VW bragged about their brakes in this 1962 ad, but from what I can find online, it appears that the 60-0 stopping distance of the Beetle was 20-30 feet longer than the stopping distance of a '62 Impala.
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Pretty meaningless data if you think about it. 0 to 60 or 60 to 0. Makes no difference in real life situations. Oh look something in the road ahead. Guess I’ll stop, as the car behind pushes you along. Yeah but happy thanksgiving.
You don’t think that having excellent acceleration on an expressway entry ramp is important, or that the ability to stop in a shorter distance on streets and highways is important?
I guess we will have to disagree on this issue.
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My bro had a 440 dart in 1975. And a vw beetle that he put a 1835cc motor in. So, he raced big blocks American muscle and vw cars at same time. I never could figure out his interest in bugs. He met his goal in class xyz and then got rid of bug. He liked to work on cars.
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Don’t you mean the 340?
IIRC, the 440 wasn’t offered for Dart models.
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Mr Norm built a few in 1969. Or the 440 was bolted in after the gact. Period review said it made Corvair feel like a Volvo as far as handing.
Correct, a 440 was never factory in an A body Dart, but neither was a 340 in 1975
The 340 was not made in 1975 anyway, but some A body Darts did have a factory installed 383, a 440 will bolt right in it’s place, or use a 383 K member out of an A body to fit the 440, but either way I don’t recall the 75 Dart having a big block, so custom engine mounts were most likely used to install a 440 into the 75 Dart… I can buy engine mounts to install a big block in my fun car also, not a very hard job to do, I know of several that have 500+ci (stroker) engines in them and they look factory…
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In many roads in New England it’s extremely important. Many of the older entry ramps to the interstates - you have maybe 200’ to merge into traffic.
Stopping distance in heavy traffic on interstates is very important
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I found the Beetle stopped in 120 ft and the Impala was 120 to 140 feet. Both would have required a decceleration value (and coefficient of friction value) of about 0.95 to achieve 120 feet. Fresh new tires may have been able to accomplish that.
The Beetle has inherently better stopping ability, not because of the drum brakes, but because of the weight distribution. Rear weight bias (engine in the back) means at maximum braking the rears will do 40 to 45% of the braking and the fronts will do 55 to 60%. The Impala, because of its front bias will do 70% of the braking on the front and only 30% on the rear. That gives the advantage to the Beetle.
That brake bias advantage is why the 911 Porsche had the best 60 to 0 distance until the Corvette with its 51/49 (edit) rear to front bias managed to match it.
Physics…. not just a good idea, it’s the LAW! 
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On a really old highway–like NY’s Belt Parkway–some entry ramps are even shorter than that. Just imagine what a white knuckle experience it must have been to merge there in the '30s, '40s, & '50s, when most cars were considerably less powerful.
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I would imagine it is much easier to stop 1,500 pounds than it is 3,500+ pounds also… keeping with the Physics theme also… lol
Guess you don’t remember ever having a group of vehicles all slam on their brakes and everyone was very close to the vehicle in front of them, even 5 feet makes a huge difference in that case… I have had to panic stop many times and ended up a few feet from rear ending the car in front of me, if it had taking me 20 feet further to stop, well it would of totaled both vehicles…
So in the Real World, stopping distance is VERY important…
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Well the dart had a non stock 383 when he got it. Then he put in the 440. Sold it too friend who wrapped it into a pole and pushed bumper back 18”. Still drove it. For a bit. Wasn’t a “weak” brake issue. More of a too much power issue.
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Oh yeah, it was definitely over powered… lol
I junked a 383 Dart years ago just to rob the K member out of it, was going to put it in my Duster at the time… I wouldn’t mind having one today…
Actually I think it might have been easier then because cars we’re traveling at the speeds they are now. The oldest highway in the country is the Kings highway (aka Poston Post Rd) established in 1650.
Well, it’s true that there was less traffic in the early days of that “superhighway”, and the traffic probably drove at slower speeds, but–all the same–I don’t think that an entry ramp of only about 4 car lengths was ever really safe.
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Especially when you encounter a nervous Nelly that stops at the end of one of these short ramps. There are lots of those tight turn, super short ramps around here. Messes it up for everyone behind as well. I call it “merge challenged”…
You really have to stop because of the constant flow of traffic on that road. There’s no merge lane. It’s straight from that entry ramp to the right lane. It’s 1930s highway design.
I still encounter people going 40 to merge into 75 MPH traffic.
Yep, we have those here except they date back to horse and wagon days. I quickly learned how to drive Massachusetts style- just start merging. Slowing down (and turn signals) reveals weakness
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