Author Archives: bowtie6

New BF Goodrich Tires for Honda S2000

I live in the city that Mr Bibendum decided to call “home” in North America. I also happen to know some good friends that work there. One of them is a tire designer and he recommended a new BF Goodrich for my S2K (thank you Kip!). Not only does he design tires, he tests them, is a huge Formula 1 fan and drives of all things… One of Arthur Colin Bruce Chapman’s own – a Lotus. Not only is Kip a great car guy, he really knows his stuff so I took his advice…

Kip suggested the latest BF Goodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2 and since the best price can be obtained on-line, that is where they came from. Fortunately the tires came from their Atlanta warehouse, so they were here pretty much overnight. Another one of my friends has his own car shop and also races his own car (thank you Maxie!). He is the only person that I have ever known that takes the time to mount and rotate the tires so the least amount of weights have to be added. This takes time, but he does an awesome job.

Since my S2K is as pristine as they come, I decided to keep all tire sizes as factory recommended: 205/55 16’s Front and 225/50 16’s Rear. Picture above shows what they look like. They are very affordable, they are directional and they are very soft. I have put about 100 miles on them so far and I am impressed. I realize they are not even “broken in” yet, but they are very quiet (compared to the original 10-year-old Bridgestone’s) and these things stick like all-get-out. As the tires scuff, I look forward to see what the S2K can do with good tires all around.

Needless to say, bowtie6 will be wearing a set of these very soon!

Volkswagen Beetle Subaru Engine Swap

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Standing a few feet away from this white Beetle one would have no idea what lurks behind the flawless white paint. Turns out this is an excellent example of a Volkswagen Beetle Subaru engine swap. The interior is equally as clean as the exterior and check out that awesome rollback top, which incidentally is not original to this body shell. It was grafted in from an older donor car. The wheels are also very special – they feature a five bolt design and from what Steve – the owner – told me, are quite rare.

This Beetle’s nose is a little unusual (see pictures above). For starters, it has a nice heater mounted in front of the firewall. Second, there is a Griffin radiator (similar to the one in bowtie6). But wait a minute! Beetle’s aren’t supposed to have heaters that keep you from freezing nor do they have radiators. What is this all about?

Turns out this virtually unassuming bug is powered by non-other but a Subaru boxer engine. This is the four cylinder variant and it has been bolted by means of an adapter plate to the beefed up Volkswagen transaxle. According to Steve – the owner, who also built the car – the coolant lines are routed through the former heater ducts. Once he wired it all up, the Subaru engine fired up and Steve told us this bad boy will smoke tires in first and second gear. He said it is extremely quick and gives him some awesome gas mileage too.

Here is another shot of the engine. What is so remarkable here is the whole package just “fits”! Steve told me he had to make some alterations to the firewall and there is a small cut around the edge of the trunklid opening near the rubber seal. That had to be done in order to gain access to the oil filler cap.

And one last picture… This is what the interior looks like. Oh and both the hood and trunk lid have been treated to the same cool pinstripe work as the dash. Overall this is one hell of a nice Volkswagen Beetle.

2012 Euro Auto Festival – bowtie6 will be there!!!

Blog Performance Issues…

Dead cavallino rampante on the Side of the Road…

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No picture today, but there is a reason. Read on…

I went out for a few errands this afternoon and about 2 miles from my home I see a Ferrari 308 Quattrovalvole with the “hood” up – a dead cavallino rampante on the side of the road… Sad, sad sight indeed and I just could not pass this up. This was going to be interesting…

I turned bowtie6 around and stopped a few feet away from the stricken cavallino rampante. As I approach, the owner greeted me and told me the throttle cable had snapped. On closer inspection sho-nuff, la bella macchina d’Maranello was not going anywhere…

He told me he was trying to secure the cable somehow, so he could limp the car back home. Furthermore, he told me that loosing the cable in the sheath would mean really BIG $$$ and he wanted something to secure the severely frayed cable. I offered a small ViseGrip I have in my handy tool bag and he eagerly accepted.

So after a few minutes he securely fastened the ViseGrip and adjusted the throttle body so that he could limp cavallino rampante back home – he said his home was just a few blocks away. I came very close to take a picture or two, but I felt bad for the fellow. To take a picture of the dead cavallino rampante on the side of the road would have been just adding insult to injury. I felt bad for him; after all a Ferrari is just not something that is supposed to DIE on the side of the road… 😈

Things I learned today…

If you see a cavallino rampante, dead on the side of the road, by all means stop.
Always keep a ViseGrip in your satchel stowed in the trunk. You never know when you might need it. Kinda like having a roll of DuctTape.
There is a big advantage in having an electronic “fly by wire” throttle body (as fitted to bowtie6).
Be nice. Being able to help a tifosi with a dead Ferrari on the side of the road – PRICELESS!

the bowtie6 blog

For this Triumph TR6, the road goes on forever and the party never ends…