learning process. Do you want a car that handles really well or one that is great sprinting between traffic lights? Are you going to use it competitively if so what form? Is it for show? Answer those questions and then you are on the way to deciding the package.

The CB Perf. Hideaway Turbo looks fairly crude to me. For a start there is no intercooler that would provide reliability (and power). The pressure side creates a horrible turbulance where it splits to serve the two throttle bodies. Overall the package looks 20 years out of date!. An intercooler could I think be sited at the split position and feed in two directions. That should be easy to engineer especially as its only air in the flow so there is no worry about keeping fuel in suspension.

evilC