Made the choice

Made up my mind to buy a new Beck Spyder! Ordered it the other day for delivery around Thanksgiving. I can't wait. It's going to look gorgeous next to my 996.

Will an owner of a Spyder tell me how fun they are to drive? I thought my MGB was fun... My name is Tony, and I look forward chatting with everyone.

Regards,

Badapag

They are fun. Although I also have a 911 and I drive that every day...I don't drive the Spyder much.

What kind of replica ddo you have? Do you like it?

Mike's got an older Beck like mine. I have a 1986 Beck that I'm just finishing that I drive every day I can and it's a total blast. If I were you I would spend the time to really learn the driving characteristics by doing some autocrossing/Solo 2. In San Diego they run around every 3 weeks and I know that the Porsche club also runs something similar but more often. They will let you in no problem since you have a real Porsche, otherwise they should be picky.

The autocross courses allow you to drive as hard as you want but not really fast so you really get the character of the car down. Basically just don't lift the throttle in a corner or get ready with some fast hands as you'll be seeing you tail awfully quick!

Nice to meet you Bert and Mike. Thanks for the advice Bert. I'm a member of PCA, and I participate in some of their events. Is the car considered a rear or mid engine? In some pictures of the Beck it looks like the engine sits closer toward the front of car.

I can't wait to feel the acceleration. The power to wait ratio is what attracted me to the car, and of course the gorgeous look. I carefully considered all Spyder manufacturers and I kept coming back to Beck.

Regards,

Tony

Tony,

The car is mid-engined. It is certainly not as refined as your other car. You may appreciate its raw essence...some do and some don't. It does draw a lot of attention, makes a lot of noise, and is as fun as a motorcycle. It could be a tough decision each day - what to drive...

Mike

I thought it was mid engine. Hell ya baby! I bought it for it's raw essence. An excellent choice of words. I have owned a lot of muscle cars through the years, always having my 996, and it wasn't until I bought a 74 MGB set up for soft core rallying that I had a true blast driving.

Don't get me wrong; I love my 996 and it's a whole different driving experience than a MGB. But, the MGB had that rawness about it that I craved. I did find myself driving it more than my 996 sometimes. The Spyder has all those same qualities times ten. I can't wait for delivery. Did you guys deal with Beck? I found them to very helpful and prompt.

Talk to you later

Tony

I bought mine in 1989 when Chuck Beck and his son had a small shop in Upland Ca. I dealt directly with him and a "mutual friend" for an extremely good deal.

Sounds like you will really enjoy it. Post pictures when you get it.

Mike

And I actually bought it from a friend who bought the car from Chuck in 1986. My friend 'built' it and then owned it for 16 years and a whopping 300 miles. He actually did a good job putting it together but got busy and just never finished it.

And at times I don't think it will ever be finished!

Tony,
I bought my Beck in November of 2000. I have 5000 miles on it and the fun started driving it home from Hesperia Cal. to Las Vegas where I live. I ran it out of gas 5 miles from Primm Nev. (Stateline)I got a ride to and from the gas station and ever since I am very aware of the 10 gallon tank (240 miles max).
This is a very serious "toy" to drive, extremely quick, somewhat quirky in the handling department (you should be familiar with the understeer to violent oversteer characteristics) and very hard to see by other vehicles. Just pretend you are on a 4 wheel motorcycle and you will be fine.
I was driving to work when some blonde in a new Boxter pulled next to me and yelled over "What is it?" I looked at her and yelled back "It's your car's Grandfather!" I don't think she got it.
All other things that run through your mind will vaporize when you drive your Spyder, so for me it is a very addictive medicine and therapy, The noise, the wind and the speed of this car is what life is all about. IT DON'T GET NO BETTER.
Best of luck,
Hans

Tony,

I picked up a copy the September 2002 Motor Trend, read the article on the Beck Spyder, flew out to LA in October 2002, met Chuck Beck went for a test drive and immediately placed an order for a new Beck Spyder.

It took Approx. 6 months for the car to be made. I flew out to LA for a test drive when the car was finished. I reside in Honolulu so I wanted to check the car out myself and perform a shake down prior to putting it on a ship for delivery.

The car exceeded my expectations. Fit and finish were very good, the performance astounding. I am very happy with my Beck and the treatment I received from both the gentlemen at CBM and CB Performance.

I added the following options to my car:

2165cc motor
CNC ported heads
AN fittings
Electronic Ignition
2.9 1st gear, 3.88 ring & pinion transmission
Brandwood cable shifter
disc brakes
Nardi Wheel
Simpson belts
Complete Fibersteel interior (new seats and carpet)
top and side curtains

Added since:
original style lights
oil cooler grill
Porsche valve covers
Vintage air cleaner covers
Taylor 409 wires
Yokohama AVS100 tires for autocrossing

Thought you might like to hear from someone who had just recently completed a purchase.

Good Luck!
Ken Gemelli

Thanks for the info Ken. The car I ordered sound exactly the same as yours. I glad your happy with it; it makes me feel comfortable with the purchase. I was going to make the flight out to LA before the purchase and check out their facilities and drive the carm but I couldn't because of work etc.

Thanks for the tips Hans. I figure it's going to understeer pretty good if you let off going into a corner. My 996 can plow pretty good if you let off. It is going to be excellent therapy.

Have a nice hoilday Guys

Tony

If you lift in the corners, it oversteers (back end comes around) , not understeer where the front plows and won's turn.

Larry

I'm glad you told me it oversteers like a front engine mounted car. I wouldn't have thought that, but I would have learned soon enough.

I would have started driving the car like a rear engine car.

Tony

Thanks for your input Larry. I went back to my Vic Elford book, and he says the same thing you said about rear/mid engine cars have a tendency to oversteer. I bought this book back when I first started driving my 996 because I was having trouble getting the ass end to kick out around a sharp turn. When I was coming into a hair pin I was letting up on the gas and loosing momentum causing the car to plow!! I almost plwoed in to a few mail boxes!! I have only had a few instances of oversteer in the car. It feels funny when it happens in a rear engine car. I had a few instances where I have controlled it nicely and a couple that freaked me out. I wouldn't want to loose the car into a 180 or spin out.

I really need to get it on the track to learn what it really can do.

Talk to you later,

Tony

I don't want to sound too much like a "know it all" but let me simply explain the dynamics of over and under steer.
MOST front engine/rear wheel drive passenger cars suffer from understeer. The main reason is that most drivers are not able to control a loose rear end, another words, the rear of the car slides towards the outside of the turn. As a result of the above, Detroit purposly built in understeer, that is, when pushing the car hard into a turn, the front end skips and hops and you effective lose steering until the cars slows down.

Most rear engine cars, and this includes the Spyder suffer from oversteer. If you enter a turn too fast, the rear of the car tends to get loose, as is the case of a Porsche, VW or Spyder et al.

Usually with rear or mid engine cars, if you lift during a turn, that is, take your foot off the accelerator, the rear of the car raises thus taking weight off the car and several things happen. In the case of a Spyder with a swing axle, positive camber (the top of the rear tires tips out) sets in and the car rolls sideways on the tread, you lose adhesion and the car goes into oversteer.

When driving cars such as late VW's and late Porsche's, positive camber doesn't set in due to their independent rear suspension that keeps the tire parallel to the road, but the rear bias weight acts like a pendulum forcing the rear of the car towards the outside of the turn.

I hope this helps. Just remember, when driving the Spyder, enter your turns with enough momentum to maintain adhesion and try not to lift your foot off the accelerator during extremly hard turns. Other areas of concern include weight transfer but that is another issue. The reason race car drivers apex a turn is to minimize weight transfer. Less weight transfer translates to a straighter line of travel equalling more speed.
(Message Edited 9/3/2003 9:31:27 AM)