New purchase

[bbrown]

I guess I have just been lucky, six your insurance must be pretty high . I have been stopped numerous times, but have never been given a ticket . I think the cop last summer would have given me a ticket if he wasn't on his way to a Hawaiian Luau because I manged to come on the interstate on three wheels with the cabby. He didn't have his radar on so it didn't trip my detector (those things are worth their weight in gold especially since I make my livelihood by driving), but he saw a little slide from my rear as I exited the on ramp three wheels he had to pull me over to remind me that other people use the high way. I had all I could do to hold back my smile as I watched him exit his grey unmarked cruiser with his bright orange Hawaiian T flopping in the wind (hard to take an officer serious when he is out of uniform, but those blues still put a sinking feeling in my stomach). He asked me if I thought I was pushing the car a little to hard to do that. I didn't have much to say, but if I had nerves of steal I would have asked if he had gotten it on tape so I could watch my handy work, but I am not an idiot. Well I have yet to have another incident in the cabby, but I am sure it won't belong before I get tagged with a laser (those things are hard to dodge and the radar detector doesn't give much warning on those) plus like six I suffer from the Red car syndrome in which cops love Red "sporty" looking cars.

mmmmm. 3 wheels :

[sixsracing]

Yeah most of my indiscretions have been of the two wheeled persuasion, but I have also been doing it for 25 years. I bought the fastest production motorcycle in 1985 when I was 18 years old. My grandfather wouldn't talk to me for months.

On topic, the New Beetle runs! The cable came this afternoon and I borrowed a customer's laptop, 20 mins. later she started up like it never had a problem. Took it around the block and she shifts all gears, no skip, no terrible noise, not leaking. I'm thinking of opening up a bottle and having a time.

[sixsracing]

My insurance is ok now, new state and I have been for the most part a good boy.
Istopped riding the bike in Massachusetts because compulsory was going to run me
$1,800.00 a year just for the bike. I have been to court and had a state trooper tell
me he was pushing for a year in jail, license suspension and a $1,500.00 fine. Some
of those guys just have NO sense of humor whatsoever.

My cabby won't even come close to three wheels, the only time I got the rear loose
was on an off ramp after passing a rather fast Honda on the outside and cutting back
in front of him. Somewhere north of 80MPH or so, it got a little hairy. He and I
stopped a little later and he just couldn't fathom how I got around him and held on.
Me neither. Adrenaline is a bad, bad thing.

When you come back up this way you and I can take a ride and compare chassis setup.
I haven't taken anybody for a ride yet that wasn't at least mildly impressed.

[bbrown]

I can't say for sure that I got on only three tires, but I no I did slide a little and the MkI and MkII are notorious for cocking their rear tires when being shoved into the corners really hard. I have pretty much the stock setup on my cab, but if I can get ahead this summer I will be adding H&R springs and some Bilstein shocks.

On the new beetle- what kind of motor are you sporting in that little red rocket? I see it has the fog lamps and spoiler so my first guess would be a 1.8T as I am pretty sure that they had some kind of sport package that had the 1.8T, but correct me if I am wrong (I don't know much about the new or really even the old Beetle stuff). Also with the new programmer and cable are you able to tune the car i.e. speed limiter or improve shift points on at's. Just curios as to what all you can do with the software and such (I know I read in one of the other topics that you are limited to the models you can use the cable and software on, but I bet it is a good investment for your Beetles and for your customers). I know a guy on campus who runs a Pontiac Firehawk and he has his laptop on board and he can load custom tunes for different applications i.e. 1/4 mile runs, street, economy, etc...

On insurance matters- Maine is so much cheaper than Texas. My Ranger insurance almost doubled being in Texas vs. being in Maine. Stupid crime rates, can't we all just get along?

[kamzcab86]

I don't think you suffer from Red Car Syndrome, but rather Lead Foot Syndrome.

[sixsracing]

I do have a lead foot and a very supple right wrist.... that may not have come across correctly, hmmm

I digress, no it is not a turbo, that was my first thought when I saw it in the salvage lot. Somebody put the
spoiler on. I have seen other non-turbo cars out there with the fog lights so that doesn't seem to indicate a
thing. I wish it did. Of course the New Beetle would have given up it's 1.8T for my cabby anyway.

[bbrown]

I don't think you suffer from Red Car Syndrome, but rather Lead Foot Syndrome.

Can we get a prescription to cure that? Or are we just left to suffer the rest of our days with this diagnosed sickness and no cure? . So six, your beetle has the 2.0 8V then? Comparatively is it any quicker then your Cabby? I know the 2.0 makes a little more than our 1.8's, but it isn't night and day difference as when compared to the 16V or the turbo. I agree the 1.8T would have been destined to go in the Cabby if the Beetle was willing to let go of it, too bad.

[sixsracing]

In my experience the 2.0ABA motors from the OBDI era were pretty quick. The OBDII 2.0's got slower, other people have commented to me on the same thing. My daughter's 94 Jetta would smoke my Cabriolet with the right person behind the wheel. I would have no problem keeping up with her 97 that she's driving now. Quite a few of the 96 and on cars have the secondary air pump which I believe contributes to this syndrome. I'm sure you could find HP figures for the various years if you looked hard enough. I will be removing the 2.0 from my daughter's retired Jetta and rebuilding to my own specs. shortly and then installing it in the cabby. I was under the impression that the crossfire head was too high to fit under the hood of a cabby but I was reading recently on the Vortex that this may not be true. I'm currently trying to verify this and then make up my mind as to what to do for the top end. With this New Beetle it will give me an extra car should I want to tear into the cabby even sooner than I had planned. Financeswill also come to bear on this project.

As far as the Beetle being faster than the cabby, I couldn't tell you for sure because I haven't driven it far enough or hard enough. It is an automatic so probably will be a little slower on acceleratiion but top speed may be better. My cabby is no slouch but the clutch isn't real healthy right now.

There is no cure for my infatuation with speed, I have long ago stopped looking. I bought a full dress Gold Wing many years ago and had to sell it because I was dragging pegs, exhaust and highway bars at every turn. I have paid tickets in excess of $800.00 and been down so many times I have lost count. Paralysis or death or are the only answers, I'm trying for neither.

[Calimus]

I think the reason the OBDII 2.slow's get a bad rap Vs. the OBD1's is also due to the weight of the chasis they are hauling now. A last gen Cabrio out-weights and MK3 golf I would think and the NB is certainly no svelt promdate either. However, I can say that I've pushed our NB to 120 indicated. It didn't like it much but I was able to hit it. I don't think I've ever gotten the crabby cabby past 115. Granted, it's impossible now with that 4k in her. She screams at 90 and that autotech cam gets her there quick.

But I do give the current 2.slow some credit, it is a tourqey motor and the NB is kinda fun to drive like a hooligan. However, I must admit that the Vr jetta is much more fun to play hooligan in

Sixes, glad to hear that the vagcom worked it's magick. I think you will find it to be a very helpfull tool and well worth the exspence.

[sixsracing]

Weight is a factor no doubt, but I was comparing apples to apples. The 93-95 A3 chassis with OBDI versus the 96-99 A3 chassis with OBDII. Shouldn't be much weight imbalance there at all.

Yes, the Cabrio seems to be a little portly, but the 99.5 and on A4's seem quicker than the A3 chassis and still have the weight problem.

I can play hooligan in a Tercel wagon and still have fun ......yes, i have done it.

A few quotes:
Small slow cars are like ugly women, fun to play with but you don't want your friends to see you. (urban legend material)

I don't like real small cars or real big women but somehow I always find myself in 'em. (Kid Rock)

[gull]

No, in fact I really dislike red vehicles because of the attention they draw. I would never actually go out with the intention of searching for one, but they do seem to find me.

I don't like silver or white, but somehow I've ended up with more cars that are one of those two colors than any others. I always tell people that when you're buying used you can't be picky about the color.

My current cars are both blue, though, which I like fine.