David Lieb wrote:
Not only was it not stock (neither was the Pug), but the Sprite looked to
have been purpose-built for hill climbs while the Pug was purpose-built for
bench-racing. Hardly fair ;-) What is the line about old age and treachery?
Still a good show.
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David hit the nail on the head... That Bugeye was definitely built for
hilllcimbs or other type of racing where top speed is not required but
excellent handling is and low overall gearing helps. They said top speed was
95 mph, and with 130 hp, racing straight gears/close ratio box (did you hear
the gear whine?), and I am sure totally modified suspension, that Bugeye
ain't going to be slow around the type of circuit shown on the video! Here
in So Cal, that Bugeye would be great at the Street of Willows (training
course with lots of turns on something like 1.6 miles), but not suited to
the Willow Springs main circuit, which is much longer and mostly a throttle
flat-out affair - the much heavier but more powerful Pug, with its higher
top speed, would have easily won there.
My ex-SCCA full-race 948 cc Bugeye (overbored +40) had under 100 hp and top
speed was 100 mph, by comparison... The Bugeye in the video must have had a
full race 1380 cc motor, with obviously lower gearing. I would not be
surprised is that engine could rev up to 9,000 rpm or so too. My engine
limit was 8,500 rpm.
JLC
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