Date:         Thu, 3 Jun 2004 11:15:14 -0500
Reply-To:     Andy Stalick <andy@STALICK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andy Stalick <andy@STALICK.NET>
Subject:      Automatic vs. Standard (Manual)
Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1

Hello All-

I'm shopping around for an 86+ Westfalia, and one of the big question
marks in my head has to do with the transmission. I had a '76 bay-window
camper a number of years ago with a manual transmission, and it was a
great vehicle, but driving the manual in traffic got really tiresome. The
clutch pedel was pretty much vertical, forcing me to lift my entire leg
from the hip to operate it. Now, I am pretty tall, so perhaps more average
height drivers wouldn't have this configuration. I haven't driven a manual
vanagon, so I don't know how the pedals fit me.

Another concern is the reliability of the automatic transmission. How well
have these things held up? Are they markedly different from the manuals?

I don't expect to drive the vanagon like a racecar, so the lower
shift-points of the automatic don't bother me that much. Driving
moderately around town and on the highway, how do the two transmissions
compare? Both mated to the 2.1 wasserboxer.

Comments?

(Also, if anyone has a sweet deal on a well-kept Westy, near Austin, TX,
let's talk!)