Author Topic: Specs on VW's 225 MPH ARVW (Read 5008 times)

rabbid79 · « **on:** December 13, 2006, 09:13:18 pm »

Hi, I purchased a November 1981 magazine article cutout of the ARVW turbo diesel land speed record holder. Here are a couple of things I thought you'd find interesting:

0.15 drag coefficient
39 MPG at 155 MPH
17 MPG at 225 MPH
Audi 4-speed transmission
6-cylinder volvo (a.k.a. Audi/VW) diesel engine - based on naturally aspirated version. 2.383 Liters
KKK turbo - Not wastegated
25 psi max boost
173 HP @ 4500 RPM
Not intercooled. They decided in favor of post-turbo water injection to keep the drag down.
Enjoy.

BellCityDubber · « **Reply #1 on:** December 13, 2006, 10:15:18 pm »

Oh wow!

that is TOTALLY AWESOME!!
I've never seen anything like that from vw before...

sounds like a really neat configuration.... 6cyl 2.3 diesel with a kkk turbo on a 4speed...... odd.... but probably highly effective

jtanguay · « **Reply #2 on:** December 14, 2006, 04:31:58 am »

i wish that was my daily driver... would be hard to find anyone with big enough balls to race me though

sethyboy85 · « **Reply #3 on:** December 14, 2006, 03:31:31 pm »

won that ebay auction I see, I posted about that article for sale on ebay in the general forum

rabbid79 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 15, 2006, 05:47:10 pm »

Ya, I couldn't pass it up. It seems like there's almost no other information about it anywhere. I wish it talked more about the engine, but it's better than nothing.

burn_your_money · « **Reply #5 on:** December 15, 2006, 06:07:18 pm »

Isn't it just the normal 6 cylinder volvo engine from the 80s? or do you mean the specifics of that engine?

rabbid79 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 15, 2006, 06:57:24 pm »

I mean the specifics of THAT engine. I was hoping they would elaborate on compression ratios, materials used, torque, R&D, etc. It has suprisingly little horsepower for how fast it goes! It is interesting that it's a N/A version of the volvo diesel.

hillfolk'r · « **Reply #7 on:** December 15, 2006, 10:06:43 pm »

i say why not a 4 speed?
diesels have mad torque,and they can pull those widely spaced gears
im contemplating a 4 speed or (gasp) an auto swap on my tdi-m
i think a 4 speed may be faster/quicker in the 1/4
and doin brake torque smokeys off the line with an auto would be fun too
but back to the 4 speed in that thing.....
i wonder what the speed in each gear that thing will do

like,is it real "tall" and does like 80 mph in 1st gear at redline???
ive heard about this vehicle,but never saw much about it
lol take 225 mph and divide into 4 :roll: :roll:

rabbid79 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 15, 2006, 11:37:21 pm »

Hey Hillfolk'r, about a year ago when I had my TDI 150 engine I was looking into putting a 4-speed behind it. One big problem is you don't seem to be able to get the really high ratio R&Ps for them. Thus they're not very TDI friendly. The best 4-speed tranny I could find were codes GP and GL from the '81+ Rabbits (not PUs). Of course the other issue was how long the tranny would hold the torque. I thought about diff upgrades and cryo'd gears, etc., but finally got fed up with the engine and sold it. I still would like to have a GP/GL in place of my GC though. Smooth shifting little suckers...

burn_your_money · « **Reply #9 on:** December 16, 2006, 04:31:49 am »

4A is my favorite 4 speed tranny. I had it in my rabbit almost it's whole life with me. I wouldn't have swapped it out if it hadn't started leaking fluid

QuickTD · « **Reply #10 on:** December 16, 2006, 07:32:36 am »

I wonder is they used the 4 gear so they could use that high ratio ( 3.58 ) dodge omni final drive? It would make sense. A land speed vehicle doesn't really need to accellerate all that hard, just as long as its up to speed when it hits the traps. The 3.56 combined with the tallest (0.70) 4th would give a 2.506 overall ratio, taller than the tallest 5 speed combination which is 3.67 x 0.71 = 2.605.

(edited with correct ratio info)