Finally a VW Topic!

[ChopStix]

I couldn’t decide - bugs or busses!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by ChopStix

I guess you remember it's a Renault. I no longer see so many of these on the wild, as I still used to see some once in a while until some years ago...

[freebeard]

The early Fuchs alloys suggest it's been body-swapped onto a Beetle floorpan.

[ChopStix]

Above - It’s a VW pan swapped car. I believe they modded the air inlets on the sides and put on old bug wheels.

[freebeard]

I believe they modded the air inlets on the sides and put on old bug wheels.

For Fuchs sake.... https://www.heritagepartscentre.com/...loy-wheel.html

Lightweight and forged
However, the Porsche engineering team knew that a regular, cast alloy rim would not withstand the high loads imposed by a ‘serious’ sports car (without exceeding the all-important weight reduction etc). Otto Fuchs suggested that the solution would be to opt for a high-strength/lightweight forged-alloy wheel. The concept of a mass-produced, forged-alloy wheel was a radical idea back in the 1960s, but Otto Fuchs went on to design a whole new manufacturing technique to produce a one-piece wheel from a forged aluminium ‘blank’. Porsche designer, Heinrich Klie, was assigned the task of styling this new ‘Fuchs’ wheel, which he shaped and formed in modelling clay before presenting his design to Ferry Porsche in May of 1965.

58 steps to the perfect Fuchs...
Ochel went on to finalise the design/specs, and mapped out the 58-step process required to manufacture the one-piece wheel… (And yes, ‘58-steps’ made the Fuchs one of the most complex mass-produced wheels ever!). The manufacturing process began with a pressed section of high-grade aluminium stock, which was forged to produce a blank. Drop-forging this ‘blank’ punched the holes between the spokes and deburred the flange, while a secondary drop-forging process formed a split flange (which was then rolled-out/widened to complete the one-piece rim). This complex manufacturing process resulted in a wheel, which was ‘machine-formed/finished’ on the inner-/back- side, too (unlike a cast wheel, which would typically be ‘rough-cast’ on the inner side). In short, the high-quality, forged construction process resulted in an incredibly tough (yet light-weight) wheel, which was far better balanced ‘out of the box’ than a regular, cast wheel.

It's hard to discern but those look like Porsche center caps. The Type IIs have aftermarket reproductions with blank center caps.

[ChopStix]

[ChopStix]

[Isaac Zachary]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flQ1VvtUpB4

The point is, the Beetle has a coefficient of drag of around 0.41.

[freebeard]

Thanks. The Cd gets short shrift. A good presentation otherwise.

I disagree that the C-pillars overall shape is wrong (2:17). I think the drip rail acts as a vortex generator.

Agreed there is too much underbody flow (2:21). If you look at Beetles modified for high speed, they're stanced nose down so the underbody is a divergent plenum counteracting those vortexes at the rear.

They also have a dog-house box below the rear window where separation would occur.

[ChopStix]

Working on the bus popouts….