Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 08:41:40 -0700
Reply-To: Edward Nutter <eanutter@POSTOFFICE.PACBELL.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Edward Nutter <eanutter@POSTOFFICE.PACBELL.NET>
Subject: Re: Safety of the Vanagon
Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=us-ascii
When I bought my first Vanagon new in 1985, one of the things that sold
me was the really fast double lane change that I put the van, the
salesman, and my wife through during a test drive. All new running gear
helped of course, but that big tall box went through with very little
lean or complaint from the tires. There was no tail wagging or
understeer either. Just a perfect track exactly where I wanted it to
be. It was definitely a machine that I felt good about having my wife
and four kids mosey around in.
Related story:
Several months ago I was heading north on the Ensenada toll road on the
way back from delivering an amazing quantity of donated goods to a
children's home in Mexico. My wife and her sister were on board.
Running low on gas, I was on the lookout for a Pemex to get me over the
border. Hey, there's one! And there's the exit coming up fast and
close! Gee that's tight. I'd better slow waaay down. I pointed the
nose at the exit and hit the brakes. That's when the master cylinder
decided to 80% quit. Trying to get back on the road would have put me
edge on into a concrete wall at about 50mph, just a bit more than even a
Vanagon could handle. So I stayed in the turn as best I could, waiting
for the scraping impact with the side barrier, the aforementioned
concrete wall. I can still hear the sound of sand gritting under the
tires. Next thing I know I'm through the 270 turn pointing at the alto
sign about 200 feet away. Most of the speed had been scrubbed off in
the turn so what was left of the brakes got me stopped. I was again
impressed with the cornering ability of the Vanagon. The Pemex station
was incomplete, not open yet. I was not pleased about that.
The brakes worked as long as I didn't press too hard. It was Saturday
night with no propects of getting parts for a couple of days. We made
it the 50 miles back home keeping a 30 second safety cushion as opposed
to the recommended 3 except while crawling through the border. It was
pre-9/11 so the wait wasn't too long. Next day I replaced the master
cylindar.
Andrew Grebneff wrote:
>> [snip]
>
>
> Always best to AVOID having an accident in the first place. Fit
> bigger wheels with lower-profile performance tires (costly, and you'd
> better find wheels & tires designed to cope with a loaded van eg
> designed for S-Class Mercedes), upgrade the brakes, fit an Addco rear
> swaybar (from JC Whitness), decent dampers (Koni; avoid Bilsteins as
> they seem to break).
>
> These things all cost, but they add to the enjoyability of a vehicle
> which already handles extremely well (as long as yours doesn't suffer
> the understeer mine does), and what price do you put on your life?
> Those light truck tires or KYB dampers could end up killing you.
> --
> Andrew Grebneff
> 165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
> <andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
> Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut
>
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