This car is one of our favorites!
We retrieved it from Texas for a California client who purchased it on EBAY, fixed more than 100 issues, and now have a superb little pocket racer. You can follow some of the history of this project by clicking here, to see older posts documenting the first phase of the transformation of this Bugeye.
We sent the car to the client in California in February, who put 600 miles on the car and has now asked us to bring it to the next level. We will put in a five speed, improve the front brakes with larger rotors and calipers and install disk brakes. But first, I wanted to establish a baseline of the stopping distance, and we will check again as we upgrade first front, then rear brakes.
Watch the video below!
Not exactly MIT level analytics, but should do the job just fine. Hold the speed at 30 MPH on the GPS speedo, cross the chalk line (I put at the lamp post in the background), and measure the braking distance!
First run=51 feet. This is with front disk brakes from a later Sprite with stock rotors and stock Bugeye rear drum brakes.
After a few more tries, I stopped in just under 46 feet. This is with 175/70 tires from 2011. Old tires, but still pretty supple. Can we shave off some distance? We’ll be back in a few weeks with the same car and tires, upgraded brakes, and an update!
