beetle rally questions.

[theKbStockpiler]

It does not seem like beetles can compete very well with cars in rallying. Why is it that a rear engine, rear wheel drive car can not be competitive off road? The Baja 1000 I understand because beetles are tough and light so they do well but every article I have read on off road rallies do not include a classic beetle. What about hill climbs? Do beetles get thrown in the all wheel drive class? I would love to have a turbo beetle Pikes Peak car.
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My beetle is not competing with your beetle. I have the yellow beetle in my town. There is a red one, a green one ......
Use all safety devices including a mask.

[drscope]

There are so many things in motor sports that effect why certain vehicles do well and are popular and others are hardly ever seen.

In pro and semi pro racing it has to do with money. Sponsors want to put their money where they get the most advertising coverage and they don’t get that from back markers. They get it from the racers who finish up front.

Organizations that sponsor events are also involved for the money and as such they usually have a way of writing rules around certain vehicles that give them the biggest financial return. If you aren’t competing in one of those vehicles, you normally have a pretty difficult time getting into the winner’s circle.

Building and maintaining a race car in a rally, or wheel to wheel type environment is a very expensive proposition. So most people involved want to do well. It’s the competitive nature. Few people are willing to spend the time, money and effort it takes to compete just so they can ride around at the back of the pack.

Choosing a vehicle that has strong backing and good availability when it comes to performance parts is also a big part of the puzzle. If you want to win championships you need to make sure you don’t miss races because parts and pieces are not available.

For these reasons, most people involved in motor sports tend to choose more modern vehicles that are easy to find, and have large amounts of after market performance pieces readily available.

The classic VW was in this range 30 or 40 years ago, but it’s time has passed. It’s difficult to take a 40 to 50 horse power VW and be competitive against newer cars. Heck even the Fiat 500 has well over 100 horse power right off the show room floor!

Consider that the beetle was basically killed by emissions standards that choked the engine and safety standards that didn’t measure up and you don’t have a very good start for a competitive race car.

Without factory support these days, you are going to have a very difficult time trying to fund any sort of semi-pro or pro racing team. And you aren’t going to get that for a car that’s been out of production for 30 years.
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Mother Nature is a Mean Evil Bitch!

[theKbStockpiler]

I'm bringing this thread back up because I looked at a few beetle rally videos where the cars seem to be putting out good power for off road use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psG8VYt0w6c

Edited:
Does a 4 wheel drive preform that much better than a (rear engine) rear wheel drive? These rally beetles don't seem to need to steer with the rear wheels so I don't think it would be a big advantage.

Does anyone know what the specs on the engines would be?
_________________
My beetle is not competing with your beetle. I have the yellow beetle in my town. There is a red one, a green one ......
Use all safety devices including a mask.