Why do people nowadays think an original Beetle is so slow?
I have a 1973 Volkswagen Beetle, 100% stock and original. When I’m driving down the road, people are always on my tail and many illegally floor it by me. Here’s the thing, most of the time I am speeding by a few mph. No, it doesn’t go fast, but it’s not like it only goes 20mph. I go 70 on the highway all the time. People at school laugh, saying it’s so slow and underpowered it couldn’t even go down a hill. Most call it a Rolls Canardly (rolls down one side of the hill, canardly go up the other). It is not powerful, but it goes. I’m able to burn rubber with it very easily. These people never even stepped foot in a Beetle. What’s the deal?
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Answers
Its just stereo type and opinion, dont mind them its just not there “cup of tea”. To todays standards things in the late 90′s are considered slow to some. One thing to remember, theres always someone slower and faster than you
Simple, they know absoulely nothing about cars.
Stock beetles might not be that fast, but they can be with the right equipment. With the right parts, right skill and a bit of money you could really make your car into something special.
I would LOVE to have a older Beetle in fairly good shape like what you have.
One thing to point out to them, your car is a classic. Its 35+ years old. Ask them if they honestly believe that the toyotas or chevys being built today are going to last that long. Most of these new cars being built today will be in a junkyard within 10 years.
im so sorry, but an un modified original beetle especially the older ones(older than yours)with the swing axle are slow and love the canardly which is true,they are like the original metropolitans,you need to ride with 3 people,2 to push up the hill.have you driven anything else?is your a super beetle?i dont remember much about em except the super is stouter. dont get me wrong they are cool, especially with the california window kits, but until you modify them, they can hardly outrun a dog chasing them. as a side note they are built real good, you could swing those wide opening doors and take the dog out without so much as a dent. naw serious, dual webbers and head flow and exhaust, and they were the original import lol
I wouldn’t let what others say bother me. You have one of the best cars ever made. Easy to work on, fuel efficient, low cost to repair and all around easy on the pocket book. There is a plant in Mexico City that makes new Beetles. This car was built as a poor mans car in Germany, just like the model T Ford here in America. People are always looking for something to talk about, and when they do, most don’t know what their talking about. So drive your car with pride and laugh at the dumb bunnies all the way to the bank.
They’re VW haters
I own a 94 jetta and have only owned it for a few weeks now. I wont ever by anything other than VW now. German engineering has been proven many times over. It’s very likely those kids at school are into their “powerful” mufflers and loud sounding cars. It’s very likely your beetle is just fine. I envy that you own anything from the 70s.
I think its because everyone seems to be concerned with the 0 to 60 mph time. The fact is that today, many vehicles can accelerate faster than the “so called hot cars of the 60′s to early 70′s. I’m old enough to have worked upon some of the “hot cars of the 60′s” and the big block Detroit iron that rode the waves of NASCAR races of the time.
Back then, a 0 to 60 in seven (7) seconds was extremely fast; many cars were in the 12 second range from 0 to 60, subcompacts of the time were even slower: I think a Datsun 610/510 in 1973 accelerated from 0 to 60 in 15.0 seconds; a 1970 240 Z was quoted as 8.2 and a 1971 Super Beetle was 18.8 seconds from 0 to 60 mph. Today, anything slower than 0 to 60 in 10 seconds is considered to be slow; even today’s Kia Rio with an automatic (12.7) is faster than 50+of the cars sold new in 1973!
Even my old Super Charged Studebaker Hawk (1963) with 290 BHP, 3 speed Borg Warner automatic could only accelerate to 0 to 60 mph in 9.0 seconds; ( though this was a lot faster than the stock time of 13+ seconds over a base v8 edition).
I think some people confuse top speed with acceleration rate; your Beetle should be able to make 75 mph, maybe slighter faster if conditions are right.
At least, this is my point of view over the issue that was raised.
people think there slow because they are little and have little engines
but they can get up and go i have a 1965 volk with a 1200cc
Show them this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3MpngZkBuo
Because by today’s standards they are slow.
Comparing them to modern cars is a bit unfair. It is much the same as comparing a WW II Spitfire with a modern day Lockheed fighter.
In saying this, both have their attractions – just ask any fighter pilot if he would jump at the offer to fly a Spitfire and the answer would be an immediate yes, even though the Spitfire crawls when compared to modern jets. Is the spitfire underpowered? By no means for its era.
Similarly one cannot compare the engine, transmission and safety features of a modern car with the air-cooled Beetle. However, to own one is another thing. Just look at the various forums where owners dote on their air-cooled classics (even though they often own more modern faster cars).
It is also interesting to note that many modern saloon cars will outrun an E-type Jaguar and the Aston Martin DB6 of the mid sixties. Again not withstanding this fact, try buy one of these classic sports car today. They are just not available freely on the open market.
Drive your air-cooled VW with pride, knowing that many mocking you are doing it out of jealousy.
they’ve never drivin a bug, thats their problem. my 1641 singleport gets going pretty fast