Power/Reliability

[Bebobug]

I know turbo setups yeild alot of power but, how reliable is a mild setup? One like the one Hot VW's is building.

[volkdent]

Probably quite reliable if an intercooler is used. You might want to add up the cost of the HVWs motor. You may be surprised.

[V.waffe 3]

Kinda of like Monster Garage's 60k in "free" stuff and their non-existent 5k budget, huh lol.

[Bebobug]

What if you just put a turbo on a 1776? Would it be worth the expense? How long would it last?

[wrenchnride247]

The HVW's motor is not really setup as daily driver. Unless you don't want a decklid on your ride, you would need a different plumbing setup. Like Volkdent said. An intercooler is a good idea for longer life.
1776cc is a solid foundation for alot of combos. With the right one it can last quite a while. Driving habits, and boost have alot to do with motor life. Which can vary the cost of building alot.

[speedy]

hi there , i ran a cb turbo setup and it was very reliable last year, it was set up so in top gear it was off boost at 75 and would sit there all day at 75-80 because you are running lower compression, off boost the engine will run cool mine ran abou 80c ,
hope that was helpfull
jon

[MX67]

Originally Posted by volkdent

Probably quite reliable if an intercooler is used.

Why if I may ask?

[oasis]

Cooler air is more dense so less has to be forced to get the same result.

[Bebobug]

Can you run the CB setup with dual Webers or do you have to use the fuel injection?

[speedy]

you can run any blow through setup with carbs if you get them sealed , not sure what is involved but you will have to o ring the shafts and get a stronger float, i dont think is that expensive to do but i have always used fuel injection so am not 100% sure
cheers
jon

[volkdent]

Originally Posted by MX67

Why if I may ask?

Besides more dense air, head temps seem to be an issue with ACVWs so cooling the charge down helps with longevity as well, from what I've understood. Most high HP mods are really designed for someone who is regularily under the decklid anyway. The trouble is that these motors and trannys were never designed to handle high HP driving, so it doesn't really matter, for the long haul they still aren't as reliable as a modern motor. I didn't read the article, but my guess is that the HVWs motor would be used in a drag racer or a dunebuggy, when your junks sticking up all over the place it's usually not a daily driver.

This is where people start saying "my friend Bill's got 60k out of this setup" and blah blah blah, but the long and short of it is if you look at the guys who run high HP AND DRIVE high Hp, their motors are quite expensive and may still require increase maintainence. The parts guys love to show you what they sell. They can't guarantee that it'll last. That's why the ACVW aftermarket is still going, people having to keep buying more stuff! It's a snowball effect really.

I'd REALLY like to have a thread dedicated to the honest stories of breakdown. I've read hundreds over the years, but I think it would be nice to see them all in one spot.

OK, now I'm just tired and grouchy, I should stop. If you can live with a "quick" car, you may be just fine, but if you want a "fast" car that is realiable, you're looking at big, big $. I'm talking over $10K, and that's just getting into the minimum motor, brakes, and suspension, unless you happen to have all these things already stored up for some reason.

My personal story. I had a 1776 built. Forged this, shuffle pinned that, oversized this, HD that, high flow blah. I check all the boxes. Then it didn't rev high enough because the rocker clips fly off. Enter solid rocker shaft. Then this happens, then that happens. Before I got divorced, my ex added up the reciepts. $16k. On a 1776 NA bug lowered and with a decent sound system. That's with a really nice bug to start with. These are little money pits. Fun, awesome little money pits. If you really want something that handles, looks good, goes fast straight and around corners, it's going to cost, that the bottom line. OK, lets hear how I'm wrong!

[volkdent]

Originally Posted by speedy

hi there , i ran a cb turbo setup and it was very reliable last year, it was set up so in top gear it was off boost at 75 and would sit there all day at 75-80 because you are running lower compression, off boost the engine will run cool mine ran abou 80c ,
hope that was helpfull
jon

Speedy, I had thought about buying one of those turbo kits myself a long time ago. What sort of HP do you think you have now? The older kits had a bunch of bugs in them(no pun), but I suspect the new kits are smoothed out. How easy was it to get yours up and running well?

Jason

[MX67]

Thank's Volkdent, that's what I call big answer

To be honest, I wasn't asking why intercooler increase engine life, because I have different opinion about that, and before I say it, I waited for You to say yours

I believe that;
intercooler serves as a charger (when we make things as simple as possible). It's main rule is to cool air, so we can put more of it into cilinder and get more power and that is by making engine more efficient. OK, so it's true that colder mixture cools heads better, but the volume of mixture that enters the cilinder is bigger, so combustion temperature is higher (which make our engine more efficient). With intercooler, we always get bigger temperature oscilation, because burned mixture is hotter, and prepared mixture is colder. All we do, is making more temp. oscilations which is (in theory at least) not good for engine life. Remember the reason why Porsche water cooled their engines? Because of the uneven head temperatures and heat oscilations. 959 had hybrid cooling. Cilinders are cooled with air, and heads are water cooled.

We all agree that intercooler increases HP. No argue about that. And that is by making engine more efficient. Modern turbo diesels over here in Europe (VW lupo 3L 1.2 TDI) have efficiency of 43 percent. Good gasoline engines in Europe have 30 percent efficinecy. Diesels efficiency comes with turbos, intercoolers, big compression ratio AND bigger temperature to cope with. They are unbelievely economic and they make big torque. That's the reason why we haven't had a diesel made completely of aluminum until recent (heads are rarely aluminum, but crankcase is ollmoust allways cast iron). Gasolines are often made of aluminum. Toyota made first diesel aluminum engine, 1.4 D4D. Why? Because cast iron is far stronger and it can whitstand that kind of heat which was raised to get more efficinecy. The point is, engineers raised heat to make more efficient engine, like we do with intercoolers. Toyota's engineers reduced compression ratio so aluminum can be used, and less weight achieved.

Intercooler = more efficiency = more heat = decreased life

I agree that intercooler may on some engines increase life, but decreases in most applications. There's too many things that has to be cosidered, so we cannot say that in general intercooler increases life. Actually, I would say the opposite is true, but I don't want to "generalize" things.

Cheers!

[beetle1303]

Theory says that more dense air=more air in the cylinder=more fuel to keep the ratio close to 14.7=Higher energy combustion=more temp generally.
AT WHAT RPM????

In my opinion an intercooler could help an engine achieve a desired HP or TORQUE output at lower rpm due to what theory says. Consider the differencies in temps at low, mid and HIGH rpm, at the heads, exhaust valve, crank bearings and cam bearings. Simply due to the friction involved there are differencies.
so why go for the top end High HP? instead go for all roung torque (mid rpm) and have a more reliable engine...Anyway its torque that makes the car move...so more torque=easier through the gears... use a long diff and an uprated trans and you will have a car that it will be fun to drive, quick and more user friendly (for those that share their bugs with their wife etc. )

Chris

[Superbug Scott]

volkdent,

I'm thinking about going with a 1776 (or bigger) when my current engine gives out.

Your personal story sort of scares me

I don't do ANY work on my bug. While it would be nice to go faster in my VW, really it is more important to be a dependable daily driver that I don't have to lift the engine cover to look at anything besides the oil level.

Sould I give up the 1776, duel carb idea and just rebuild a 1600 when the time comes?

Maybe I should have started a new tread, sorry to hijack.