Time attack beetle

[Humble]

Nice cut-away! With only 2wd through the subaru gearbox I'm expecting similar numbers from the stock sti ej257 that I get from my built race motor, around 330hp/300ft.lbs. Not really a fair comparison as the ej257 will be intercooled and my current race motor is not. With only a few upgrades one of my competitors is getting 420whp from his sti on E85.

Ultimately my goal with the sti motor is 400-450hp, all day long at the track without overheating. Then I think I'll be happy... for a while

[volkdent]

Awesome! Welcome to the dark side!

Jason

[Humble]

I don't even know where to start with this. First off, I don't condone this behavior, but I am a tame racing driver, so I'm not perfect.

I took Lucy out for a spin this morning, to meet a friend for breakfast at a well known restaurant in the mountains. I like going there because all manner of machinery, car or bike, shows up or drives by. After a nice breakfast I headed back home along a lazy winding road that follows the ridge line. Now I will admit I was driving quickly and having some fun but as I settled down I noticed a sleek black car gaining on me. I fed Lucy a little more go juice, and the black car followed. A little more from me, a little more from him and so on until we are at unreasonable/imprudent speeds. Race track speeds. We continued for a couple miles then I slowed down for him to pass, and I followed him for a bit. Now I could see clearly what had been chasing me, and I smiled wide at the back of a McLaren MP4-12C. Now it was my turn to chase, and he was quick. The driver knew the road and the car, but not as well as I knew mine. Again we continued into unreasonable/imprudent speeds but he couldn't shake me. I noticed that even on crap tires, I could corner harder than he could, and we accelerated at the same rate until aerodynamics started holding me back. He would start to inch away but I could out brake and out turn him. This continued for another 5 miles until we came to a little turn out area, he pulled in and I followed him.



When we popped out of the cars, I told him he could tell all his friends what just happened and no one would believe him. We chatted for a bit and I grabbed some pics of his car and he got a bunch of the bug. He said he was driving the McLaren fairly hard and if I had to guess we were both at around 8/10ths. Below 90mph the two of us were pretty evenly matched.



Then, after about 5 minutes his friends started showing up, more, and more, and more! I felt like a kid in a toy store.























A bunch of folks were asking about the bug, and the McLaren driver did tell everyone that he couldn't shake the bug but no one believed him. As it turns out the whole group was out for a cruise and the McLaren driver was trying to "catch up" with them. Some how he ended up in front of them and that's when he found me. We all chatted and stretched a bit before heading down to Boulder Creek, another stop in their cruise and some much needed gas for me. I split off from the group there and headed back home, but not before trading emails with the McLaren driver.

I know the bug is fast, scary fast, but now I can put that into a bit of perspective. Lucy is as quick as a McLaren MP4-12C The biggest downside to this story? I left my gopro at home *facepalm*

PS: Don't do any of this, ever! Holy sh*t we went fast, like one-mistake-and-you'll-ball-it-up fast.

[Steve C]

Hi

Great read, there is the US National debt in that car park.

Steve

[cookvw]

wow humble, im sitting here reading this with my gf, we where amazed, truly inspires my build i got going on. a once in a life time chance to really see how a once economical car with a little bit of money, a skilled driver, can go a long long way. humble...im so jelious of your run in with the super car club.

[70Turbobug]

Awesome! I love stories like that! That is what makes such a build worthwhile! Nice of the Mclaren guy to chat with you about it and not be pissed off because he spent hundreds of thousands on his car.Cool stuff!

[Wally]

Very cool story and awesome pics of these multidollar supercars, but where's your beetle? A pic of the 1303 with those cars in the same shot is even cooler of course.

[Humble]

Wally, You can see the bug off to the side in a couple of the shots, I was parked next to the testarossa and 458. It's a small car in this crowd

Steve C, this group isn't the type to put a loan on a car, it's either leased or purchased out right.

cookvw, I'm still jazzed about it. I've lived here 7 years and dreamed about something like this happening but I never thought it would.

70Turbobug, I was afraid that they would be a snooty bunch, but a lot of them were car guys and very cool. Lots of them came over to check out the bug and they were genuinely interested in it.

[Wally]

Found her! The guy on the pole is standing mostly in front of your car and you didn't even see it when you took the pic haha!
Being chased by a MP12C and talk with the owner afterwards about it, how cool is that!

[SuperRSi]

I just read this whole thread. Very funny because I have had a Manx project and my 79 Convert project going for too many years. As the Manx went from mild to wild then wilder and got a Mendeola suspension the MBT with Kerscher coilovers suspension went to the Bug and have followed the same process as you. The Bug gets the hand me down race car parts. Thought you might want to see a shot of the STi setup we are building for the Manx. As the fabricator Tigwerks does this in his spare time, it has taken us over 14 long months to get this far. It is killing me. If you get a chance post up some shots of your buddys autocross Manx. I have a Manx build thread on NASIOC Conversions but have not taken the time to put one up here. Let me know if you guys want one here.

Oh and the muffler will swing up when done.

[Jadewombat]

I love hearing that. I've been on several drives over the years, my favorite was in the Arizona desert very late at night up in the hills and mountains with friends.

I've also seen several high-dollar cars with owners that CFD. Like you said though, not that it's a race, it's just fun to go out and open things up a bit. It just sucks when you get stuck behind someone really overcautious or likewise someone who does think it's a race and rides a little too close really spoils the mood.

[volkdent]

That is just awesome!!!! I love it when all the stars align and something so magical happens with timing. I've been blessed to be hounding some Mc's in the last few weeks, thought you might want a peak!

Laguna Seca

ThunderHill

Keep your GoPro handy at all times ferchrisake!!!!

Jason

[Bug@5speed(US)]

Jason what car are u running.

Think u may have mentioned it before, sur looks like a roundel up front. If I had to guess an e35 but the sound did not match?

Regardless nice line and runs at those cars
Alex

[Humble]

SuperRSi, I've been following your build on the NASIOC for a while, and I have one concern. It seems like the front tires are wasted since they will never be on the ground...

Jason, you should have hit me up when you were at laguna seca, my house is about an hour north of there on your way home! Also, what groups were you running with at laguna seca and thunder hill?

[volkdent]

Originally Posted by Humble

Jason, you should have hit me up when you were at laguna seca, my house is about an hour north of there on your way home! Also, what groups were you running with at laguna seca and thunder hill?

I know, I felt like an idiot not remembering. I did bring a friend down with me and he's not a bug guy so I probably will stop by when I'm alone.

I was instructing with HOD in both events in the e36 M3.

You're bug is going to kick butt!!!

Jason