Date: Mon, 22 May 2000 13:46:27 -0700
Reply-To: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Subject: Re: Subaru vs. VW Swap
In-Reply-To: <39262F87.F32874E@primenet.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I would have to disagree with you here...
As long as you use a California certified donor car that is as old or newer
than you Vanagon and DO NOT change the emission stuff you are OK. When the
swap is done you go to a "referee" C.A.R.B. station and get your Vanagon
reclassified. i.e. if you ues a 1993 Jetta engine in your 1990 Vanagon the
referee station will reclassify your Vanagon as a 1993 Jetta. From that
point on the Vanagon must pass 1993 Jetta tail pipe tests. No rocket
science involved here.
As far as the torque and gearing - I feel that the VW engineers did their
home work when they matched the wbx to the Vanagon transmission. The
Vanagon is a heavy vehicle and you need as much bottom end grunt to get it
going and keep it going without shifting back and forth between 3rd and 4th
all the time. I installed a 268 degree cam in my 1.8L I4 to get more top
end power to see what that would do... on the highway it goes pretty good
as long as you keep it about 3500 RPM as soon as the RPM fall below 3000
RPM you have to down shift... with the stock cam (which is back in there)
that down shift point is about 2500 RPM... saves arm and transmission wear!
At 11:24 PM 19/05/2000 -0700, t wrote:
>And the Subaru engine swap is legal in the state of Calyforneeaaa.
>Iffun the swap is done here, or if you ever plan on living here, until
>the I4's become certified, Soobaroos seem to be the way to go.
>I suspect, that swap or not, my vanagons will never see the inside of a
>VW garage.
>
>BTW, with the gearing in the Vanagon, why are you that concerned with
>bottom end torque anyway? Before you know it, you should be out and into
>the power band of the 'roo. Any input from Ron Bloomquist? How does this
>thing get off the line?
>
>tim o'brien (lover of that nasty inline 4 from Toyota 22RE)
>
>David Marshall wrote:
>>
>> I have no experience with the Subaru engines but I have a few things
>> against them in general:
>>
>> -- No bottom end torque as compaired to a 2.0L I4 or WBX
>> -- Japanese engine in a German van
>> -- The VW dealer will laugh at you if you come in for repairs
>> -- The Subaru dealer will laugh at you if you come in for repairs
>> -- A 2.0L I4 can easily make 130hp with a mild cam and a chip
>> -- The VW engines can be fully serviced by the VW 1551/2 computer (assuming
>> you get a used North American spec engine).
>> -- VW I4 engines are cheaper than the Subaru engines.
>>
>
>
-- David Marshall - Volkswagen Enthusiast - Quesnel, BC, Canada --
-- 78 VW Rabbit, 80 VW Iltis, 80 VW Caddy, 84 VW Westfalia --
-- 85 VW Cabriolet, 87 Audi 5000 Quattro, 88 VW Syncro Double Cab --
-- David's Volkswagen Home Page http://www.volkswagen.org --
-- Fast Forward Autobahn Sport Tuning http://www.fastforward.ca --
-- david@volkswagen.org (pmail) or vanagon@volkswagen.org (list) --
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