My new turbo beetle lowered

[Chris659]

Here's a pic of my new Turbo beetle

So far Ive lowered it 1.5", put a clear bra on the front/lights, tint, and blacked out the roof (to match all of the black trim on Turbo models)

more pics to come!
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[Chris659]

Heres a picture of the roof blacked out

for now i used vinyl (like they wrap cars with) and if i like it ill eventually paint it

The bugs finally meet each other LOL

and here's what it looked like before lowering it

hard to tell the difference as its only 1.5" but in person it looks much better!
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[Jon65]

I'm usually a aircooled vw guy, but this bug does look pretty sweet.

[oldPSUguy]

The latest beetle reincarnation is a vast improvement over the so called New Beetle, at least visually. I think it would have been nice if it was rear engine, maybe a boxer, water cooled four, but we can't have everything, I suppose.
I am expecting a new one by auto transport today, a yellow standard coupe, but with an automatic so the wife can drive it. It is the first time I can claim to be excited about a new VW product in 40 years. I still have two air cooled beetles, a '71 Super and a '66 1300, each unique in its own way.

[Jon65]

[Chris659]

I had a 98 right after the "New Beetle" came out and this new '12 model is a HUGE improvement over the other! In every way, shape , and form!

The interior is a lot quieter, and build quality/fit and finish is a night and day improvement over the previous models.

It even seems better than the '12 Jetta. I do alot of work for our local dealer (tint, backup cameras, etc) and the Jetta and Cc seem to have more road noise and sound like an empty soda can when shutting the doors vs the beetle sounds solid

Still have the '61 with no plans to sell it...no matter how much of a pain it wants to be about getting roadworthy LOL
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[Chris659]

Heres some interior pics

I was sold on the interior the moment I saw it!

I love the little blocks that it came with! It prevents stuff from being flung around in your trunk

the Fender sound system is the best factory system Ive heard! And I do high-end car audio for a living! It came with navigation, Bluetooth, and iPhone hookup

I got the car used (with 4400 miles on it) so I didnt get the moonroof or 19" Tornado wheels that I wanted had I bought new but I was able to save almost $10k off sticker price due to the lil bit of mileage on it

The horrible "window issues" you may have heard about finally have a solution (which is why this one was traded in with such low miles). This car had the issues too but thankfully parts were available so it got fixed as soon as I purchased it
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[oldPSUguy]

Finally had a chance to drive my new 2012 beetle. It is a 2.5 liter inline five cylinder with a basic automatic. The car rides smooth, has adequate power (178 hp, I believe). I like the wideness of the interior space, something the wife complains about in my 1971 Super beetle. I have the base model which does not display a Fender speaker system, but it has a CD player and four speakers and sounds very nice. The car would never replace the experience of driving an original air cooled beetle, but carries on the styling tradition. If you drive a hard bargain, you can probably save a significant amount on a left over 2012 model.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1003036

[Chris659]

Since I last posted I've added a few new things...

This week I had the lights smoked and the emblems painted black. Im not a big fan of chrome but Ill keep a few accents on there

Went with a medium smoke on the tail lights and a dark smoke on the rear deflectors and front side markers. Blacked out the emblem and body color matched the insides of the logo so it looks like the front logo. Took the Turbo badge off for now but will probably add it back. If you look closely at the top center of the tag you can see the Alpine backup camera I added.

Sound dampened the rear hatch while it was apart since my next upgrade will be to replace the Fender system with a full JL Audio system.
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[tmb077]

Looking real good! The gloss black on the emblems is subtle but just right for the car, nice work.
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Brother's 56 Thread http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=652839

[Chris659]

Thanks!

Im thinking about going with APR's stage I chip, stage II intake, and dogbone mount which should boost it up to 260 range if not a lil higher

That'll be after the sound upgrade... I use my car for demonstration purposes at my work so want to get it done first. Already installed Alpine's 8" touch screen along with the backup camera but have been waiting several weeks for the dash kit. Been on back order... Just my luck. Hear it should be in this week so keeping my fingers crossed!

For the audio system, I'm going to show what we can do with 1 pair of speakers, 1 amp under 1k watts, and 1 sub. I decided to go with all JL Audio equipment as I have been a big fan for a long time. Their flagship ZR 6 1/2" components in the front door bi-amped and bi-wired and the new 10w6v3 in a small sealed enclosure all powered by a HD900/5. It will deliver 100 watts per tweeter and per 6 1/2" and 500 watts to the 10". Then lay Dynamats 3 layer under carpet material in the front foot wells and then dynamat extreme in the doors. Should make for a great sounding car!
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[Chris659]

Its been a while since I posted here so here are some updates

Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr

Although the car had factory nav it didn't do everything I wanted so I sold it and got this alpine 8" nav/DVD unit

Since it is an 8" screen it is bigger than a double din so they make a special dash kit to fit it. It is only listed for the jetta and passant but they all share the same bolt location and opening so I tried it anyways... I found out really quick why it is not listed for the beetle! The dash opening is a tad narrower after the radio opening so I had to take a dremel and cut about 1/2" out of each side and about 1/4" into the dash but it finally fit! The plastic is all excess and is not structural or anything so no harm done.
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[Chris659]

I got all of the stereo components in last friday and I'm dying to get it installed! I was originally going to just put factory size replacements (6 1/2" components) in the front doors but instead I went with JL Audio ZR 8" Midbass drivers for the doors and ZR 5 1/4" components in the kick panels with an additional pair of ZR 1" tweeters in the factory sail panel location.

I kept the original plan to use JL's HD900/5 amp to push the system. It delivers 100 watts to each 8" and 5 1/4" and 500 watts to JL's new 10w6v3. That will go where the factory sub went in the passenger side of the hatch. Going to stick with a sealed enclosure for the best sound and also to keep the box size down. I think it only needs .55 air space sealed! That's tiny for a 10" woofer box

Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[Chris659]

Back in 98 I had a "new" beetle and put some CEC wheels on it so I decided to go with the same brand for this bug.

They make some really nice stuff but can get very pricey! I went with the "regular" version of the wheels vs the forged ones (over 3x more expensive! But alot lighter and stronger).

Since the brake calipers would be a lot more visible now and came bright red then I wanted to add some red accents to bring out some color in the car. It also goes with the red leather accents and stitching on the interior. So we added a red pinstripe on the inner lip of the wheels and filled in the etched "CEC" logo and finally put a small red pinstripe down the car. It came with 2 black pinstripes so we put the red in between the two black ones

I've used Nitto tires on a few of my cars and tons of my customers cars and never had issues with them. This time I was more focused on ride quality and quietness then outright performance and traction so I chose the Motivo series. These things are great! They're actually quieter than the OE tires although they're a 20" and smaller profile!

Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[Chris659]

Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr

Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[Chris659]

Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[Chris659]

Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr

The OE vw center caps wouldn't fit so I had my vinyl lady whip me up some Vw logos that laid over the CEC ones.

Today I came across a set of "floating" center caps that will fit so I'm waiting for the custom logo to be made and I'll put them on

If you've never seen them they're like the ones the Rolls Royce Phantom canes with. Once you start moving the logo stays still so you can read it if you're driving next to the car

I got them for free (came off a customers set of wheels) but i was amazed at how much these things would cost if I had to pay for them

$800!!

I was shocked anyone would pay that much just for center caps
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[Chris659]

A few months ago I put black vinyl on the roof to see if I would want it on their permanently and it's definitely grown on me so when the car goes down for a few days for the audio system install Ill have the painter remove the vinyl and paint the roof black along with the rear diffuser and insert area around the tag

I found these eyelids and think it makes the beetle look really mean and more aggressive so I picked up a set and am just waiting on them to come in so I can put them on. They're made by Abt, a tuning company out of Germany, and they make a full aero kit for the newest beetle.

It's already kind of pricey stuff and the fact that there's only one importer for the US makes it tough to get a deal on. Nice thing is there's apparently not many sets running around the States so it'll be more rare.

Untitled by ChrisnAmy1, on Flickr

Every one I've seen on a car is always body color matched but I'm gong to paint mine black to go along with the Turbo black accents and the black roof
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle

[SAMBA VAN MAN]

Following this with interest.

[Chris659]

Thanks Van Man!

Haven't been on this site in quite a while... Done quite a bit since last posting pics here. Got pissed off at my AC VW project so I put it on the back burner for now. 

APR Stage I tune, Stage I intake, HPA subframe insert, GFB Diverter Valve, USP boost pipes, and SPM catback exhaust. It hauls pretty good now!

VWoA rear Sport Diffuser and Abt "Angry" eyelids 

Interior I upgraded the Ebrake and shift boots along with the center console to German leather/ Alcantara

I had alot of parts dipped in CF look a like finish to match the dash. I even did under the hood in paint/ CF trim

Added a JL Audio HD600/4 and a bunch of Hushmat sound dampening to the audio system and am near completion of my custom sub enclosure/ amp rack that will be wrapped in leather/ some painted to match the car

Think that's been it but you can go here for more pics (it's at 15 pages now!):
http://newbeetle.org/forums/photos-2012-beetle/60405-my-turbo-build.html
The first page or two of pics will be the same as here but after that there's the whole build listed out


Next I'm wanting to do:
APR transmission flash
Leather/ Alcantara inserts in the doors
SPM downpipe
SPM intercooler
SPM rear sway bar
Golf R motor/ tranny mount
Bilstein shocks/struts
And if I hit the lotto, an APR K04 upgrade and a big brake kit!

Have a baby girl that will be born any day now so not sure how much more I'll be able to do as she will come first over car upgrades
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61 ragtop, 12 turbo beetle