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Tue Dec 13, 2022 6:22 pm

Hot VW magazine, has an article on a pair of racing beetles that have 420WHP.
For mere mortals what does an air-cooled turbo engine that could put down 300hp crank or wheel (flutters, no blow off) looks like? Size? Ballpark cost of engine and trans that can handle it?

Inquiring minds want to know :D

Thanks in advance!

Tue Dec 13, 2022 7:02 pm

My kids have been playing with some bugs, I may have caught the nostalgia bug.

Tue Dec 13, 2022 7:29 pm

nemofulcrum wrote: Hot VW magazine, has an article on a pair of racing beetles that have 420WHP.
For mere mortals what does an air-cooled turbo engine that could put down 300hp crank or wheel (flutters, no blow off) looks like? Size? Ballpark cost of engine and trans that can handle it?

Inquiring minds want to know :D

Thanks in advance!

If you have to ask............... You probably can't afford it. :roll: :lol:

There is an old saying in the racing world, "Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?". That saying says it all.

Tue Dec 13, 2022 7:40 pm

Rickf1985 wrote: nemofulcrum wrote: Hot VW magazine, has an article on a pair of racing beetles that have 420WHP.
For mere mortals what does an air-cooled turbo engine that could put down 300hp crank or wheel (flutters, no blow off) looks like? Size? Ballpark cost of engine and trans that can handle it?

Inquiring minds want to know :D

Thanks in advance!

If you have to ask............... You probably can't afford it. :roll: :lol:

There is an old saying in the racing world, "Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?". That saying says it all.

I always heard it as,” Speed costs money, how fast can you afford to go?”

$30k to make it run. $10k to make it go . $5k to make it stop. $10k to make it grab. Or do a Subaru swap for $20k for the motor and trans, and then the $15k for brakes, suspension, and rigidity.

Tue Dec 13, 2022 7:41 pm

Tue Dec 13, 2022 8:20 pm

nemofulcrum wrote: Hot VW magazine, has an article on a pair of racing beetles that have 420WHP.
For mere mortals what does an air-cooled turbo engine that could put down 300hp crank or wheel (flutters, no blow off) looks like? Size? Ballpark cost of engine and trans that can handle it?

Ballpark guess. 2332cc 300+ HP Turbo VW engine & trans

$10,000-$12,000 carb turbo engine all new parts
$15, 000-$18,000 EFI turbo engine all new parts
$3000-$4000 Type I trans that might handle it.
$4500-$6500 Type II trans that should handle it
$7500 Mendeola trans that will Handel it.

Tue Dec 13, 2022 9:27 pm

I get that throwing money at the problem eventually solves all issues with deep enough pockets...

I love my Subarus, though I feel like the character is lost a bit. I rented a speedster replica in Maui that had an aircooled 1.9L with a really notchy gearbox, it was sweet to drive and distinct from my 2L Crosstrek.

Could you keep it in the VW family and still make power, while keeping heat exchangers and AC for a functional street machine?

I have an Autozam AZ1 and having a functional heater and AC let's me drive it just about in all seasons. I drove my 1970 beetle, when I had it, as a daily but man was I sweaty or smelled of oil and exhaust at all times....

Tue Dec 13, 2022 9:31 pm

Turbo power isn't that big of a deal. 300+ N/A is harder to accomplish.

Tue Dec 13, 2022 9:39 pm

Here you go. All ready to bolt in.

https://ace-engines.com/product/aircooled-vw-2387cc-turbo-engine/

Brian

Tue Dec 13, 2022 9:40 pm

bugguy1967 wrote: Turbo power isn't that big of a deal. 300+ N/A is harder to accomplish.

That is what I'm counting on. Plus, I really like the 90s turbo sounds. Case in point the Autozam does both flutter at low loads and achoes when shifting at heavy load.

Tue Dec 13, 2022 9:44 pm

Brian_e wrote: Here you go. All ready to bolt in.

https://ace-engines.com/product/aircooled-vw-2387cc-turbo-engine/

Brian

Looks nice, but pricey. How do they get 2387cc though, is it a strocker or just custom everything?

Tue Dec 13, 2022 10:28 pm

86 x 94

Wed Dec 14, 2022 3:35 am

Morning all, respectfully I do not agree with any of the size engines proposed for 300hp. What I am about to share o have no idea of the cost but I was floored when I saw it.

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxP7A70ezuu0oS44blpH-cUCMVh1r8YSWI

https://youtu.be/OqRgemqFBhw

Wed Dec 14, 2022 5:11 am

300hp Aircooled VW not with heat & AC :roll: ,I'm close to that maybe??? :lol:

Wed Dec 14, 2022 5:20 am

I still have an engine issue (probably a ring) and should have made an easy 500hp (crank) at 1,4-1,5 bar, (as it made 224hp without turbo), but it made just 483 crank hp on pump gas (the better octane one, 93 in US for comparison, its called 98 here in europe) and too much boost for my liking.
Opening it up this winter to track the faulty ring or other issue and retry again to achive >500 at just 1,5 bar boost or under.

I drove it to another country (England) and ran 3 mid 10's last september, best of them was 10.58 and drove back home without problems and pretty decent gas milage I might add.
Just to show you don't need a subaru engine for that ;-)

This was at 1,6 bar boost:

Yes, those are 17" rims :lol:

Trans is Porsche G50 5-speed with an LSD. Tranny was (very) cheap and a gamble at the time back then (2007-ish), but its still unopened and taking everything I throw at it.
Ring&pinion is same size-ish as Mendy though. Output shaft spline is same as Mendeola. Guess where they got that idea ;-)
I use a small diameter sinter dual-plate disks and Tilton heavy PP with an annular (hydraulic) TOB.

Wed Dec 14, 2022 7:42 am

Brian_e wrote: Here you go. All ready to bolt in.

https://ace-engines.com/product/aircooled-vw-2387cc-turbo-engine/

Brian

Whoa! They've gone up a bit since Bergman used to poop them out for around 5k. :roll:

More fun, less dough as seen right here on TheSamba:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2582939

Whatever you spend on the engine match it with similar expenditure on transmission, chassis and brakes.

.
.

Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:27 am

45k for the complete car
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2577408

Wed Dec 14, 2022 6:07 pm

74 Thing wrote: 45k for the complete car
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2577408

That looks like a great deal for all of that stuff.

Wed Dec 14, 2022 7:33 pm

madmike wrote: 300hp Aircooled VW not with heat & AC :roll: ,I'm close to that maybe??? :lol:

that is awesome! Is this the 2180cc?

Wed Dec 14, 2022 7:34 pm

Beetspeed wrote: I still have an engine issue (probably a ring) and should have made an easy 500hp (crank) at 1,4-1,5 bar, (as it made 224hp without turbo), but it made just 483 crank hp on pump gas (the better octane one, 93 in US for comparison, its called 98 here in europe) and too much boost for my liking.
Opening it up this winter to track the faulty ring or other issue and retry again to achive >500 at just 1,5 bar boost or under.

I drove it to another country (England) and ran 3 mid 10's last september, best of them was 10.58 and drove back home without problems and pretty decent gas milage I might add.
Just to show you don't need a subaru engine for that ;-)

This was at 1,6 bar boost:

Yes, those are 17" rims :lol:

Trans is Porsche G50 5-speed with an LSD. Tranny was (very) cheap and a gamble at the time back then (2007-ish), but its still unopened and taking everything I throw at it.
Ring&pinion is same size-ish as Mendy though. Output shaft spline is same as Mendeola. Guess where they got that idea ;-)
I use a small diameter sinter dual-plate disks and Tilton heavy PP with an annular (hydraulic) TOB.

Ooh that's close to way I'd want to go with a superbeetle as base too! Thanks!