Not everyone will agree.....

[Faron]

I went to a small car show today that had about 10 Sand Rails, of the 10 only two had Air-cooled VW motors in them. One VW looked very basic, and the other had a turbo. I looked at one that had a 3.6 Buick V6, another a Ford 5.0, a couple others had in-line four bangers, and last but not least one had a LS1 V8 in the back. A couple of guys here on this board are dropping Corvair Motors in the back of their Buggies.
I guess the discussion I want to open is what are the advantages and the disadvantages of using a VW or another power plant in a Dune Buggy? I think that I will end up putting a VW motor in mine, but how cool would it be hearing a VW behind you in a car that weighs next to nothing.

I also posted this on the Samba...

[BuggymanJohn]

Hey, build them to your likes. You are the one that gets the fun out of it. We have room for all kinds and make our show classes reflect it. I personally appreciate the engineering put into buggies of different motor combos. All I ever ask of anyone is to do your best but always uphold our hobby thru your actions. We live in times in which some would like to get any old cars off the road..yes even out of your backyard. My 2 cents.

[carlos del carpio]

I like the VW 4-banger. It is a 'people's car' by design, and I like that the layman can work on it.

Also, whoever is good at math can figure out the exact percentage, but can anyone name another engine that has been 'upgraded' as much as the type 1? From 25 horsepower to over 200 horsepower with the same basic design, it's pretty tough to beat.

That, and I compare the engine to my other vehicles. My suburban's 5.3? I can prolly work on components, like alternators and pumps, belts and plugs.

My diesel's 6.5? The same.

The VW? 100% tear-down and rebuild. Computer system? Bah, who needs 'em? Water cooled? Psshh.

Besides, CHICKS DIG a guy who can brag that he can lift a whole engine!

[buggyryan]

well for my two cents, i am one of the friends going with corvair power, and after researching a 6cyl corvair motor only weighs 80 more lbs than a 4 cyl vw motor. no replacement for displacement. i was 1600.00 into my 1776 engine and still was gathering parts to assemble it and hoping to get 100 hp out of it, and for less than half of that dollar amount i will have a much more powerful engine that will be so similar to the vw since it seemingly is a gm clone of the vw engine. i can put the leftover money into it and get more reliable hp than i could ever get out of the vw for the same amount of money. well thats my input and for the record i know this thing will want to stand up on its rear bumper at will, reversed drive set up or not.

[Bill K]

And a big Amen to what BuggymanJohn said.

[buggyryan]

same here bill different strokes for different folks. build it how it makes you happy. and with way gas prices are going nowadays we will all be putting moped engines in our buggys before long

[David O']

X2! Or putting in electrics with lithium ion batteries! I can just see it now, "Oh yea? I got 144 volt battery pack and the faster recharge!"

[Duner]

I agree that diversity is the true root of this hobby. I found out that there is still some resistance (or perceived resistance) in the media covering our hobby. When my brother and I went to San Diego to pick up the long bodies last june we stopped in at Dan's Performance. Dan by the way is great guy and very helpful, anyway he showed us around and let us take an extended tour of his own cars and projects. He had a beautiful buggy that had just been prepped for a photo shoot for Hot VW's. I asked him about the all VW power plant and why he had not gone the Subaru route like most of the other buggies in the area were running. He simply stated that if he had the car would most likley not make the feature spread in the magazine. I was taken back a bit given all of the odd engine vw's I have seen in the magazine over the years.

It is a shame though for one of the industry parts providers to feel like he had to alter his build in order to get the vehicle publshed and it may be that the media feels like if you supply VW parts you should promote VW parts.

On the other hand it doesn't bother me if Dan begins selling subaru parts and conversions next week. Again anything that helps this hobby grow and sweep across the naton again the better. The buggy was meant to be a fun car and make people smile, how it is powered should make no difference.

It is a shame that we have almost legislated away anything that was fun to do in this country that was founded on personal liberties.

I think this is enough of the soap box for now or I want stop.

It's your buggy, build it as you dreamed it.

[blackthree4me]

I agree