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I like traveling around South Africa... well right now its just Western Cape but hope to travel more...
I'm thinking of buying a beetle and was just wondering if anyone out there is actually doing some long distance trips with their beetles. What have your longest trips been and how have your bugs performed...
my bug with the old engine could easily do a 350 km journey in one go, climb in and drive. work for a few days (doing about 60km a day) then climb in and drive home. did that for a few months no problem... haven't really driven further than that. before my latest engine issues i rate my bug could have made it to cape town and back no problems. but ya, its currently in the garage awaiting its new engine.
Use it as a daily driver normally, 50 km to joburg and back. off to middelburg and back occasionally. there are very few other cars i would rather drive...
From fastest to slowest:
Birkin race car, not much is standard
Lotus Elise 111R, almost everything is standard
'75 SP 1600 with a few mods
B8 A4 Avant tdi, towing made easy
The bugs and buses can go anywhere - my 1800km (back road) round trip last year in my bay to the coast is testament to it. Just need some key bits of advice -
1) Six P' s - PPPPPP Proper preparation prevents piss poor performance (not just in speed but also in realiblity)
2) And stop and get gas when and where you can, as often as you can - I dont seem to get that many K's out a tank - but it is a small tank - this also allows the bug or bus to cool while the both of you get some juice
mmmm.. roadtrip
Camping is cheaper than therapy.
"Wanna sell it" "Yeah, but there's a national shortage on 'for sale' signs."
OD_1 wrote:What have your longest trips been and how have your bugs performed...
My Dad had a 1960 Beetle which he sold somewhere after 1967. Many long trips with a family of 6 The one I remember well was the roundtrip from Durban to Cape Town in 1966. Rained all the way there and back - and that's just what happened, the Beetle got us there and back!
If life pleases us, why should death coming from the same Creator, displease us - Leonardo De Vinci
A well maintained bug will go anywhere a well maintained car will go. Granted a bug is sooo not a 2010 vvti petrol injection with twincam and throttle bodies and and and....
The youngest bug is about 30 years.... 30 years!!
The last bug was made like almost a decade before I was born!! Yet older ones that were old when my parents were young are still kicking ass and touring the country.
So yeah a good and well maintained bug will take you from Cape to Cairo within the allowed parameters, treat it good and it'll treat you good.
Dude go out and get a bug, its gonna piss the hell outta you, its gonna make you swear in languages you never knew you knew. And it will bring you the greatest smiles, happiness, accomplishment and joy all at the same time.
I hate my car, yet I just turned down a offer from somebody willing to buy it.
Crazy ass me, shoulda sold it and bought a golf.....
bugspray wrote:its gonna piss the hell outta you, its gonna make you swear in languages you never knew you knew. And it will bring you the greatest smiles, happiness, accomplishment and joy all at the same time.
I have become fluent in mechanic speak, through the discussions I've had with Lady, Christn and other ACVW's.
Sure... you may take the keys from me, you may pry them from my cold, dead hands.
How about a round trip from Cape Town to George and back, or Cape Town to Upington and back or Cape Town to Graaf Reneit and back. These have been done in the last 3 Christmas Holidays .
Why do we celebrate the guy that invented the wheel??
Surely we must celebrate the guy tat invented the other three
My bus went through 3 tanks of petrol (65 liter tank!) on my plus minus 1600km road trip round the northern province,...we traveled through the magaliesberg mountains and then through the Swartberg (I think thats what theyre called) mountain range up to the border of Botswana. Beautifull country out there.The only problem I had was keeping my beers cold,a very stiff back,and sore ribs from bouncing around on the front seat.
the only problem I had from the bus was my fault,..when I ran out of petrol in the Haarties dam wall tunnel (old VW petrol gadges dont work so well sometimes)
"ALL THAT LIVES IS BORNE TO DIE........NOTHING REALLY MATTERS." Robert Plant-Led Zeppelin.
"Crime is still goverments priority." SA Police spokesperson
The one I remember well was the roundtrip from Durban to Cape Town in 1966. Rained all the way there and back - and that's just what happened, the Beetle got us there and back!
Very inspirational guyz!
Long live the BUG!!!
