VW Trends Dyno Day

Magnaflow's crew then strapped the only street Dune Buggy competing, John Meade's 2276cc-powered beast (82x94, Bugpack rods, Norris 408S camshaft, CB 044 42x37.5 heads by Jim Behrens, 7.9:1 CR, Innovative TO3/TO4 turbo, sidedraft 45mm Weber, MSD Digital-6 ignition control and distributor, 1-5/8-inch header). Surprise: the blue tub made 332hp and 330ft-lbs of torque with 26lbs. of boost! John's reaction was, "I would have never guessed that I was street driving such a powerful fiberglass Buggy. Thanks to the Dyno Shop for putting together a hell of a motor." In theory, this crazy ride should be able to run mid-9s at 140mph on the quarter mile... if Meade can solve some of the traction issues!

As stated earlier, Ray Mejia brought a second turbocharged monster, a chopped '57 Bug. Unlike his Ghia, this yellow Oval sees only dragstrip action, thanks to an owner-built 2165cc (78x94, Eagle 5.5-inch H-Beam rods, Engle 125 camshaft, 40x35.5 VW heads, 7.3:1 CR, Airesearch TO4 turbo behind the fanshroud, sidedraft 45mm Weber, MSD Digital-6 ignition control with Bosch 009 distributor). It delivered 298hp and 287 ft-lbs. of torque with 28lbs. of boost--enough for mid-10 second time slips!

We anxiously awaited the following VW, which was none other than Lee Gong's '65 Sedan. Some of you might be familiar with this dark blue Cal Looker, equipped with a mighty 2332cc from Steve Tims workbench (84x94, Wiseco pistons, 5.7-inch H-Beam rods, Engle FK-89 camshaft, VW 040 42x37.5 heads by Steve Tims, 12.5:1 CR, Weber 48IDAs, MSD Digital-6 ignition control, 1-3/4-inch header). It propels the vehicle over the quarter mile in 11.47 seconds! We all congratulated Lee following his 20-hp-and 177-ft-lbs.-of-torque performance that allowed him to win the Highest Horsepower and Highest Torque trophies in the naturally-aspirated category.

The final test involved Pat Carney's burgundy '64 Bug, street driven and powered by a simple yet effective 1914cc motor from Proformance (69x94, Eagle 5.352-inch H-Beam rods, Engle FK-46 camshaft, VW 043 44x37.5 heads by Fred Simpson and AJ Sims, 8.25:1 CR, Rajay EF-80 turbo, sidedraft 48mm Dellorto, MSD Digital-6 ignition control with Bosch 009 distributor). This little screamer achieved 266hp and 245 ft-lbs. of torque with 18lbs. of boost, which isn't too shabby in anybody's book!

From the horsepower and torque figures revealed in our story, you can certainly see we had some serious competitors during VW Trends' second Dyno Day! The seven turbo cars which participated made between 266 and 336 horsepower, quite a feat and seeing Lee Gong's Cal Looker pulling 200 hp at the rear wheels was pretty special too. A big thanks to everybody who participated, and this naturally includes all the visitors. We would like to extend our gratitude to the hard working crew of Magnaflow Performance Mufflers. You guys are aces! We have a few more ideas up our sleeves to improve the event, so don't miss the 2004 edition. Hope to see you there!