Can someone give me some suggestions on turning a New Beetle into a Baja? Suspension lifts? I want to make this happen, so shoot me some info please.

 

not sure but you're definitley gonna pour some money in it... it would be cool to use an R32 drive train so you'd be all wheel drive instead of just front. or i suppose an audi system may work. not sure wish i could help, keep me posted though this could be very cool

 

i had the same idea dude.. its such a good idea but its gonna be expensive out the butt... but lemmie know how it turns out and gimmie tips...ill return the favor!! k thx byez

 

I live in Bend, OR and have lifted my Beetle 2" bought the kit from metalnerds.com. I will be putting on 215/65 16's General AT2 tires. The total lift will be 3" and what a difference it makes! We get a lot of snow here and now that my clutch is out in my Vanagon syncro I now take the Beetle up to Mt. Bachelor for snowboarding. I have currently stock size studless snow tires and it handles great in the snow and ice. I also installed a metal belly pan because the stock plastic one got shredded from ice my first year. I was out rallying in 6"of snow with my friend behindme in aJeep and he was laughing so hard because I was doing everything he was and just as fast. It wasn'tuntil the snow was a foot deep that I decided I was going to turn around. We got into his Jeep and went about a quarter mile when he decided to turn around. I was supprized at what I could turn around in. I can't wait to get my new tires. I have a chipped and injected TDI and could reach high speeds veryquickly in the snow covered dirtforest roads and once I came upon a very bumpy section that made be bounce allaround and never heard my suspension bottom out! I alsogo in the forest and cut wood and had to use my NB TDI to tow a half cord of wood. I got a lot of looks, as I passed cars going up hill onthe highway. That little diesel is truely amazing. I am planning on taking this car to Baja one day and soon it will be ready. If you have seen pictures of the yellowBeetle TDIfloating around I plan ondoing bumper guards like his. I hope you can contact me because I am looking for more answers too. Call Carrera Motors inBend, I am the only one with a TDI Beetle.

 

Have you guys seen the DUNE concept? apparently it was at the 2000 LA auto show. Too bad they never actually made these as a production model

Anyway, I eventually plan on converting my beetle (after I get out of med school and actually have money). If I wanted to put a rack of offroad lights on the top is that something easy to find or do I need to go to a specific beetle parts site?

I actually found a light bar at Chircho.com but I'm not sure if it will fit onto a New Beetle or just the old ones. I'm emailing them to find out and I'll post here when they respond.

Also (obviously my knowledge on modifying cars is pretty much nothing), what does it take to put on things like skid plates and suspensions? Is that something I'm going to have to get done at a body shop?