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Sat Aug 09, 2014 11:57 pm

I know this for engine but all you guys here have prob done this 2 your beetle thought 8) and is there any chance of post looks to better suspenion etc?

Sun Aug 10, 2014 12:13 am

I assume the car you're talking about is a 1938 kdf, so here would be my suggestions:

-radial tires (tyres)
-upgrade from cable to hydraulic brakes
-front roll bar

Sorry to be so vague, but you're not giving me much to work with. I havent had my tea yet. :lol:

Sun Aug 10, 2014 12:20 am

Oh sorry i just mean How can i make my beetle handle better? Its a 1970 i got 235 rear and 215 on fronts=tyes what else can i do?

Sun Aug 10, 2014 1:35 am

So it is a Standard Beetle, not a Super Beetle? RB

Sun Aug 10, 2014 1:41 am

To be honest its like a 1970 kit car so not sure its got a 2276cc180hp engine

Sun Aug 10, 2014 1:51 am

The Big Question is the front end? Trailing Arm or Mc Pherson Strut? Kit Car eh, can be either, seen both on kit cars.. Motors, well, motors are motors and don't do suspension,lol... RB

Sun Aug 10, 2014 4:05 am

To be general about handling - Replace swaybar in front with a heavier one, add a rear swaybar. replace shocks with the best ones you can find. Don't go cheap here, well made shocks are expensive. A kit car is light in the front end keeping the tires from getting a good grip. Add some weight to the front with sand bags or shot bags to find out how much weight is needed. Then you can bolt or weld in a plate. Or build a heavier bumper for the front.

Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:12 am

Probably the one best thing you could do is to convert to IRS. Head over to aircoooled.net where they have a transcript of the old VW Magazine Australia article, but you are going to have to tune your suspension to what you have. If it's really light moving the battery up the front and anything else you can do to improve weight distribution is a great help.

Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:18 am

I would suggest going to theshoptalk forums and search out the Ghia Road Coarse Set up by FJ Camper and read that article. It covers all the different aspects of road racing and also talk about some differences to do for autocross.

Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:59 am

Your tires are huge and not helping.

My car handles really well for a full body Beetle, here's what I have.

Stock width ball joint beam, lowered 3" with AVIS adjusters, 25mm front anti roll bar and KYB GR2 low pressure shocks.

Rear is IRS, lowered 1", 19mm anti roll bar with KYB GR2 low pressure shocks

Tires are BF Goodrich g-Force 195/55VR-15 front and 205/60VR-15 rear on Porsche/Pedrini 5.5x15 ET42 alloys

Of course you need to replace all the suspension bushings for the best performance.

Sun Aug 10, 2014 7:59 am

From what I've read (as I'm very interested in handling) is you ideally want the rear an inch lower then the front... Are you standard hieght?

What's wrong with it at the mo?

Sun Aug 10, 2014 9:46 am

What's the brand of your tires? Wide, cheap tires won't make your car handle better. As Glenn mentioned, you'd be better off going with a narrower quality tire. Unfortunately, if you want a performance tire in the 60/65 series there is a very limited selection.

Sun Aug 10, 2014 10:11 am

BRAKES
If your AutoCrossing I found that a brake upgrade just about always made a bigger difference other then good Tires.

Casey

Sun Aug 10, 2014 11:37 am

In the order that I would tackle it:
smaller sticky tires, like yokohama's
check tie rod ends and ball joints/ alignment
good shocks
set ride height
figure out what sway bars work for the cars weight. With a kit car this might take some experimenting.
Then you will be to the point of tweaking tire pressure, shock valving, torsion bar size, if you want to take it further.

Sun Aug 10, 2014 9:06 pm

Glenn wrote: Your tires are huge and not helping..

the problem with Poragas are they are a wide body and need wheels and tyres that wide to fill out the arches.

As quokka says best thing to do for handling is an IRS conversion but unfortunately thats a body off job and from my experience with Poragas most of them the chassis reinforcing is welded to the heater channels making lifting the body a nightmare.

Start with some front and rear sway bars, gas shocks and lower a fraction.

Sun Aug 10, 2014 9:40 pm

Lower the car enough to get some negative camber on the rear. Add swaybars front and back or if it's swing axle a camber compensator. Add 2 pairs of caster shims in the front for stability at speed. Put a narrower tire on the front, 205 would be the widest I would run. KYB GR-2 are a very good shock, not to stiff but make a world or difference in handling.

brad

Sun Aug 10, 2014 11:22 pm

I didn't actually look up Poraga before - it's just a body kit. If it's for highway use two sets of castor shims can help, but it will still behave better at speed with the rear lower than the front. You're always going to have too much understeer with those rears, but hard pressed to get wheels with a greater offset to suit these days.