how it is in the winter?

40

Asked by Westy1414 Apr 24, 2011 at 10:25 PM about the 1974 Volkswagen Beetle

Question type: Shopping & Pricing

Hi everyone i am trying to get a final answer on my dilemma. I am wondering if the 74 Baja bug is good for a daily driver? and most important if they are good cars for cold cold winters as i live in Winnipeg Manitoba. and final question is will it be good for the highways at 120-130 kms for a few hours to go to the cabin and stuff?

9 Answers

3,155

these questions will take more information to answer with much accuracy but here's some good guesses. first, the stock heat system is decent at best. if it's hooked up correctly, adjusted correctly, it will work ok. you will not have good defrost, but you will not freeze to death. i drove a vw for a couple years in minot north dakota. your best option would be to invest in a gas heater for your car. you can buy them new, but they run around $1000-$1500. with a good gas heater and the stock heater you could bake cookies while you drive! the vw does extremely well in the snow. and being a baja should do even better. your highway demands ( looks like 75 to 80mph) you may have problems with. for a stock bug, with stock tires, this speed is pushing the limits of the motor rpm's. if your baja has larger than stock rear tires you can achieve higher speeds for a given rpm. the problem is going to be power to push the larger tires. personally i think 70mph is around the top speed that can be maintained with reliabity. now if your wanting to change transaxle gears (freeway flier transaxle) have rear tires that are quite a bit larger than stock, and a larger more powerful motor to push these modifications, then your speeds would be easy to obtain.

5 people found this helpful.
40

ok thanks now the bug i looing at has a 2litre pourche engine. so basicly it would be a good dairl driver http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1123594 check it out

2 people found this helpful.
3,155

The 914 porsche used the same basic engine as the vw type 4. Good motors. I would bet that motor does not have the stock heater system. Better ask that question, and if not then look into getting a gas heater. You will probably need one anyway.

40

so a good 12v heater wouldnt really cut it?and is there a decent amout of room in one? like a hockey bag? or a few bags going to the cabin?

3,155

not much room in the front. if your gonna carry bags like that, put them in the back seat! as for those electric heaters, if you get a big enough one it'll work. but finding one big enough that will run on 12 volts may be a problem. not to be rude, but judging from your questions, you must not know much about aircooled vw's. if you don't know about them, i sure hope your a fast learner and you are mechanically inclined. these cars require quite a bit of maintenance. if you keep the maintenance up they are quite realiable, but you will probably spend at least one weekend a month doing tune ups, fixing problems, and general upkeep.

40

yeah i have no idea about them bu ti want to get into them, is the maintenance like changeing fluids and such. i am a faster learner, and am good with my hands. I just cant to seem to find any good reviews or maintance plans or anything on the internet

2 people found this helpful.
3,155

Most maimteance is valve adjustmentx, point setting, brake adjustments, oil changes, and such. The best place on the internet to find advise and guides is thesamba.com. There you will be able to find anything you need

1 people found this helpful.
30

yikes im moving to Alaska guess i need a gas heater then

2 people found this helpful.

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