If I were in a pub, and someone told me they put a Trabant on a dyno, I'd be infinitely more impressed than if someone told me they had a 1000 horsepower car on their dyno.
Hey an Eastgerman here, please be gentle with it. I know its not the best car in the world but here in eastern Germany we are still proud that our former country was even able to produce a car for the situation we were in (not even the only one, we also had the wartburg, something more sturdy and bigger). We are especially proud of the people, the workforce who took part in everything. I think you could say that the car represents the unbroken will of the people, atleast I see the car as a representation of the people. Since 1989 everyone has just been judging, but I think the Trabant isn't to bad for what it's meant to be and out of the situation it came to be, it has character and thats what I like about it.
@@MrStonegrove I was more thinking of the issues in trying to keep it on the dyno - all the "power" going through the rear wheels and just the front wheel brake trying to stop it from shooting forward! Forgot that the CVT it has means it doesn't have a fourth (or any conventional) gear for that 1:1 ratio!
I was expecting it to make the quoted power, since they didn’t need to exaggerate the figures for marketing purposes. It did that and then some. Well done.
Surprised it had the grunt to turn the rollers! That was epic, especially the noise. Sounds like you've just challenged us 2.8i Capri owners to uphold our dignity. 😉
Impressive figures, epecially when you see it reached them at much LOWER rpm than stated in the books! Btw, when upshifting, you can do that much later, then you stay in it's torque/power band. There is a popular little trick you can do with a Trabant engine tough, rejetting the standard carb for a bit more power and better/smoother running at low revs. I did it in mine, and it works a treat. Could be that this one has had that done to it too. The factory jetting is done with fuel economy in mind, ecpecially on the later ones. They can also be tuned in various ways, for instance altering the rotating intake discs, putting bigger cylinders on, racing exhaust and such, up to about 75, 80 hp, altough that does not apply here. Thank you so much for introducing the Trabant in an objective manner, I really appreciated it and more of us Trabant drivers will too I suppose. O, please inform the owner to straighten or change the right front hubplate the wheel bolts on, someone seems to have used an incorrect puller on that one to take it off and bent it. Greetings from the Netherlands and thanks for sharing this!
I acquired a 1986 Trabant 601 in 1994, rebuilt the engine in 2018. When the question was asked of how much horsepower, I said in my head closer to 30 than 26. Fantastic little car, well engineered, made largely from recycled materials and still going strong 38 years on.
There were also the Wartburgs that were produced in reasonable numbers, but less than the Trabant. They have larger engines with an extra cylinder, but still two-stroke (if not the last years of production), so more power if doing what it should. Could be interesting to put on the dyno as well if there's anyone that has one that is willing to put it on there.
Both the Trabant and the Wartburg were fitted with VW engines and gearboxes in the very last production years. The Trabant got the 1.1 l Polo engine while the Wartburg got the 1.3 l engine from the MK2 Golf. If I remember correctly, the 2-stroke Wartburg 353 (also sold in the UK as the Knight for a while) produced an official 41 bhp.
When you redo the scoreboard, I think you should rank the scores by the percentage by which the vehicles exceed or fall short of the quoted power, not just by the achieved power figure.
@@kevincousins604 especially at lower revs, the torque figure also.
Месяц назад+7
Everyone's always laughing at the Duroplast body panels, but I think they're kinda brilliant. I mean, it's a composite material as is fiberglass for example. It's just made with cotton, because apparently they could get their hands on a lot of it in DDR.
I just looked up the book figure (or at least, the Wikipedia figure) for the 848cc A series in the original Mini: 34 bhp. The 803cc in the A30, 28bhp. 2-stroke vs 4-stroke and so on, but that's what a little car had in those days. Makes you think.
I had one - they're alright actually. Biggest gripe is the articulation of one's legs because of the very offset pedals. The boot on the saloon is surprisingly spacious. Very reliable, because the fuel is gravity-fed, and the engine only has about 5 moving parts. Just make sure the fan belt is not slipping, or the engine will overheat and seize.
I think it is a pretty ingenious car made with what was available. It is a simple design that is easy to maintain and lasts a long time. I love the smily grill.
Back when I was a poor student in Eastern Europe I had one of these. It was an estate and painted it light blue. From all the cars I owned over the years, I think I had the most fun in that one. I still miss it after twenty odd years....
Very cool! An east german car on a west german rolling road. What a »Sonderwunsch« (special request)! We call the Trabant also »Renn-Pappe« which means racing cardboard. Love and peace and two stroke forever! Thanks Kitch and edsplasticcars.
Well done little Trabbie. Not a simple engine, in fact rather sophisticated. I hope Ed checks out the wheel wobble shown in the video. Fixing that might make the car much nicer to drive.
Excellent choice of plastic ear! 3bhp from adding oil to the petrol ... or maybe not! Glad you stuck to cars, I struggled to follow your history lesson, your backup career as a history teacher might struggle to blossom!
Thing with it is in its day it was transport for people - like the Wartburg Knight was - the system they were under had them behind the curve on the rest of Europe
That BHP figure seems right to me on a 'generational' basis; I usually think ~46bhp/litre is a fair figure for cars of 1960s/70s technology. Look at some cars of that era and divide the cubic capacity in litres into the bhp figures and it generally comes out at that number. Some do better, some do worse.
Would be very interesting to see a modern EV on the rollers if that's even possible not that I'm pro EV at all, just interested, what a lovely classic the Trabant is and the 2 stroke thump is the best sound. Thank you. Wishing you a Very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year 2025. Thanks for all the great content in 2024.
Great video. I absolutely love, and I am fascinated by the Trabant. I would really love to own one, but I think finding one in Australia would be impossible.
G'day Rich, That was fun seeing the littltle Trabi giving it's 🐎Best Horsies🐎 a gallop & have subbed to see the road test when you upload it, I'll also have a look at some of your older videos too. I've been watching Jon's Auto Shennanigans as I enjoy his sense of humour (The 2nd Small Disagreement😂👍Copyright Approved) & learning about the REAL Motorways I drive on when playing Euro Truck Sim 2, I only found Jon's videos about 6 months ago looking for something to watch when I wasn't well & have been catching up on his older content too, I guess YT has recommended this one as I watched Jon's vids where you did the Saab Suspension & Dyno run a couple of weeks ago. Wishing you & your family a 🎄Wonderful Christmas🎄& 🥳🎉Very Happy New Year🥳🎉 from Nowra New South Wales 🙃👎
Good stuff and thanks for the Dyno explanation! Often wondered. It didn't "look" as smokey as I expected. I imagine it was though 🙂 My Dad ran 2 stroke CZ's and Jawas, I do like the chatter they make.
Some years ago I visited Berlin. And saw that there would have been option to do city tour, in convoy driving Trabant. Sadly my time was all planned up. Still cool to see some of these driving around in a line :D
It's not pointless. I like these videos because they're about real life cars and applications. Not about some silly 1000hp car that nobody wants to know about it coz nobody really drives cars like thos on everyday roads apart from the very very few.
Soo Nice , now I'm curious to know how much real HP my 1976 IFA Wartbourg 353 Tourist S (3cyl 2stroke 992cm3 50HP/100Nm , dual carb sequential opening) , I also have a free wheel but on all 4 gears , and I have a lever to lock it to use the engine brake, but only in case of very slippery road (snow) or going down a mountain , if abused , because there is no fuel/oil, we use the engine and risk of seize and damage it . mine haves a sequential double circuit Front 4 piston calipers and ventilated discs ,non assisted and drums on the back .
As with many of the eastern cars, they have been quite interesting and adequate at the time they came out, they just kept making them for another 40-50 years after they came out
@@BobTheMartin The 601 was hardly a pre-war design. It's a late 50s car and at that time it could compete reasonably well. It would have needed a different engine and a decent facelift about ten years into production though and that's where things went awry. The engineering department at VEB Sachsenring produced several prototypes that would have been quite appropriate but there was no money for the retooling required for a new model, not even a better engine. There were some changes under the bonnet over the years, like contactless electronic ignition from (if I remember correctly) the early 80s onwards, something the 2CV never got from the factory. Let's not forget that Citroen made the 2CV (a late-40s design) until 1991, same as Sachsenring did with the Trabant, and Renault also kept the R4 going almost as long.
The Mini was made until 2000, which is 40-ish years. But VW made an actual, at it's core, pre-war design until 2003, but they stopped selling the type 1 in Europe earlier than that.
I am not. 2 strokes can be more or less as linear as anything else at lower tune levels. Of course, at higher levels mostly seen in motorbikes, it does indeed take a bit of a different turn.
That might have been rather strange on the F7 (175cc Kawasaki single, with rotary-valve intake.) Wish I still had it. Would do well for traveling. That thing pulled from just above idle all the way to redline (@ 8,000 rpm) , and it had *ample* top end, too! Not at all peaky, and 20 on top (or maybe a trifle more, given that I’d smoothed and matched the ports.) I have heard they can be easily modded to give (well) over 30, and I imagine they’re peaky then, though.
It’s an old school people’s car, so we shouldn’t be too hard on it. Would’ve been fine back in the day, going to work & back, so long as it wasn’t being blasted down a highway. Late models were redesigned and had a 1.0 water cooled VW engine. Some people climb a mountain. Car people put trabants on a dyno. ….personally I’m in the latter category. Which is why I’m watching a video of trabant on a dyno. Btw Bella has recently had some work done….might be time for it to go on the Dyno again.
That was a really interesting video, from which many interesting threads can be pulled and from which all manner of tangents can be drawn. Starting with the transverse engine and end-on gearbox. If memory serves me correctly, this was first done by DKW before the 1939-45 unpleasantness. I can't remember if Trabant set up in the old DKW factory, but I know that practically everything that Auto Union (Audi, DKW, Horch and Wandrerer) owned ended up in Russian-controlled parts of Germany. A quick check in one of my books has confirmed that the Trabant 601 was a development of the IFA F8, which is described as a development of the DKW Meisterklasse. The very first SAABs also copied DKW practice, so there is a link (albeit tenacious) between the car at the bottom and the car at the top of the power board. Continuing with the transverse engine theme. Fiat's masterstroke was developing a transmission that was compact enough to sit on the end of an inline four-cylinder engine. From what I remember about two-stroke engines, they are far more affected by resonance in the inlet and exhaust, which can cause peaks and troughs in the power delivery. I suspect the power plot is typical for a two-stroke, but that's just a guess. The East Germans were masters at getting lots of power out of two-stroke motors on motorcycles, research the history of Ernst Degner for more on that story. On a more tangential note, it's interesting that Trabant put the freewheel on fourth gear. That's the opposite of what the six-cylinder Bristols had, which was a first-gear freewheel. Reasoning from Bristol was that first gear should be readily available but nobody thought that you could put synchromesh on first back in the 1940s. A freewheel was the next best thing back then. I can understand Trabant's approach too. How did the freewheel work on two-stroke SAABs?
As you know the mechanics basically came from DKW. When you test a Wartburg you can switch of the free wheel. A whopping 50 bhp from a 3 cyl. 1000cc. Trabant has that only in the 4th gear. This is one of the latest as it has a fuel gauge, so likely 88-89.
The Wartburgs sound brilliant too! This Trabant doesn't have a fuel gauge, that's the economy-type thing (that doesn't work). The fuel gauge is the dipstick inside the bonnet!
@@UPnDOWN That is a fuel gauge (or they called as such), yes, it is basically a flow meter. None of them had an actual fuel gauge. Also the sterring wheel is from the newer 1.1, these were the last 2 strokes. There were some modified versions Trabants with Wartburg engines and front brakes. Some for rally, some for street surprisingly. Later Fiat 127 and Suzuki 600 engines were popular replacement options.
@@kornelschwarcz9104 KMVA fuel meter was fitted from 1984, this car was built July 1984 so one of the first. It is all original except the front seats and paint
back in the early 1990"s I was driving my truck in Hungary and noticed 5 trabants coming up behind me, all side by side on a three lane motorway, all five went past me, two on one side and three on the other, not one driver was willing to back off the gas.. Momentum is everything in a trabant.
Impressive! That front, passenger-side wheel looks a bit iffy though. Maybe check the security of the wheel nuts before hitting any breakneck speeds on the road. 😄
You should see, if anyone in your circle has access to a 1960's SAAB 850 2 stroke. I've owned a couple a 1962 and '65 model 95 estate. Both had engines well south of 50 h.p. but fun to drive, peculiar and rugged little snow driving cars.
I can't help feel you may be wasting your talents merely talking about cars. I can see a new series in which you tackle all the big historical and geopolitical topics. You could be the next Philomena Cunk!
When i went to rebuild East Germany in 1990 there was thousands of these littering the roads where people leaving east Germany when the wall fell, packed a case and drove till it ran out of fuel then they went on foot. We had some whacky races in these things 😂
Now get out the Mikuni carb and Dremel to squeeze out some more power 😂 The stock port and rotary valve timings are really conservative. Same for the compression with modern fuels this thing can take some more.
Bet this two stroke Trabant has more power at wheels than a 850 or 998cc factory spec Mini has! And thats from a Mini enthusiast 😉 Another thing, every SAAB up to and including the earliest SAAB 99's had freewheel which works in all gears!
sonderwunsch = special request. aka it was ordered with some of the handful of _advanced_ extra options like... an odometer. or foglamps... or something else that would probably be standard if it wasn't a trabant lol
"sonderwunsch"? As an avid german car "option list"-hound I know that means "special equipment/options" or similar.... So being a trabant its at least probably not a base model this one then, I take it?
There is a company that does guided tours of Berlin with Trabant's. You drive the Trabant in convoy with the tour guide. If you ever do that, you could have the bragging rights of being the first eccentric person in the UK to put a Trabie on the Dyno.😂
The thing about this level of sh!tboxery is, it always brings laughter. If it starts, you've won the race. If it gets you home in one piece, you've won the championship. If you buy a BMW, or similar genital prosthesis, it just brings you pain. Stomped on it once and now it's broken, have to sell the house, or nan, to get it fixed etc. Endless misery. But with a moderately priced sh!tbox, which these classic vehicles no more are, you simply cannot lose.
@MrStonegrove I wasn't sure how the fuel was metered for that engine. Which is why I thought inlet restriction. I'd be interested to know what effects 2 strokes
And the Corvette.... the first time I went a bit too quick around a corner with my Trabi I was pretty surprised it stayed perfectly upright without drama.
I do like vintage, but can you still find parts for this car? In a day of 3D printers, you'd think they can use that technology to make new car parts for vintage autos, but I have not heard of anything about it so far
Quite a fun little coincidence that the top of the board is from a dead company which got its start in making 2 strokes and the bottom is also a car from a dead company which is famous for 2 strokes.
If I were in a pub, and someone told me they put a Trabant on a dyno, I'd be infinitely more impressed than if someone told me they had a 1000 horsepower car on their dyno.
Hey an Eastgerman here, please be gentle with it. I know its not the best car in the world but here in eastern Germany we are still proud that our former country was even able to produce a car for the situation we were in (not even the only one, we also had the wartburg, something more sturdy and bigger). We are especially proud of the people, the workforce who took part in everything. I think you could say that the car represents the unbroken will of the people, atleast I see the car as a representation of the people. Since 1989 everyone has just been judging, but I think the Trabant isn't to bad for what it's meant to be and out of the situation it came to be, it has character and thats what I like about it.
I'm annoyed I forgot to say that it was a true peoples car and mobilised a nation. Was in my head too, just never said it.
Elly was worried for a moment! (She was 602cc as tested. Still haven't got the 652 fitted...)
Noticed that this Trabant has an "I love TWC" sticker - possibly the least sensible car that can be put on the dyno!
@@andyt2510 Even if it (the Invacar) actually fits on the dyno, the transmission will most likely make it impossible to get any meaningful results.
@@MrStonegrove I was more thinking of the issues in trying to keep it on the dyno - all the "power" going through the rear wheels and just the front wheel brake trying to stop it from shooting forward! Forgot that the CVT it has means it doesn't have a fourth (or any conventional) gear for that 1:1 ratio!
I know this car! The owner used to give me lifts to work in it! There was always plenty of time for interested people to have a look at it
Extra time always has to be allowed on any journey for all the questions upon arrival
Excellent summation of the significant emotional events of 1939-45.
Yes, it was quite a fracas indeed.
World Skirmish II. 😁
Minor disagreement
I was expecting it to make the quoted power, since they didn’t need to exaggerate the figures for marketing purposes. It did that and then some. Well done.
Surprised it had the grunt to turn the rollers! That was epic, especially the noise. Sounds like you've just challenged us 2.8i Capri owners to uphold our dignity. 😉
Haha! Yes a Capri would be funny to do the vid on.
Impressive figures, epecially when you see it reached them at much LOWER rpm than stated in the books! Btw, when upshifting, you can do that much later, then you stay in it's torque/power band. There is a popular little trick you can do with a Trabant engine tough, rejetting the standard carb for a bit more power and better/smoother running at low revs. I did it in mine, and it works a treat. Could be that this one has had that done to it too. The factory jetting is done with fuel economy in mind, ecpecially on the later ones. They can also be tuned in various ways, for instance altering the rotating intake discs, putting bigger cylinders on, racing exhaust and such, up to about 75, 80 hp, altough that does not apply here. Thank you so much for introducing the Trabant in an objective manner, I really appreciated it and more of us Trabant drivers will too I suppose. O, please inform the owner to straighten or change the right front hubplate the wheel bolts on, someone seems to have used an incorrect puller on that one to take it off and bent it. Greetings from the Netherlands and thanks for sharing this!
I acquired a 1986 Trabant 601 in 1994, rebuilt the engine in 2018. When the question was asked of how much horsepower, I said in my head closer to 30 than 26. Fantastic little car, well engineered, made largely from recycled materials and still going strong 38 years on.
2-3 HP is 10% on this car so actually quite significant.
Strongest car on the table - holding all the others off the bottom
I was already giggling as the bonnet came up thinking the way that looks/moves seems familiar! Look forward to your road-test!
There were also the Wartburgs that were produced in reasonable numbers, but less than the Trabant. They have larger engines with an extra cylinder, but still two-stroke (if not the last years of production), so more power if doing what it should. Could be interesting to put on the dyno as well if there's anyone that has one that is willing to put it on there.
Both the Trabant and the Wartburg were fitted with VW engines and gearboxes in the very last production years. The Trabant got the 1.1 l Polo engine while the Wartburg got the 1.3 l engine from the MK2 Golf. If I remember correctly, the 2-stroke Wartburg 353 (also sold in the UK as the Knight for a while) produced an official 41 bhp.
When you redo the scoreboard, I think you should rank the scores by the percentage by which the vehicles exceed or fall short of the quoted power, not just by the achieved power figure.
Good call
@@UPnDOWN I'd be dangerously close to the top if that's the new system
Agreed, 3bhp over 26 is over 10% more than original spec if my dubious mathematical calculations are somewhere near.
@@kevincousins604 especially at lower revs, the torque figure also.
Everyone's always laughing at the Duroplast body panels, but I think they're kinda brilliant. I mean, it's a composite material as is fiberglass for example. It's just made with cotton, because apparently they could get their hands on a lot of it in DDR.
Honestly this has to be the most exciting one yet that I've clicked on. No-one dynos a Trabant, so this is genuinely interesting.
Someone had to do it!
I just looked up the book figure (or at least, the Wikipedia figure) for the 848cc A series in the original Mini: 34 bhp. The 803cc in the A30, 28bhp. 2-stroke vs 4-stroke and so on, but that's what a little car had in those days. Makes you think.
Exactly my point!
They didn't weigh as much, so even if they were slow, they weren't quite as slow as you'd expect if going by modern car standards.
@@MrStonegrove Yes. The Trabant is below the 500 kg mark, as were most of the other compact cars of the era.
@@Ragnar8504 um... around 600 kg actually. But still light.
A car I know nothing of mechanically, but that interests me very much. Great video!
I had one - they're alright actually. Biggest gripe is the articulation of one's legs because of the very offset pedals. The boot on the saloon is surprisingly spacious. Very reliable, because the fuel is gravity-fed, and the engine only has about 5 moving parts. Just make sure the fan belt is not slipping, or the engine will overheat and seize.
10:34 love the sound of the two stroke revving!
Greetings from (East)germany. Was my first car, and we had good times. Thank you!
That wheel wobble was a bit disconcerting. Also I see Ed's Plastic Ears stores his panel repair kit, aka a roll of duct tape, in the engine bay.
I think it is a pretty ingenious car made with what was available. It is a simple design that is easy to maintain and lasts a long time. I love the smily grill.
Back when I was a poor student in Eastern Europe I had one of these. It was an estate and painted it light blue. From all the cars I owned over the years, I think I had the most fun in that one. I still miss it after twenty odd years....
I drove one as delivery van for while. Because is light and FWD I felt very confident on show roads.
I had one of those! Now I want one again!
Very cool! An east german car on a west german rolling road. What a »Sonderwunsch« (special request)!
We call the Trabant also »Renn-Pappe« which means racing cardboard. Love and peace and two stroke forever! Thanks Kitch and edsplasticcars.
Well done little Trabbie. Not a simple engine, in fact rather sophisticated. I hope Ed checks out the wheel wobble shown in the video. Fixing that might make the car much nicer to drive.
Excellent choice of plastic ear!
3bhp from adding oil to the petrol ... or maybe not!
Glad you stuck to cars, I struggled to follow your history lesson, your backup career as a history teacher might struggle to blossom!
Thing with it is in its day it was transport for people - like the Wartburg Knight was - the system they were under had them behind the curve on the rest of Europe
One of my classmates at school was an absolute genius at tuning two-strokes, I'd have loved to have seen what power he could extract from a Trabant.
My God the noise !!!! Great stuff.
Brilliant video….. top quality production all round ! Weird to see the power peak so low down… presumably tuned for steady plodding economy….
YOu are awesome. Please, bring many underpowered vehicles. This is the best content on the internet.
Just think, someone probably went on a 10 year waiting list to buy that car!
And paid up front.
That BHP figure seems right to me on a 'generational' basis; I usually think ~46bhp/litre is a fair figure for cars of 1960s/70s technology. Look at some cars of that era and divide the cubic capacity in litres into the bhp figures and it generally comes out at that number. Some do better, some do worse.
Would be very interesting to see a modern EV on the rollers if that's even possible not that I'm pro EV at all, just interested, what a lovely classic the Trabant is and the 2 stroke thump is the best sound. Thank you. Wishing you a Very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year 2025. Thanks for all the great content in 2024.
Great video. I absolutely love, and I am fascinated by the Trabant. I would really love to own one, but I think finding one in Australia would be impossible.
Don't think there are any RHD versions either.
@UPnDOWN No only left hand drive. Could be fun on the highway trying to overtake a road train 😆.
G'day Rich,
That was fun seeing the littltle Trabi giving it's 🐎Best Horsies🐎 a gallop & have subbed to see the road test when you upload it, I'll also have a look at some of your older videos too.
I've been watching Jon's Auto Shennanigans as I enjoy his sense of humour (The 2nd Small Disagreement😂👍Copyright Approved) & learning about the REAL Motorways I drive on when playing Euro Truck Sim 2, I only found Jon's videos about 6 months ago looking for something to watch when I wasn't well & have been catching up on his older content too, I guess YT has recommended this one as I watched Jon's vids where you did the Saab Suspension & Dyno run a couple of weeks ago.
Wishing you & your family a 🎄Wonderful Christmas🎄& 🥳🎉Very Happy New Year🥳🎉 from Nowra New South Wales 🙃👎
Good stuff and thanks for the Dyno explanation! Often wondered. It didn't "look" as smokey as I expected. I imagine it was though 🙂
My Dad ran 2 stroke CZ's and Jawas, I do like the chatter they make.
Got to say it's definitely got a nice muff under the bonnet. Excellent research and interesting test on a car I least expected to see dynoed.
Some years ago I visited Berlin. And saw that there would have been option to do city tour, in convoy driving Trabant. Sadly my time was all planned up.
Still cool to see some of these driving around in a line :D
An actual Trabant shooting-brake! 😍
It's not pointless. I like these videos because they're about real life cars and applications. Not about some silly 1000hp car that nobody wants to know about it coz nobody really drives cars like thos on everyday roads apart from the very very few.
Soo Nice , now I'm curious to know how much real HP my 1976 IFA Wartbourg 353 Tourist S (3cyl 2stroke 992cm3 50HP/100Nm , dual carb sequential opening) , I also have a free wheel but on all 4 gears , and I have a lever to lock it to use the engine brake, but only in case of very slippery road (snow) or going down a mountain , if abused , because there is no fuel/oil, we use the engine and risk of seize and damage it . mine haves a sequential double circuit Front 4 piston calipers and ventilated discs ,non assisted and drums on the back .
As with many of the eastern cars, they have been quite interesting and adequate at the time they came out, they just kept making them for another 40-50 years after they came out
Just like MG Rover!?
@@UPnDOWN I am not sure if MG Rover was putting out pre-war design in 1990, haha
But hey, VW was and they don't really get flack for that
Lada Niva is still in production... since 1977.
@@BobTheMartin The 601 was hardly a pre-war design. It's a late 50s car and at that time it could compete reasonably well. It would have needed a different engine and a decent facelift about ten years into production though and that's where things went awry. The engineering department at VEB Sachsenring produced several prototypes that would have been quite appropriate but there was no money for the retooling required for a new model, not even a better engine. There were some changes under the bonnet over the years, like contactless electronic ignition from (if I remember correctly) the early 80s onwards, something the 2CV never got from the factory. Let's not forget that Citroen made the 2CV (a late-40s design) until 1991, same as Sachsenring did with the Trabant, and Renault also kept the R4 going almost as long.
The Mini was made until 2000, which is 40-ish years. But VW made an actual, at it's core, pre-war design until 2003, but they stopped selling the type 1 in Europe earlier than that.
You must do a Wartburg 353 next =.
Well done are you the first person to actually put a Trabant on the dyno and what a power machine 29 hp as Hubnut says less is more and l am impressed
Having owned 2 stroke motorbikes I was surprised how linear the power curve was.
Same, though I suspect this is tuned more more torque than your average 2-stroke bike engine. This also doesn't like to rev.
I am not. 2 strokes can be more or less as linear as anything else at lower tune levels. Of course, at higher levels mostly seen in motorbikes, it does indeed take a bit of a different turn.
That might have been rather strange on the F7 (175cc Kawasaki single, with rotary-valve intake.) Wish I still had it. Would do well for traveling.
That thing pulled from just above idle all the way to redline (@ 8,000 rpm) , and it had *ample* top end, too! Not at all peaky, and 20 on top (or maybe a trifle more, given that I’d smoothed and matched the ports.)
I have heard they can be easily modded to give (well) over 30, and I imagine they’re peaky then, though.
It’s an old school people’s car, so we shouldn’t be too hard on it.
Would’ve been fine back in the day, going to work & back, so long as it wasn’t being blasted down a highway.
Late models were redesigned and had a 1.0 water cooled VW engine.
Some people climb a mountain.
Car people put trabants on a dyno.
….personally I’m in the latter category.
Which is why I’m watching a video of trabant on a dyno.
Btw Bella has recently had some work done….might be time for it to go on the Dyno again.
Andy Mcloone has done some good videos on cold war in Berlin, well worth a look
Superb!
“Can’t say disagreement, what’s copyrighted” 😂😂
That was a really interesting video, from which many interesting threads can be pulled and from which all manner of tangents can be drawn. Starting with the transverse engine and end-on gearbox. If memory serves me correctly, this was first done by DKW before the 1939-45 unpleasantness. I can't remember if Trabant set up in the old DKW factory, but I know that practically everything that Auto Union (Audi, DKW, Horch and Wandrerer) owned ended up in Russian-controlled parts of Germany. A quick check in one of my books has confirmed that the Trabant 601 was a development of the IFA F8, which is described as a development of the DKW Meisterklasse. The very first SAABs also copied DKW practice, so there is a link (albeit tenacious) between the car at the bottom and the car at the top of the power board.
Continuing with the transverse engine theme. Fiat's masterstroke was developing a transmission that was compact enough to sit on the end of an inline four-cylinder engine.
From what I remember about two-stroke engines, they are far more affected by resonance in the inlet and exhaust, which can cause peaks and troughs in the power delivery. I suspect the power plot is typical for a two-stroke, but that's just a guess. The East Germans were masters at getting lots of power out of two-stroke motors on motorcycles, research the history of Ernst Degner for more on that story.
On a more tangential note, it's interesting that Trabant put the freewheel on fourth gear. That's the opposite of what the six-cylinder Bristols had, which was a first-gear freewheel. Reasoning from Bristol was that first gear should be readily available but nobody thought that you could put synchromesh on first back in the 1940s. A freewheel was the next best thing back then. I can understand Trabant's approach too. How did the freewheel work on two-stroke SAABs?
Makes sense, this is a DKW engine, effectively.
I would recommend to locate a wartburg, another east german gem
As you know the mechanics basically came from DKW. When you test a Wartburg you can switch of the free wheel. A whopping 50 bhp from a 3 cyl. 1000cc. Trabant has that only in the 4th gear.
This is one of the latest as it has a fuel gauge, so likely 88-89.
The Wartburgs sound brilliant too!
This Trabant doesn't have a fuel gauge, that's the economy-type thing (that doesn't work). The fuel gauge is the dipstick inside the bonnet!
@@UPnDOWN That is a fuel gauge (or they called as such), yes, it is basically a flow meter. None of them had an actual fuel gauge. Also the sterring wheel is from the newer 1.1, these were the last 2 strokes.
There were some modified versions Trabants with Wartburg engines and front brakes. Some for rally, some for street surprisingly. Later Fiat 127 and Suzuki 600 engines were popular replacement options.
@@kornelschwarcz9104 KMVA fuel meter was fitted from 1984, this car was built July 1984 so one of the first. It is all original except the front seats and paint
back in the early 1990"s I was driving my truck in Hungary and noticed 5 trabants coming up behind me, all side by side on a three lane motorway, all five went past me, two on one side and three on the other, not one driver was willing to back off the gas.. Momentum is everything in a trabant.
Hahaha! Brilliant
Impressive!
That front, passenger-side wheel looks a bit iffy though. Maybe check the security of the wheel nuts before hitting any breakneck speeds on the road. 😄
Upon closer inspection, it looks like it's the wheel that's dodgy, not the nuts. 😄
Looks buckled to me.
Never realised it was that bad until I saw this video, you don't feel a thing while driving!
@@EdsPlasticCars I have some genuine spare wheels if interested..... still with Pneumant tyres on.
Well i'm surprised but happy! We need a Visa flat twin on the dyno also!
A that'd be good!
Trabant FTW
You should see, if anyone in your circle has access to a 1960's SAAB 850 2 stroke. I've owned a couple a 1962 and '65 model 95 estate. Both had engines well south of 50 h.p. but fun to drive, peculiar and rugged little snow driving cars.
Yeah that'd be cool
i can smell it from here
The one thing I did spot with that Trabi was the wobble of the offside wheel...
I can't help feel you may be wasting your talents merely talking about cars. I can see a new series in which you tackle all the big historical and geopolitical topics.
You could be the next Philomena Cunk!
When i went to rebuild East Germany in 1990 there was thousands of these littering the roads where people leaving east Germany when the wall fell, packed a case and drove till it ran out of fuel then they went on foot. We had some whacky races in these things 😂
Your Trabant has 3 HP more than it is supposed to have from factory. Congrats! :D
Now get out the Mikuni carb and Dremel to squeeze out some more power 😂 The stock port and rotary valve timings are really conservative. Same for the compression with modern fuels this thing can take some more.
Bet this two stroke Trabant has more power at wheels than a 850 or 998cc factory spec Mini has!
And thats from a Mini enthusiast 😉 Another thing, every SAAB up to and including the earliest SAAB 99's had freewheel which works in all gears!
I enjoyed all this video - except each time it accelerated in 4th gear when the poor things' noise made me wince!
They do that, the twostroke sound is making one think it revs much higher than it actually is. No problem.
That's one fancy lawn mower!
GDR Powerhouse!
Really needs a 950 Standard 10 and a 4.6 crown vic, just cant think of any available. 😊
sonderwunsch = special request. aka it was ordered with some of the handful of _advanced_ extra options like... an odometer. or foglamps... or something else that would probably be standard if it wasn't a trabant lol
The overrun clutch must overcome some drag.
even with the clutch pressed in the overrun clutch is still operating.
Yes quite possibly.
"sonderwunsch"? As an avid german car "option list"-hound I know that means "special equipment/options" or similar.... So being a trabant its at least probably not a base model this one then, I take it?
My guess is that modern pump petrol is better than what they used to have hence the increase over the published bhp value.
There is a company that does guided tours of Berlin with Trabant's. You drive the Trabant in convoy with the tour guide.
If you ever do that, you could have the bragging rights of being the first eccentric person in the UK to put a Trabie on the Dyno.😂
The longest production car in the world 3,56m body and 15m smoke cloud. 😂
Was the clutch slip from the freewheel acting like a slipper clutch at low revs I wonder?
The thing about this level of sh!tboxery is, it always brings laughter. If it starts, you've won the race. If it gets you home in one piece, you've won the championship. If you buy a BMW, or similar genital prosthesis, it just brings you pain. Stomped on it once and now it's broken, have to sell the house, or nan, to get it fixed etc. Endless misery. But with a moderately priced sh!tbox, which these classic vehicles no more are, you simply cannot lose.
Fifty 'torques' from a mere 600cc? Now that IS impressive!
An MOT inspector who has driven my Trabi commented on how tourquey it felt, especially for a two stroke engine.
@kevincousins604 Two strokes,love 'em,albeit in two rather than four wheel form...maybe I ought to buy a Trabbie!
Whats with the roll of duck tape on the suspension turret?
11:00 Wow it's a formula engine!
Commenting before the end of the video. But that buckled rim. And after the first run. I think Hub Nut is worried
Squeaky bum time!
Was there no Dumpit Pipe?
@grumpy2.0 Well, it's carbed so it won't automatically compensate if you add or remove any restrictions.
@MrStonegrove I wasn't sure how the fuel was metered for that engine. Which is why I thought inlet restriction. I'd be interested to know what effects 2 strokes
@grumpy2.0 Everything affects 2 strokes, that's why they're a pain to get perfect!
Are you a TVR specialist? I've got a Griffith 500HC. Could do with some help. Where in sunny UK are you?
Transverse leaf spring not ideal?? Isn't that what the Lancia Delta Integrale had ?
And the Corvette.... the first time I went a bit too quick around a corner with my Trabi I was pretty surprised it stayed perfectly upright without drama.
I do like vintage, but can you still find parts for this car? In a day of 3D printers, you'd think they can use that technology to make new car parts for vintage autos, but I have not heard of anything about it so far
No idea. I think you can still find a fair bit in Europe, but don't know how affordable/hoarded it all is.
I want one so much.
Quite a fun little coincidence that the top of the board is from a dead company which got its start in making 2 strokes and the bottom is also a car from a dead company which is famous for 2 strokes.
Haha! Yes it is. A fitting end to the old board.
Jalopy, is a game about taking one of these on a road trip.
Any car with a handy supply of Gaffer tape under the bonnet would worry me.
Surely putting black tape on the headlights can't be enough to have an lhd car registered in the UK?
4:34 Why are you crying? Oh, I said wall ... 😂
You can vary the power by choosing a different premix oil.
“…such cute little Buzz-Bombs…!”
Nice little car that
👍🌟👍
I love eastern bloc/cold war motors... Now we need a Wartburg and a Moskvich lol...
Aging Wheels would approve.
Transverse leaf spring arrangements can actually be good. Look at the Chevy Corvette.
Mmm, not exactly known for their handling prowess, are they?
"Sonderwunsch" apparently means "special request".
Yes, basically you ordered a bunch of optional extras.
My question would be, how does one use the words "Trabant" and "power" in the same sentence?
You just did.