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Thu Nov 20, 2003 7:34 am

I read this article from a guy that said if you swerve to miss something in a Bug because it's engine is in the rear you can spin out easy. I was wondering how true this is and what can be done to prevent it. Are there sway bars you can get or should you adjust the camber what?

Thanks,

Thu Nov 20, 2003 9:17 am

Where is this article? I would like to read it myself.

There are front and rear sway bars you can get, as well as better tires, wider wheels, etc that will all help the performance of the car. I wonder in what conditions was this person speaking of? What Beetle, a swing axel car with 135's or a IRS with 185's?

Rear engine cars do have a tendency to swing the rear around during hard maneuvers, but it would have to be pretty wet, you'd have to be going pretty fast, and you would also have to swerve pretty erratically IMO. You will skid before you spin, and a Beetle is pretty easy to keep from spinning also. The weight over the back wheels creates a lot of drag when you get off the throttle in a spin, it seems to slow the rear of the car excessivly when skidding sideways.

I would call it a very broad, somewhat ignorant statement to say "it can spin out easy" that's like saying in a Bus your guaranteed to roll over in high winds.

Thu Nov 20, 2003 9:44 am

Nope, the article is wrong.

Thu Nov 20, 2003 10:08 am

i have tried and have only been successfull in the rain.. trying it when it is dry out, i have come closer to flipping than spinning out..

Thu Nov 20, 2003 10:15 am

DON'T "let off the gas"!!!! when a rear engine car starts to skid, get into the gas and steer into the skid.

Thu Nov 20, 2003 10:42 am

http://thebugshop.org/bsfqbyng.htm This is the article. He is talking about older bugs that have the Swingaxle. But if you ctrl + f and type spin in to the search when you go to the page it will take you right to the caption I am talking about.

Thanks for you help.

Thu Nov 20, 2003 10:52 am

bljones is right - as usual.

When driving your Bug on a snowy or icey road, if you let up on the gas but do not press the clutch or pop it out of gear, you are VERY prone to have the rear end of the car swing around and throw you out of control. And when she goes she goes in a big way!

I just about peed my pants again last winter when I did that with a couple cars coming right toward me in the other lane.

JSH

Thu Nov 20, 2003 11:27 am

You have to unthink some of the things they teach you in driver ed, when you drive a rear wheel drive, rear engine car. Some of the best techniques are counter-intuitive. This winter, find a big empty parking lot and practice skid recovery- it will save your life, your car, or both.

Thu Nov 20, 2003 11:38 am

The rear swingaxle problem is from it tucking under when cornering hard and that is cured with a camber compensator.
BLJ> I didn't know there was any other way to take a corner other than flooring it. :wink:

Thu Nov 20, 2003 11:57 am

But I live in Texas it never gets below 50 degrees here. So I shouldn't have a problem if it doesn't snow?

Thu Nov 20, 2003 1:45 pm

But it rains like hell....

laws of physics come into play here... the weight of the engine / trans/torsion in the rear helps these cars get traction in certain instances but...
once the rear end starts to come around, if you do not know how to control it.( see bljones excellent advise) when it hits that point of balance ( the point of no return) and the weight transfers the energy the ass end comes around real quick

in my youth ( like so many of us) my buds and I did alot of gravel road/ empty road and on the beach "stunt drving" in everything... that is any car we got ahold of. the big V8 cars and Pickups were cool to wing the back end out and keep it out there... more or less driving sideways... very hard to do in the VW as I found out.... But with practice you can hold it on the edge and "swing/switch" the fishtail from side to side road ralley style!

Yeeee hawwww..... I think I know what I'm doing this weekend! ( re- live some of my youth!) :roll:

Thu Nov 20, 2003 10:16 pm

bljones: Sliding and spinning around in huge icey parking lots is NOT just for educational purposes. It's worth the trip to Minnesota just to do that!

thesponge: SHUT UP about your warm weather down there! :D

JSH

Thu Nov 20, 2003 10:20 pm

By the way, there's still NOTHING that does cookies in icey parking lots like a 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88, with a 455 cid V8 & quadrajet carb. I could park my Bug in the trunk of that old beast.

JSH

Fri Nov 21, 2003 9:03 am

Jeff H wrote: By the way, there's still NOTHING that does cookies in icey parking lots like a 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88, with a 455 cid V8 & quadrajet carb. I could park my Bug in the trunk of that old beast.

JSH

You got that right Jeff... one of the cars I was referring too from my youth was my Dad's 71 Royale convertable... that mutha hauled ass for the size behemoth it was! if you got on the gas to fast it would just boil the hydes to nothing... the cool way was to punch it at about 40... they weren't joking when they called the the "Rocket 88"

but the handling charicteristics ( like I was saying) were ( obviously) completely different than that of the venreable 70 Beetle I had.
I remember when I first took the bug out trying to slide it around on the gravel the rear would kick out and SCHHHHWIIIING I was off in the ditch fast the first few times.

Sun Nov 30, 2003 10:02 am

Your posts brought back OLD memories of my first car, a 68 Delta Custom 2 door, 455 rocket. Would do all the stuff you guys were saying. Sister had a 71 just like it, one day A 72 340 challenger and a 66 289 fairlane was racing 1/4 mile, passed both of them!! lol

Tue Dec 02, 2003 1:58 am

Jeff H wrote: By the way, there's still NOTHING that does cookies in icey parking lots like a 1972 Oldsmobile Delta 88, with a 455 cid V8 & quadrajet carb. I could park my Bug in the trunk of that old beast.

JSH

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