LOL, these were thicker x2 at the head but otherwise the same diameter. Picking both up, it was easy to tell which was twice the weight. He was running the VW engine at around 3000 rpm, not much faster. Maybe just paranoia?
On 4 wheels, 3000 rpm was mid-low end revs for my late 60's Type 3's that I ran in the 80's. 3000 rpm was nowhere near the power end of those. It is the rpms where the gears synchronized and it was possible to shift without using the clutch which LOL was the same speed my 750cc and 650cc bikes did the same. That was a good thing to know when my clutch cable snapped on me one day right in rush hour traffic on rte 13 in Dover, DE. I managed to get from the south end clear up to the bike shop well past the NASCAR "Monster Mile" to buy a new cable and get the thing fixed.
Those old VW engines were very light for what they cranked out. I had one with twin carbs and another with fuel injection. My measure of efficiency is gas mileage, the twin carb engine in the Fastback got 36/gal mostly highway but mixed driving when it was in good tune, and I ran well over the speed limit on highway back then though my pedal to the floor on level road would only get me 75-78 mph. The fuel injected engine only ran in the Squareback body, it got about 30-32 to the gallon with top level speed almost the same. No radiator and that magnesium alloy, and they ran like tops. I had a neighbor who worked on "good cars" who told me that the VW 1600 pancake engine is the same design as in a 914 Posche but with cheaper alloy and looser tolerances. Yet I could still get and hold high revs just fine.
Of course, those were 'crude'. I wish I still had either one.
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