Date:         Fri, 11 Mar 2005 11:06:56 -0600
Reply-To:     Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Subject:      Re: Vngns ARE junk! . . . and Gas Guzzlers to Boot
In-Reply-To:  <a1.5a54316c.2f6318c3@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

But George, where's it going to be in 20 years? You know where it will
be.

And how far is it going up that logging road into the woods? You know
how far.


Jim

On Mar 11, 2005, at 9:52 AM, George Goff wrote:

> In a message dated 3/11/05 1:52:48 AM, marcsayer@COMCAST.NET writes:
>
> << The E150 is very lush and nice, has about the same useful room as
> the
> Vngn, gets 12 13 MPG on the highway and has been mostly trouble free.
> >>
>
> Perhaps there has been a quantum leap in van design recently.  This
> past
> summer I put about 1400 miles through the Northeast in a rental
> Chebbie cargo van.
>  I think it was a 2500 series and I think it had a V-6.  It was
> whatever
> cargo van Enterprise rents.  It ran like a dream, damn near froze me
> out of the
> thing and returned over 20 MPG.  To be fair, this was mostly highway
> miles.  It
> was loaded to the gills one way and empty on the return.  The amount
> of load
> hardly effected the MPG.  I kept up with traffic which, especially
> through
> Connecticut, New Yawk, and Mass meant running at least 80 or getting
> run over.  A
> few times I took a blast over a 100 and it felt not much different
> from going
> 60.
>
> I stopped for gas as I neared home and a tradesman in a similar van
> pulled in
> next to me.  Since I had fully expected to get about 10 MPG from the
> thing
> and thinking that perhaps I erred in my record keeping, I asked him
> what kind of
> MPG his van got on the highway.  He said,"Oh, about 20 or a little
> better . .
> . but this van has a V-8."
>
> I can't help but wonder what kind of MPG I would have gotten had I
> been able
> to hold my speed to 70 Mph some Vanagon owners use as their upper
> limit.
>
> One thing I did particularly like was to able to pass a semi at 90
> without
> the feeling that it was the last time I would ever see this sweet
> earth.  On the
> other hand, I didn't really like the pattern of the seat fabric.
>
> The trip was not exactly trouble-free.  While parking I shifted a wheel
> weight whenever I brushed a curb (damn those granite curbstones in New
> Hampshire!).
>  Fortunately, I could see the outline of the weight's original
> location, but
> I did have to spend 5 minutes tapping it back into place.  You see, no
> vehicle
> is without its problems.
>
> George
>