Originally Posted by pondering_it_all
With that much horsepower, VW bugs are an inherently unstable platform. They are shaped like a wing cross-section because the original designers wanted it to work well at 60 MPH on the autobahn with just 36 HP. When you hit 120 MPH, they flip because the wing takes off! I think the Karmann Gias are much better aerodynamically.

When I was young, I rebuilt a lot of VW engines. Now I'm into electric cars. Much cleaner and no exposure to parts cleaning solvent (which I never liked about the VWs). I bought an old Prius and replaced the battery, so my daily driver gets 46 MPG and cost me $3500.

Hey ground effects, it's what's for dinner!
But hey, I am on record as saying I am not a fan of the Bugs anyway, I just get a kick out of seeing what people do with them.
A friend of mine knows the owner of "The Dung Beetle" which is a 340 HP turbo powered Bug which routinely does nine second quarter miles at around 140 MPH through the traps.
He says it gets a wee bit dicey but he has a couple of ground effects goodies mounted for that purpose.
But yeah, I think they're death traps and wouldn't own another after my first one in 1971.

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I own an 07 Prius but I have to ask, was your replacement battery a brand new factory OEM or a remanned unit because I hear tell the remanned units are only about twelve to fifteen hundred bucks.
Mine only has about 85K on it and I just bought it about a year ago but I am getting tired of waiting for the weak battery to keel over.
The factory warranty is supposed to be 10 years or 100 thousand miles but if I can get a remanned unit for that cheap it would be worth the money and effort.
I'm getting about 38 combined, which is good but not great because I know lots of Prius owners who are getting much better, even more than your quote of 46.

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