Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 19:49:55 -0700
Reply-To: pensioner <al_knoll@PACBELL.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: pensioner <al_knoll@PACBELL.NET>
Subject: Re: 2.0L AUDI Turbo thots
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
With all due respect to Frank's talents, I am curious as to the torque curve
for the turbo 2.0. My motor will have a torque peak of some 225 lbs-ft at
4500 RPM with 190 lbs ft at 2000 RPM. A current installation gets between
16 and 18 mpg with an admittedly "spirited" driver with the standard 0.86
top and a 4.86 ring and pinion ratio in a "sing crow" vanagon.
Check www.smallcar.com and boink the appropriate pointer on the home page
for details.
My "4WD BNB" weighs in at 5000 with a full load of water, tequila, chorizo,
frijoles negros, fly rods, telescopes, computers, and the various
accoutrements necessary for life out of the kudzu zone.
The vanagon after all is a truck. In Bessie the Charolais Camper, the truck
has a GVW of two and a half tons. Stock it is underpowered, underbraked and
handles like the veritable gummi kau. With suitable user improvements it
can maintain the economy of use, cruise effortlessly at velocities
guaranteed to garner the hairy eyeball from the local gendarmes and actually
stop from 75MPH in a distance less than what it takes to turn a supertanker.
Back to the turbo thinking, the 2.5 4V DOHC Subaru provides the necessary
165 lbs-ft with a proven 250Kmi design life motor. AND you can learn to
curse in Kanji for those times that require such utterances. Any turbo
motor short of the Cummins or Detroit or CAT motors is more fragile than
it's normally aspirated counterparts. The bottom line is torque, that's
what turns the wheels. Horsepower is a by product of being able to deliver
gobs of torque at high rpm. For a "vanagon truck" the 2.5l AUDI TDI is
ideal. Gobs of torque, fantastic fuel effiiciency, and all the kewl fly by
wire control systems. Can you get one here? Need you ask?
"de gustibus non disputandum est" of course and Frank's result will be both
esthetically and performance wise pleasing.
Recommended upgrades. 15" wheels. Larger brakes. Better suspension.
Better headlights. 3.3l SVX motor.
What does it all cost? One Vanagon sing crow westie and around 10KUSD.
There are no similar RVs available for under 40KUSD. The closest is the
Tiger on the Astro AWD chassis. A comparative bargain.
Fordzilla (460CID Quadravan) cost 7500 USD used, gets 10MPG on a good day
has parts available at any Ford dealer, ugly as the proverbial pigs butt
sleeps as many as you like, outside. Will haul a 5000lb trailer up phone
pole without even breaking a sweat. But it's not a westie. It can handle
almost any off road situation but it's not a westie. Empty, it has
accelleration that makes the rice boys cringe. Fully loaded with two tons
of gear, bicycles, water, ... it will outrun any vanagon ever made. But
it's not a westie. With two 120 A alternators and 600W of lighting you can
jacklight tarantulas in New Mexico from somewhere in south eastern Nevada.
But it's not a westie.
With 125 gal of fuel you can go 1000 miles between ga$ fill ups. But it's
not a westie.
So you decide on your objective, get the cat a day job and live your dreams.
cheers,
pensioner
