"Uuuhhhh, what exactly is 'Fweem'??"

Short Answer:
Fweem is that unique sound that a Beetle engine makes from it's exhaust.

 

Contributed Discussion:
 (Note: All text hereunder is contributed from participants of the newsgroup rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled)

The Origins of Fweem (where did that word come from)

In search of...
John Spohn
I had an exchange on the subject with John Henry at this time last year, when he mentioned the Canadian usage of which he was aware. That's as early as I can be certain of any net usage.

I have personally used the word since around 1975. We (my geeky friends and I) were in the habit of creating words and that was one of them. "Skug" was another and I'll only say it had to do with teenage vandalism of which I am not particularly proud. (But it was the perfectly descriptive word... hehe :-)

I posted about a month ago <34eba3be.420243478@news.supernews.com> soliciting other references to its origin and got only three replies. A MAJOR flame, and one each from you and John H. El Flamo got very torqued up over the appearance of taking credit for Fweem so I could impress my high school (girl)friends. I wish. ;o) The only HS friends I have now are teachers. Pretty soon I'll have more when my son's class gets there.

I would suspect that like many good inventions, Fweem could have more than one origin, and therefore no-one can claim the be "the" originator only the first, so it comes down to a chronological issue. It's unlikely all origins were simultaneous, and until we get hooked up with these Canucks (Canadians, eh?) it'll be hard to say anything has been truly determined. Perhaps John Henry can help with that.

Sure, it would be cool to know that you were the first, but not at the expense of pissing people off. That's the VW way. What would I do, anyhow, copyright it and try to charge everyone a royalty for bumper stickers? Oooo.. look out Bill Gates, I'm gonna be rich!!

Fweem

John Spohn
'70 Type 265 LHD
Crew Cab Pickup

 

The Fweem Concept
Jan Andersson
I think the FWEEM is somehow describing he spirit and the nostalgia related to the original beetle, and even if you have a 2" exhaust with a stinger, it would be a kind of a tribute to the history and the whole lifestyle, a statement that you respect the origins of your car and the people who care for them. A way to show everyone in the know that despite the fact that you have a killer engine (a big no-no for vintage restorers) you DO respect the car and it's roots, and the whole crowd of other enthusiasts around the world.

I always found it kind of disturbing that some VW freaks do not respect some others, because they don't share the same taste of cars and styles. Some like Cal Looks, some like 100% pure originals. Some like Baja's. In my book, they are all acceptable, because the bottom line in each case is keeping the VW we all love alive, in one form or another. The FWEEM is always there, sometimes you just can't hear it.

Just my opinions. Sorry if this sounds confusing, I'm having a bad day. I'm not feeling too good, I should have stayed in bed. Maybe I have fever. Can't really concentrate on anything. 


"So...  What actually makes Fweem?"
(a "scientific" explanation of Fweem Production)
When a muffler is not a muffler- Rob Boardman

 

A suggestion for the 'Scientific explanation of Fweem".


The Fweem is a complicated sound, but consists (in my opinion) of two main sounds. The chirrup or whistle/chirp sound, and the beat.

The chirrup component comes from the design of the exhaust system, and especially from the two 'peashooter' exhausts.

The muffler is not a muffler at all, but an expansion box. The muffling is done by the fiberglass stuffing and perforated inner pipe inside the peashooters. These are rather small in diameter, and so the 'airspeed' of the exhaust gases through the peashooters is high. This combination results in the whistling/chirruping sound. When the stuffing and perforated inside tubes collapse (as they inevitably do) the chirrup sound almost disappears, leaving just the Dakka Dakka Dak sound of the beat. A similar chirrup effect can be heard when you blow through a small diameter flexible pipe which has circular ribbing down it's length, like some flexible cable ducting, or the 'tube' part of a flexible 'wrap round' torch.

The beat comes from the flat engine design and the internals of the muffler (expansion chamber).

The two front cylinders vent into the muffler through the cabin heat exchangers (J tubes) and short internal perforated 'cones', Which point roughly at the respective peashooter for each side.

The two rear cylinders mate to internal pipes which cross over inside the muffler, with perforated ends to release the exhaust gases near the 'opposite' peashooter. This gives all cylinders equal length exhaust stacks, but if you follow the firing order and the layout of the pipework, the result is exhaust pulses at the peashooters of left/left, right/right, rather than the expected left/right/left/right.

It's not quite as simple as that though; the muffler is open inside, so some of the gases from the left side exhaust stacks will escape (a moment later) from the right peashooter, and visa-versa. So it's more like LEFT/right,LEFT/right,RIGHT/left,RIGHT/left.

This arrangement causes the characteristic beat of the Fweem. And it explains why the Fweem disappears when using most extractor setups - the pulses become too even, and the plain tail pipe design spoils the chirrup sound.


Rob

(1970 1500 beetle, one owner, 240,000 miles on it's original engine, going Dakka Dakka Dak because the stuffing has collapsed in the peashooters!)

 


The Spohn "Time-Fweem" domain
John Spohn 

Something else I've been pondering - how a person can actually make
the sound.  It's a combination of traditional percussive tongue engine
sound done while whistling, with some coverage of the mouth with a
hand to get the air/fan effect.  Not for the uncoordinated.

The following is a fixed-pitch, unscientific chart of the rpm vs. Mph of a beetle in the time-fweem domain: 


   
   _|                          m              
 3k |   m       m           e              
   _|   e      e         e                e   e   e   e   e   e ....
 2k |  e      e       e                e
   _| w     w       w               w
 1k |F    F       F              F
    -----------------------------------------------------------------
     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |   
     0    10    20    30    40    50    60    70
Sorry to the metrics, I didn't have time to make this dual scale.


The Nemrac "4 speed" Fweem
Charles Nemrac
Okay, okay, okay... I know my exhaust Fweems (nothing does it better than a brand new stock exhaust and original tailpipes). BUT--


Is each beat of the engine a Fweem?  (f respresent a Fweem):

(1st) f f f f f f f f f f f
(2d) f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f
(3d) f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f
(4th) f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f


OR does the Fweem start with each gear:

Meeeeeewf
fweeem
fweeeeeeeeeem
fweeeeeeeeeeeeem
fweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeem Just curious!!

C. Nemrac




The Side effects of Fweem (All of those "feel good" things, "virtual" Fweem from cars that don't actually make the sound)
"Fahrverfweem"
Jan "May the Fweem Be With You" Andersson

I'm not the right person to tell you what it is, as I did not invent it, but basically it's the "whistling" sound that the original Beetle "peashooter" exhaust pipes make when accelerating. Some say it sounds like a lawnmower...

Anyway, that's what the word Fweem describes. Keeping this background information in mind, FWEEM is generally referring (in my opinion) to the "fahrvergnuegen" of aircooled Volkswagens, if you don't know what that means.. It's German, and means something like "joy of driving" (loosely translated).

Fweem is the sound, the history, the nostalgia, the enthusiasm, the lifestyle of Aircooled Volkswagens. Only the original exhaust pipe makes the "Fweeming" sound, but anyone driving an aircooled VW, modified or not, is (again in my opinion) entitled to use the word when talking about his/her or anyone else's aircooled VW.


Whistle Fweem
Chuck Van Pelt

I noticed quite a few posts lately about the distinctive noise made by the exhaust of some VW's and had to put in my $0.02 worth...

Unfortunately, I have a '77 bug where the exhaust is routed out through one rather ordinary exhaust pipe. No FWEEM for me. The other day, my friend and I were working in the garage talking about this very matter and we decided to try a little experiment.

For those unfamiliar with the exhaust system of the '77, there is a small pipe which splits off from the main exhaust pipe (before the muffler) and heads up to the EGR valve. Well, my EGR pipe had long since rusted away leaving a stub of pipe which I had crimped off.

I hack-sawed off the crimp and attached an aluminum train whistle to the stub. (This whistle has several pipes of varying lengths which sounds like a train when you blow into it or hook it up to some kind of air pressure source.) I drove the car around the block and you should have seen the neighbors lookin'! Scared the hell out of the cat. Sounded like a freight train was coming through.

I have since removed the whistle, but can happily say that I had the only VW that goes WHOOOOOOOOOO instead of FWEEM.

After reading about FWEEM, I listened carefully to my car to identify some of the other distinctive sounds that it makes:

    WHACK! = The sound made as the steering wheel hits my forehead during removal.

    TWEET-TWEET! = The sound the little birds make after I hear "WHACK!".

    CLICK...CLICK...KERCHUNK! = The sound of a VW jacking point collapsing as the car is lifted by a $20 K-Mart floor jack.

    TSST TSST TSST = The sound of the spark grounding out to the engine before it can reach the plug. Look for accompanying cool light show and ozone smell.

    POP! = The sound of a Craftsman open end wrench falling across the battery terminals

    SNAP!...Oh S***! = The sound made by a VW and it's owner upon realization that the cable which opens the hood has just broken.

    "He's drivin' a VW bug...search the car! Damn hippies!" = Words uttered by a U.S. customs agent as I pull up to the US/Canadian border to re-enter the U.S.

Chuck Van Pelt



Fun with Fweem (Aerosmith's "Fweem On", a degree in Fweeminology, "Islands in the Fweem", etc.)
The Sign of Fweem
Jason Black
The possibilities are endless...

    "Yo quiero Fweem", with the Taco Bell chihuahua and Beetle...
    The picture link posted several days ago about the snow-covered beetle would, of course, be "ice Fweem".
    a pick-up line... "Excuse me, but do you Fweem?"
    "No, it's a Fweemer, not a beemer (beamer?)."
    On a non-fweemer... "I'd rather be Fweeming"
    "Fweem on Board"
    "I (heart) my Fweem"
    "Kiss me, I Fweem"
    "Pro-Fweem"
    "University of Fweem"
    "Fweem Inspection passed 1998"
    "Pardon me, but would you have any (grey?) Fweem?"
    "Let me tell you about my Fweem."
    "Beam me up Scotty; there's no intelligent Fweem down here."
    "Visualize World Fweem"
    "It's a Fweem thing... you wouldn't understand."
    "Fweem, the international language."
    "Sour Fweem"
    "Fweemed Corn"
    "Se habla Fweem."

Restaurant Speak
Bill Berckman
How about this:

Sign in a German fast food restaurant:

  1. We will serve no Fweem before its time
  2. No Shirt, No Shoes, No Fweem
  3. Would you like your Fweem medium or well done?
Conversation in a nice German Restaurant

    Waiter: Would this Fweem be acceptable?
    Patron: What kind is it?
    Waiter: Its a fine '56 "Oval"
    Patron: Hmmmm, I think I'd prefer a '51 split. Do you have any in your Fweem cellar?

The Union
athomik
Do we have any Fweemasons on this NG?


California Fweemin'
Kathy Myers
Sung to the tune of "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas and the Papas

All the geeks are gone the snow's too soft to ski I need to take a ride in Her Majesty!

I'd be safe and warm in her tapestry CALIFORNIA FWEEMIN' in Her Majesty

I went down to the place the roads are safe today took a shovel and an axe and it took all day got down to the dirt and had to scream Hoooray! CALIFORNIA FWEEMIN' on such a winter's day

I opened up the door she fired right away backed into the sun and simply drove away people started wavin' drivin' to LA CALIFORNIA FWEEMIN' on such a winter's day!!!

When all was said and done I put her back away gotta keep her safe that's where she's gonna stay but, soon it will be summer oh what a happy day CALIFORNIA FWEEMIN' every single day!!!

-- Kathy Myers and Her Majesty





Other Fweemisms (Other things that make a Fweem-like sound)
Related Sounds and Smells
Bill Berckman
Just about everyone (myself included) loves Fweem. Fweem by now is well on its way to becoming part of the VW Culture thanks to inventor and Rec.Aircooled club member Jan Andersson. Besides Fweem there are several other things about the Beetle that I like and are unique.

I like the sound (don't know what to call it) that the brake pedal makes when you slip your foot off it. Every beetle I have owned makes this sound.

I like the hollow sound that you get when you lightly tap on the hood of your beetle near the windshield. Every beetle I have been around regardless of year makes this sound. Can't be found anywhere else.

I like the fact that you have to open the vent window to close your door. The seal that can only be found on VW keeps it fresh.

Maybe this is strange but I like the smell you get when you are driving and turn the heat on.

I love opening up the hood to put gas in and watching peoples reactions.

And of course the Fweem sound of the engine always puts a smile on my face.

I guess if I were a cowboy, I would love the high roofline so you could wear your hat while riding, I mean driving, your Vw.

These things may be off the wall, but I have to confess, they contribute to my love of the Beetle. I believe it is called Farvignugen (sp). There may have been a similar thread but does anyone else have something that contributes to their love of VW.


Fweem Your Senses
"Wood"
The Smell! My mom had a Beetle when I was 5 years old, and the same smell is in every Beetle I've owned. I've had friends puke in my '66, and I just hosed off the rubber floor mat, and afterwards all you could smell was Beetle. What a happy smell.

I also like the long shifter...lean forward for first and third, sit back for second and fourth.

And in the summertime with the windows down, if you drive next to a median you can hear what the rest of the world hears as you drive by. I love that sound.


Fweemshift
Dan
I've got one: the feel of the shifter and notching into gears--better than any new 'plastic' car!


Sound Effects
John Spohn
    >How about "flunk" or "thlunk"?
    >(I'm sure Don Martin would come up with one easily!)

Close. There are three elements: Foot coming off pedal, pedal hits top of travel, return spring vibrates. So whatever it is should end in "-nggg". Such as: Thu-lungg, Pa-tungg, etc. Still groping for the right one.

I'm a sound effects junkie. One of the things I like about them is when the name assigned to the sound is perfectly descriptive. That's what led to Fweem, and what should also be applied to this. Thunk is too simple, and may be more bus-related as that's my daily ride. Plus it's the combo of foot-off / pedal hits top of travel, isn't it. I'll get to work on it.