WRX RA powered VW 1303 beetle cabrio with a bit of Porsche

[Ian974]

That is ridiculously awesome! And serious thought into running it too with using as much OEM equipment as possible.
It doesn't really matter what cars you like, projects like these are always worth watching!

[Westy Pre-Lit]

Excellent work that man.

[aposegil]

this is just awesome

great build

[ricola]

Pair of pro-tech dampers for the rear end (15" open, 10" closed), they only have 125lb/inch springs as I still have the 'short' torsion bars which will be stiffer than the original IRS longer bars, together they should be about right for the heavier engine and trans.


I went for the biggest bushes pro-tech had and didn't need any spacers at the top mounting, small ones either side at the lower end.


I held a G50 911 axle in position and luckily it looks like there will be enough clearance to the spring. Normally this wouldn't be an issue but with the trans moved forwards it was something I needed to check...




Paneling part way through, just section by air filter to do now and some general tidying up...

[pacman1]

Wow, nice job bud, keep up the good work. Tres impresseeve!

[Logie]

fking awersome!

[Dr G]

Impressed, +10 man points!

[ricola]

Done some more bits and pieces. Put the engine/trans back in to finalise placement of a lot of ancillaries..

Paneling now done, might add another few fixings depending on how it they are with a foam seal in place


MAF side of the air filter assembly done, MAF bolts on to the side of the housing, reducing elbow connects to original Subaru turbo intake pipe.

[Herman Toothrot]

Amazing work!

[ricola]

Rear bumper mounts needed to be extended by 35mm to clear wider wings


Now everything is at ride height and, a quick mock-up of the kamei spoiler to my set ground clearance. I will trim this back to the bottom of the valance/wings and flush mount it, this will make it much more subtle and less 'plasticy' and keep the radiator intake clear. I wouldn't ordinarily fit one but they work so well and do tidy up the front end a bit.

[pacman1]

I agre with the spoiler, sets the front off nicely. Good work!

[GC8]

What year is the Impreza engine? The WRX Type-RA engine is usually the same as the WRX engine from the same year, although the A & B series cars had a closed deck block too.

[ricola]

It's an early closed deck block with 5th injector and td05 turbo

[Conian]

I dont like Beetles all that much, but I love good engineering.
Excellent job, thanks for sharing this with us.

[GC8]

ricola said:

It's an early closed deck block with 5th injector and td05 turbo

Cool. The fifth injector wont work, but if you retain the original ECU then youll have a higher rev limit. Itll work with any correct phase ECU (up to and including 1996 C2 models) mind.

[stewy68]

Although the Beetle is one of the most hatefull things I have ever driven, this is truly exceptional. The detail is excellent, all the best and well done.

[stewy68]

Although the Beetle is one of the most hatefull things I have ever driven, this is truly exceptional. The detail is excellent, all the best and well done.

[ricola]

I know it isn't the usual pistonheads type build but I've been on here since it was petrolheads and thought I'd share...

I have the original ecu but with a VOS chip for a bit more power and to deal with uk fuel. It will do for starters until I get the urge for more power!

[GC8]

All early cars will cope with UK SUL fuel, dont worry about the '100RON myth'. SUL100 wasnt available in Japan when your engine was manufactured (Subaru launched 280PS cars when it became widely available, before that it was 97/98, which is what we have now). Prodrive took what was effectively a Z4 ECU out of a 260 PS 1995/1996 WRX and used this as their PPP ECU... If you decide to go mental (assuming that anyone thinks that 240PS/260PS in a Beetle is sane), then youve got a number of options. A'PEXi PowerFC used to be the easiest route, but theyre no longer manufactured for A,B&C Series cars, although theyre available used. ScoobyECU used to be a quick and easy upgrade, but the EEPROMs sell for silly money now. Scott Taylor is making ScoobyECUs again now (Polar Peformance, I think) and a firm called Enduring Solutions (ESL) now manufacture a live re-mappable daughter ECU (they started out making ScoobyECU clones but have ended up developing this with Scott Taylor). Its not that much cheaper than an A'PEXi, but you have the advantage of retaining the original JECS ECUs knock control.

Its a shame that the car doesnt use a few more 944 parts then itd be right up my street!

[ricola]

The VOS chip is pretty much the same as a scoobyecu and if I take it much further I'd probably go aftermarket ecu and learn to tune myself. Ultimately I'd like to get to about 500bhp and make the trans really work for a living, lol!