In action, Eric Roberts in his 1971 Super Beetle.
Jack Van Wettering takes a corner during the Road Course portion of the competition.
Cosworth Escort
Porsche 914
Mazda RX-7
Honda Del Sol
At the staging area before the competition, both Beetles get outfitted with BFGoodrich's g-Force KDs tires.
Both Beetles dressed for action.
Roberts adds fresh tires to his 1971 Vintage Racing Super Beetle.
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G-Force Challenge
International Performance Group/BFGoodrich
By Ryan Lee Price
The plan was simple, each editor of each magazine in the International Performance Group at McMullen Argus (VWT, european car, Turbo, Import Tuner and Sport Compact Car) would find two cars that represent the essence of each magazine and converge on Streets of Willow for an all-day, knock-down, drag-out fight to the finish in three different areas: Skidpad, to test for g-forces, Short Course and Slalom. The car with the top score wins bragging rights until next year. To make it interesting BFGoodrich decided to come along and provide for each car the rubber from their line of g-Force KD tires.
I attended the second planning meeting for this competition several months ago (we weren't invited to the first one as it was deemed impossible for any Volkswagen to be seriously competitive), and when it was announced that VWT had indeed planned on participating, the room fell silent before filling with contemptuous snickering from my fellow editors. Not one to stand for that, I solidified our intentions. After all, the skills of 70-year-old Volkswagen engineering was questioned, and VWTrends' reputation was at stake. I told them that we would not only participate, but we would at least beat one car from each magazine, showing that Volkswagens aren't slow and cumbersome, as they perceived, and that Porsche was onto something when he designed our beloved car. Perhaps I was overly optimistic, but we needed to make a point. The challenge was on!
With contacts still with the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America), I got a list of potential aircooled Volkswagens on the West Coast and picked the two that would best represent what VWT stands for: Modern Aircooled Performance and Vintage Aircooled Tradition. The two owners/drivers agreed to participate, and plans were set for August 8 at Streets of Willow in Rosamond, Calif..
On the day of the competition, as I sat under the VWTrends EZ-Up near the Skidpad, my only thoughts were that it was going to be an excruciatingly hot day. I was the first one to arrive at the track, and by 6:30am, the desert heat had already pushed the thermometer well above the 90-degree range. Sitting there all by myself in the quite of the morning desert, I smiled, thinking of all of the watercooled, radiatored cars my fellow editors would be bringing to the track.
Our cars were made for this sort of thing.
Aside from the MacPherson strut front suspension on the '71 Super, Beetles started with torsion bars on the front and back, one of Porsche's patented designs. They provide a lightweight and compact design, tucked neatly within transversely mounted tubes. The torsion bars stop excessive wheel hop, reduce roll and resist the twisting force exerted from the turning wheels. After 1968 all Beetles were fitted with IRS, or four-joint rear suspension. The design minimized camber changes and allowed for superior handling. All of these factors wouldn't be considered an obvious advantage over the vehicles that were recently produced, but it certainly couldn't hurt.
Once assembled, our Volkswagens weren't without their initial problems. Roberts' '71 Super wouldn't turn over and replacing the coil (what VW owner doesn't come prepared?) didn't help. With the help of Van Wettering, Roberts was able to discover that the points were fried and needed replacing. Once done, the reliable 60 horses came to life and we all breathed a sigh of relief. We were officially ready.
As each car's turn came to pass, they were first taken to the Skidpad and driven by SCC's Tech Editor Dave Coleman, then returned to the driver to complete the Short Course. The Skidpad is a measured circle painted out on the pavement. As the car is driven around this circle as fast as possible, it is timed...the quicker the time, the faster the car, the more gravitational forces subjected on the car and the driver. Next, the cars were handed over to SCC's Feature Editor Josh Jaquot to spin the wheels through the Slalom. Again, a timed run through a measured pattern of cones (or gates) is calculated into speed. Early numbers from the Skidpad placed our two Beetles high on the list and gave us confidence about the day's events.
A notable exception to a perfect day at the track was during the Short Course, as Van Wettering rounded the last turn on his second hot lap. Small wisps of smoke turned into billows erupting from the rear. Upon returning to the pit area, three-gallon dry sump sprayed hot oil all over the inside of the car and Van Wettering. Undaunted, he pulled the car apart, made the proper adjustments (rigging up a catch-can so, at best, the car would pump all of its oil into can and not all over the car) and returned to turn his remaining allotted three laps.
In the end, our little Volkswagens--one looked upon as a relic, a scrapper looking for leftovers from the "real" competition and the other one as a "ringer," a purpose-built racecar with no street applications--took a couple of the cars to the cleaners. Overall, the 1969 Beetle beat just about everyone, humbling the doubters and overcoming the slow-VW stereotypes, and the mostly-stock 1971 Super Beetle gave the remaining challengers a run for their money, handily beating a slightly modified 2002 Subaru WRX and outlasting the Toyota Supra (who overheated its power steering and dnfed for the day). The performance of our Volkswagens surprised most all of the people there, so maybe next year they won't laugh quite as hard when VW Trends comes to compete.
Many thanks go to Jack Van Wettering and Eric Roberts for taking time to trek up to Rosamond to help show that the good natured Volkswagen has a tough performance side.
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