Dare to be different...

[TonyL]

you shouldn't need a big waletail on the car at all really. It's a common misconseption about these cars. All they need is a tiny carbon lip spoiler above the rear window. Remmele of Germany has bugs that run the autobahn at over 180mph every day. They've done extensive wind tunnel tests and have possibly the most technically advanced superbeetles EVER.
Here's a look at one of their cars. (its a 2005 mexican beetle but Im just trying to show the rear spoiler.) It's available Here

[454bug]

Thanks a LOT Tony. That's what I needed to know. I wasn't really happy with the look of the whale tails. A small lip in back and a front spoiler/splitter down low is the look, and hopefully performance, I am looking for.

[454bug]

you shouldn't need a big waletail on the car at all really. It's a common misconseption about these cars. All they need is a tiny carbon lip spoiler above the rear window. Remmele of Germany has bugs that run the autobahn at over 180mph every day. They've done extensive wind tunnel tests and have possibly the most technically advanced superbeetles EVER.
Here's a look at one of their cars. (its a 2005 mexican beetle but Im just trying to show the rear spoiler.) It's available Here

VERY COOL PICTURES BY THE WAY!!!

[SaturnVUEguy]

Ray, I have an idea for you...

Since your Super Beetle has the grill under the front hood, and it sounds to me like the radiator will be up front. Also keeping in mind you mention you want a hood with no holes. Maybe you could make a shroud (like you already said) to direct air through the smaller grill into the radiator, then just cut a couple exractor vents in the top of the new hood just before the windsheild. This would aid in releasing the hot air, and also reduce front end lift a little bit. Combine that with the small lip spoiler above the rear window...


TonyL, great find with that Beetle

[Paul_J]

You may have seen this car before. It belongs to a guy in Mexico City. It runs an Audi V8 in the back seat with an A4 transaxle like mine. If you scroll down page two there are some shots of the car before he started cutting it up. They may give you some ideas with widened fenders and larger wheels. His is a standard vs super so yours will be a bit wider and longer in the front. Keep up the great work! Also, the area below the windshield is a high pressure area so venting under the hood may be difficult. That's why VW put the fresh air intake there.

http://www.germanlook.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=6197

[showa]

Check out the body/wing on this Vdub....

http://bb.bbboy.net/vwengineconversi...rum=8&thread=3

[TonyL]

I love that car showa. That used to be my avatar before I bought my car. That thing is possibly the coolest bug ever.

[showa]

Every time I see those pics the crazy voices in my head get louder......

[454bug]

Ray, I have an idea for you...

Since your Super Beetle has the grill under the front hood, and it sounds to me like the radiator will be up front. Also keeping in mind you mention you want a hood with no holes. Maybe you could make a shroud (like you already said) to direct air through the smaller grill into the radiator, then just cut a couple exractor vents in the top of the new hood just before the windsheild. This would aid in releasing the hot air, and also reduce front end lift a little bit. Combine that with the small lip spoiler above the rear window...


TonyL, great find with that Beetle

Hey SaturnVUEguy,

I do like your suggestions but I will need to investigate further to verify if ducting from underneath will pull enough air across the radiator (especially at a low speed or stopped). The Ron Davis double-pass radiator will be efficient but I have never idled an 850hp motor with a restricted air passage... Time will tell... I NEVER had a cooling problem in the past and I sure don't want to create one with the new setup.

I have pretty much decided to order a new fiberglass hood from the vendor I just purchased the new wider front fenders from. When I get the car painted I will prep and paint the original hood (as depicted in the renderings) and also the fiberglass hood. Therefore, if cooling works okay with the fully enclosed hood then I will stick with that setup. If not, the other hood will be painted as well and ready to go... The incremental cost to paint both hoods won't be cost prohibitive.

[454bug]

You may have seen this car before. It belongs to a guy in Mexico City. It runs an Audi V8 in the back seat with an A4 transaxle like mine. If you scroll down page two there are some shots of the car before he started cutting it up. They may give you some ideas with widened fenders and larger wheels. His is a standard vs super so yours will be a bit wider and longer in the front. Keep up the great work! Also, the area below the windshield is a high pressure area so venting under the hood may be difficult. That,s why VW put the fresh air intake there.

http://www.germanlook.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=6197

Hey Paul J,

Thanks for the head's up! I have never seen that site. It always amazes me that you can search and google every night and still not see sites that others find! That is a very nice build. The "before" pictures do give me a better idea of what the finished product will look like... Since I ordered the 3" wider-than-stock fenders for the front of the bug I was informed that an optical illusion occurs when running the same width extended fenders front and rear. They said to maintain a proper proportion from the front to rear that the rear fenders needed to be one-size wider than the fronts... I already had 3" wider-than-stock fenders on the rear... Since I ordered the 3" wider-than-stock fenders for the front of the car (to accomodate the widest front tire/wheel combo possible) I ended up ordering the 4-1/2" wider-than-stock rear fenders as well! The "fat chick" is getting fatter and fatter!!!

[454bug]

Check out the body/wing on this Vdub....

http://bb.bbboy.net/vwengineconversi...rum=8&thread=3

Hey showa,

That is one awesome machine... that type spoiler was what I was trying to figure out what it would look like. Thanks so much for locating that car!

Decisions, decisions...

[TonyL]

Every time I see those pics the crazy voices in my head get louder......

You sure the voices are the crazy ones? The ones in mine quit bitching after I started doing what they said.

/just a suggestion.
//(ralph wiggum)He told me to burn things!

[TonyL]

oh and to get the thread back on topic look at this old article for a nice rear spoiler that's a little more "hard core" looking.

[SaturnVUEguy]

454bug, there is another thread somewhere, and I'll see if I can find it and edit my post. The poster linked to a thread from another site where a guy cut a vent into his 240SX hood to allow hot air to exit through the top of the hood

Found it! The link is in the 3rd post in the following thread...https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/sh...ight=extractor

[454bug]

Thanks for the heads up! I'll check it out!

[volkdent]

I really like the look of these hood vents. I've drawn them on the hood of my bug and it looks very good. If you use the metal hood, draw the pattern you want, make those cuts, then bend the flaps down and weld in sides, you'll have the same look with the ability to let the heat escape from both the engine bay and the radiator. My preference to get air into the radiator would be to cut out the areas of the front apron between the fenders but leaving the area behind the hood intact. You can also add a lower lip below the front of the apron to keep the air from flowing under the car and forcing it into the radiator and/or engine compartment.

Jason

[454bug]

I've had a number of guys suggest I try and eliminate the screens in my hood to give the car a cleaner look. I have decided to purchase a second hood made of fiberglass and not cut any holes in it. The hoods are relatively inexpensive. Therefore, I will paint the new hood, as well as the existing hood, so I will be prepared to go either way depending on the success of keeping my motor cool. I have never had a cooling problem before... I don't want to start now!

With roughly 200 more horsepower than my previous setup I will be producing more energy/heat... The aluminum heads will help. The new Ron Davis radiator will help. I hope I will be fine without having any holes...

My Super Beetle lower apron has "slots" down low but they aren't very big. I found this lower apron on Mid-America's site... I will try and make this work. This looks like it will pull a lot more air across it. My new radiator setup will be mounted MUCH lower in the car for Center of Gravity reasons. It will be right behind this grill...



and install some sheetmetal ducting to my radiator somewhat like this:

[454bug]

I will then construct a splitter, out of either carbon fiber or aluminum, to force air across this apron opening to assist in the cooling. It's secondary benefit will be to minimize air being trapped inside my front fenders and creating lift... Check out the small "wickers" on each fender right above the splitter... I will fashion something like this as well to assist with downforce and minimize an "understeer" situation.

[454bug]

I have emailed Remmele Motorsports in Europe 5 times to check with them about selling and shipping Carbon Fiber parts for the old air-cooled beetles but they will not respond to my inquiries... I am interested in a number of interior and exterior carbon fiber parts they sell... especially the small wind deflector they sell that mounts right above the rear windshield...

I really don't want to put a large "whale-tail" on the car if I can help it. I know I will need some downforce in the rear of the car but I want to be a little more understated than the big fin if I can...

[Z06killinSBF]

Sweet. I love it.