New owner

[JEP]

Hi
New to the Beat world, can anyone answer these qestions.
Do I have to unzip the rear window before I fold down the roof?
How much does the fuel tank hold?
What tyre pressure should the standard wheels/tyres be at?
I want to move the cd changer into the boot, if there a correct way to route the cable through the bulkhead?
I have a double crome rollover bar and am thinking of removing it, what would it be worth?
Any other owners in Lincolnshire or sourounding area?
Thanks
James

[Jason]

Hey Jep,

Welcome to the clan...

It is preferable to unzip the rear window before folding down the roof.

The fuel tank holds 24 litres

I'm running 35psi in my tyres

Behind the passenger seat there is a gromet that you route your cable for the CD changer into the boot via the left hand rear guard.

Rollover Bar value?

Sorry I live in Australia.

Hope this helps

Jason

[Wh1teLeopard]

Hello and welcome

I believe it's recommended to unzip the window before you fold the roof down, but mines a dodgy 'newer' one which is all crappy anyway so I don't bother.

I run my tyres on 32psi

As for the other stuff I believe the above post should answer those questions

I'm in Tamworth, just NE of Birmingham and I'm gonna admit I don't have a monkies where Lincolnshire is *hangs head in shame*

Oh and make sure you put optimax in your ickle beatie as it will sound and run much better Failing that just any other super unleaded... i have to use Sainsbury's as there isn't a shell garage near me

Anyway, are you planning on coming to any car shows this year??? If so I might see you there, or at a meet... I'll find out where lincolnshire is and find out if there are any meets or gatherings in your area and let you know if I shall be attending.

What colour is your beat??? (typical blonde question hee hee)

[JGGIB]

Hi Jep agree with all they say about tyres and the fuel mine costs about £14 to fill up use the optomax? will run better have fun in the beat ,get the top off and enjoy the ride.can you send photo of roll bar might be intrested.
john

[tinytim]

Hi Jep and welcome,

Officially the tyre pressures are 1.8 bar front and 2 bar rear. (4.2 bar for the spare) I have to admit though that I run mine at a bit over 30psi

On the unzip, it does say in the handbook to un-zip and a tip is to unclip at the front and knock the roof out of it's locked position to give a bit of slack on the zip.

It's difficult to give values for stuff particularly something that can be made fairly easily. You can post it on the bits for sale and see what the response is and make your mind up from that.

Have fun in your Beat

[JEP]

Hi all
Thanks for the info, you seem a friendly lot.
I bought my beat last week off a member of this forum, needs a few jobs and a little paint on the front edge of the bonnet.
Do you get together at shows etc, we would love to see some of your cars.
Thanks again.
James

[Wh1teLeopard]

Originally posted by JEP
Do you get together at shows etc, we would love to see some of your cars.
Thanks again.
James

I go to a lot of 'modified car' shows all over the country including 'jap meets' I'll try to remember to post up what and where...

But the big ones are Japanese Auto Extravaganza, jap show and jap fest. Don't know if the Beat Club are doing anything offically, was wondering about that myself.

[adrianp]

Bit late I know but Welcome to the madhouse...

Car looks a good one, But I think it could do with a couple of extras (Hint Hint...) click here...

I got the Blue ones especially for the silver cars...

If mine doesn't sell then hopefully I'll see you at one of the shows this year.

Ady.

[Bruce]

Jason,

35psi is too high a tyre pressure, what with the manual suggesting 26 front and 29 rear. Maybe you have wider tyres and think they should be higher for that, but the car is still very light, particularly at the front.

Bruce

[jurek]

Hi M8ee welcome to the gang !!
did you get your car off EASON? (The wheels look familiar.)
I would be interested in the role bar
is it chrome or stainless steel?
cheers

[JEP]

Hi
Sorry to say but Mrs P has declared the bars stay!
Yes we did get the car from EASON, in need of a few jobs but a good buy.
The wheels are going though, I am not one for things that just look good, in my opinion they are too wide so I am going back to the original steel ones.
Going to put these on ebay unless your interested.
James

[Bruce]

I'd be interested in your experience of changing back to the standard narrow tyres. You should in theory get a little less kick from the steering wheel over bumps with the narrow tyres (due to a shorter kingpin offset).

Any feedback on the changes to the handling would be appreciated, as I am thinking of possibly going wider one day, though budget probably precludes this for now.

Bruce

[john m]

I put 14" all round and just used the same size tyre (165) both front and rear. The only difference I noticed was the steering became a little heavier, the car understeers less but if you push hard its still there. The steering loads up heavily in bends when pushing on (was like that on originals too but more so now), it just wants to return to the straight ahead position, but the car seems more neutral, both ends reach their limit at the same time. I don’t think the ride has changed at all, comfort is as it always was. I didn't want to go too big or wide, it will effect bearings, handling, comfort etc. Also with 64bhp as standard (a little more with the powerflow exhaust and HKS induction kit) I dont think we have the power or torque to make use of increased grip. Its always nice to be able to induce and control a little slide, increasing the grip will kill that!!

[JGGIB]

I have a set of orginal steel wheels have been bead blasted so nice and clean along with the honda chrome centre caps

[JEP]

Luckily I got the original wheels with my car and they are in excellent condition. At the moment it is on 185/65/14 rear and 165/65/14 front. I feel it is very heavy when travelling slowly and the acceleration is poor and handling not what it should be. It is not always good to go big, on my rally cars we often run narrow tyres for better handling and grip and light is always better. With the small engine the move up in size seems to drastically effect the acceleration, not only is there extra weight but the increase in rolling circumference also affects the gearing.
Extra grip is a way to off set poor driving and doesn't necessarily give more speed.
James

[Bruce]

Sounds like you've got your head screwed on straight, James.

Fun handling is more important than outright grip, and your point about big tyres' longer gearing and higher rotational inertia combining to compromise straightline acceleration is valid.

With my 155 fronts, I do get understeer in the dry, but on wet roundabouts, I find it seems to be really nicely balanced across the 4 tyres.

The tricky thing with the standard wheels is finding decent tyres that fit both ends. I went for Uniroyal Rallye 680s, which look great but are not ideal as they have a slightly high profile at the rear, and too many grooves. In hindsight, I suggest the Contintental EcoContacts. They have received good reviews.

If I had my way, I'd have crossplys, as you can run crazy slip angles with them before they give way, so they are amazingly forgiving - I miss them from my Gran's Beetle! Pretty hopeless grip though.

Bruce

[JGGIB]

Honda must have known what they where doing when they put 13/14" on the car I have put alloys on my beat but keep to the orginal sizes and tyre sizes and its ok.

[Jennifer]

whats is the pcd etc etc on the beat?? I may use my 4 stud 106 wheels if I can get spacers made up.

[JEP]

Bruce
Sounds like you know your stuff with tyres.
My original wheels currently have Contintental EcoContacts on the rear and some budget Goodyear on the front. I was going to give them a try at my local test track to see how they go on a piece of tarmac I know well. I do like the range of tyres produced by Colway for competition use and before everyone shouts me down I do know they are remoulds. The road plus tyre has very good handling characteristics and last year I did an event with 1300 road miles and 48 stages with a set, no punctures and not a great amount of wear. I don't think they do a suitable size but I am sure they will produce some. Any information on other tyres used would be great as you quite rightly stated the choice is limited.
James

[Wh1teLeopard]

Originally posted by Jennifer
whats is the pcd etc etc on the beat?? I may use my 4 stud 106 wheels if I can get spacers made up.

4x100 offset 35, original width of standard alloys 4.5" i believe