Date:         Mon, 27 Jun 2005 17:25:09 -0700
Reply-To:     Shawn Wright <swright@ZUIKO.SLS.BC.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Shawn Wright <swright@ZUIKO.SLS.BC.CA>
Subject:      Re: General/Sorta dirt-road worthiness of 2WD Vanagons?
In-Reply-To:  <42C0628E.5050000@gmail.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

On 27 Jun 2005 at 13:33, Michael Elliott <j.michael.elliott@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> Compared with other 2wd vehicles, like full-size pickup trucks, and
> mid-60's station wagons . . . how dirt road worthy is the 2wd Vanagon?
> How good is the traction? I'm talking about rutted sand and gravel roads
> out here, not mud or streams. Not dunes or beaches. No swamps. Regular
> street tires, stock size.
>
> Generally-speaking. Anecdotal is good. The more colorful the better.
>
> As in, "Vanagons get stuck more easily than any other 2wd vehicle ever
> made," or "I've taken my 2wd Vanagon places that my brother's 1963
> Plymouth Belvedere station wagon couldn't go."

For general dirt road driving, the 2WD Vanagon is hard to beat. It outperforms a
Toyota 4Runner in 2WD mode, along with both Frod and GMC full size 4x4 pickups
in 2WD mode. All of the 4x4s need to be in 4wd mode to even keep up with me in my
2WD Westy - I know this from many experiences of being followed in these vehicles,
and also having driven all of them myself. My Dad's GMC is downright scary in 2wd
on rough roads at the speed I normally drive my Westy.

As far as traction when the going gets tough, I'd say the same is also true - the 2WD
Vanagon will outperform a 2WD pickup or similar provided you can keep momentum,
and/or keep both wheels planted. I've had two embarassing situations where I got
stuck in the stupidest spots because one wheel lost traction, and I'd not kept my
speed up enough to overcome the slippery conditions.

Shawn Wright
http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
'85 Jetta D
'88 Westy 2.1L, soon to be 1.6TD 5 speed
 (see progress at http://members.shaw.ca/vwdiesels)
'82 Diesel Westy