If you’ve ever watched 2005’s Herbie Fully Loaded, you’ll notice that the Volkswagen Beetle driven by Lindsay Lohan has a speedometer that reads up to 200 miles per hour (322 km/h).
Advertisement
Let’s face it; a Beetle is a Beetle is a Beetle.
The vehicle briefly hit 208 miles per hour during its record run.
It’s not all that hard to believe that it might be a runner, though it does seem highly improbable when you consider it over your morning – or afternoon – coffee. So, to make it reach 205.122 miles per hour over a flying mile at the Bonneville Salt Flats without drastically altering the shape, it needed to have 543 horsepower and 421 pound-feet of torque at the wheels. If that figure isn’t awesome enough, look at the stress the flywheel had to handle, more than 600 horsepower and 500 pounds-feet.
Volkswagen teamed up with California tuner THR Manufacturing to deliver this quirky Beetle, which has the regular 2.0-litre, four-cylinder TSi turbo engine pumped up via new blower, camshaft, pistons, connecting rods, and cylinder head to no less than 543 horsepower (405 kilowatts) and 421 pound-feet (571 Newton meters) of torque.
“We are completely thrilled with the Beetle LSR’s performance at Bonneville”, said Dr. Hendrik Muth, Senior Vice President, Product Marketing and Strategy, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “This feat truly underscores the sporty and pugnacious spirit of the Beetle”.
Of course, the Beetle had more than a few other changes to make the achievement occur.
Helping the air glide over the bright yellow Beetle at such speed is a lowered (or slammed in Volkswagen talk) suspension setup, and the tyres were wrapped around the iconic Salt Flat rims. The interior was also gutted and fitted with safety equipment like a roll cage and fire suppression system. To slow it down, the driver releases two parachutes.
Advertisement
Your average VW Beetle is not going to come anywhere close to 200 miles (320km/h) per hour.
