Date:         Tue, 9 Aug 2005 12:48:32 -0700
Reply-To:     Joseph Fortino <fortino1@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joseph Fortino <fortino1@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: VW Power on hills
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I'm a firm person that I am slower traffic and stay right as much as possible, have a 6 percent
grade hill by my home and if i get 50mph taching lower what the hell I'm getting up the hill :) sometimes
i get 3rd gear and bring the rpms up then go 4th getting to 50. i never push to hard.

most wait to long to come around you i feel, then you get the hemi-head thats just a tail gunner
and gets behine you tring to push us faster.. I just relax and save gas.. ;)

thats my 2cents
Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Collum <collum@VERIZON.NET>
Sent: Aug 9, 2005 11:58 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: VW Power on hills

Do you do as I do in my '84 automatic and downshift on big hills?
Locking it into a lower gear does make a big difference.

Mike
'84 GL 7 pass auto
'85 GL Westy 4 spd


Sharon Mendonca wrote:
> I don't know about everyone else with automatic transmissions, but we go down to about 40 or so on bigger passes.  We've had manual transmissions on other Vanagons and I really don't think the automatic is that much slower on hills.  I know it's a lot faster in regular traffic situations.  We go down to about 40 on Cuestra grade here in San Luis Obispo, CA area, as well as most hills of any size.  What was surprising to me is that the last time we came back from Fresno on Highway 41 I think it is, there were two full size pickups behind me pulling something like tent trailers and they couldn't get around me when the passing lanes came up, and believe me I was bogged down to around 40-45 on most hilly areas of that road.
>
> Sharon & Bob Mendonca
> 88 Westy
> 88 Vanagon GL
>