Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2001 18:49:26 -0500
Reply-To: Joe Romas <jromas@COLUMBUS.RR.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Joe Romas <jromas@COLUMBUS.RR.COM>
Subject: Re: engine efficiency, I4s, subies, etc
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Myron
A diesel has compression ratioes in the neiborhood of 20 to 1 and a
gasser seldom has more then 10 to 1. That puts a lot of stress on the
engine. That's why they are less tolorant of higher revs. I've had na 1.5
and 1.6 vw diesels and they didn't have a lot of power to say the least even
for golfs and rabbits. However both my past 96 passat tdi wagon and current
99.5 tdi jetta haves lotts of pep at a usable rpm. With my jetta, at 60 mph
I turn around 2000 rpm's in 5th gear. I'm told these tdi's will do 145 mph!
Highest I can confirm is 80 mph how ever as I don't need to go faster. I
would think you would want around 3000 rpm's at the highest speed you would
normally want to go, say 75 mph, and calculate from there. Like Frank, I
would think the best would be a 1.9 TD IDI but don't know much about the
gearing to comment on that. However I'm quite satisfied with my 84's 1.9
gasser's preformance.
Joe
----- Original Message -----
From: "Myron Lind" <mdlind@RICA.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2001 8:59 PM
Subject: Re: engine efficiency, I4s, subies, etc
> Frank sez:
>
> > As far as I am concerned, the best engine for the Vanagon is a
> diesel and a
> > TDi at that. Unfortunately the 1.6 N/A is too underpowered for a
> 5300 pound
> > vehicle. Of course, after I got started with the RV engine I
> wanted more
> > power and better mountain performance. The SVX and the 2.5 are
> interesting,
> > but not enough to deal with Kennedy. I had looked into other
> conversions when
> > I did the RV engine including Audi, Porsche (924 and 944), Volvo
> and Isuzu.
> > Tried to talk to the Kennedy group. Always brushed off. Tried
> calling back
> > over their clutch and pressure plate capability. Eleven tries in
> 12 months.
> > Say Vanagon Diesel and you are in the round file. Certainly
> agree about the
> > drive and test approach. Best I've driven is the 1.9 TD IDI with
> a 4.83 rear.
> >
>
> Frank, I enjoy but barely understand your posts.
>
> If one was to put a TDI (150ft/lbs or so @ 1900 rpm) into the
> vanagon, how does one, in your opinion, go about determining
> proper gearing of the transmission. I am mainly interested in a
> nice drivable, fuel efficient, Vanagon. The regular WB motors have
> generally been "peppy" enough for me, I am not after particularly
> fast acceleration or racing from stoplight to stoplight. What do I
> miss in overall drivability as I consider mainly 65-70mph road
> speed. I seems that to match the TDI motor to the vanagon and to
> still go upwards of 70 mph I should consider a five speed. Why is
> the diesel less tolerant of high revving than the similar built
> gasoline engines? Or, why would I want to drive it over 3500-4000
> rpm where both the torque and the hp drop rapidly?
>
> Mostly just curious
>
> Myron Lind
> 81 Westy
>
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