Date:         Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:06:42 +1100
Reply-To:     Stephen Overmyer <S.OVERMYER@UWS.EDU.AU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Overmyer <S.OVERMYER@UWS.EDU.AU>
Subject:      Re: Does your Vanagon "ride happy"
In-Reply-To:  <200611220117.kAM1HH2r021773@cooper.uws.edu.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

 

Date:    Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:34:40 -0500
From:    Richard Golen <rgolen@UMASSD.EDU>
Subject: Does your Vanagon "ride happy"

Hi,

This weekend my wife, son, two of my son's fellow boy scouts and I
loaded up our Westy with backpacks, sleeping bags, etc., and headed up
from coastal Massachusetts to Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire. The van
was fully loaded with people and gear. Yet we were able to cruise at 70
mph and got 21 mpg.

As I was driving home it began to dawn on me that the Vanagon was riding
"happy"...it was not creaking and groaning, it was moving along on the
highway, etc....it seemed that it was its "element". As I thought about
it even more, I realized that my other VW vans had the same "behavior"
in the past...my 67 Westy and my 93 Eurovan all seemed "happy" when
fully loaded with family, equipment, etc.

Anyone ever observe this phenomenon?

                                     ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Interesting timing Ric...I was only just thinking the same thing as I
indeed observed that very phenomena a week and a half ago on the other
side of the planet.

My '92 WBX hasn't seen a lot of action in the last few years except for
local commuting and transport to gigs etc.
Not that she isn't still going beautifully even as she approaches
300,000kms, still with the original engine (sans heads) gearbox and
clutch. It's just that we don't need to use the van much for camping
anymore since I built a number of solar powered sheds on our coastal
property retreat and generally use the double cab to get down there( a
round trip of 820kms)  since it's preferable to take chain saws,
brushcutters and tools in the back of the truck. So the van gets a fair
bit of downtime sitting in it's garage back at home.

Anyway just recently I had a weekend of gigs to do in the Hunter Valley
region of NSW, a very good wine producing region with wineries littered
just everywhere. Carole King played there just last weekend BTW...
The trip is only about 200kms each way so no biggie but it was the first
chance in while for the van to stretch it's legs on a decent length
trip. There were two of us in the van along with a complete PA and all
the other stuff necessary for the weekend. Everyone else involved in the
weekend was staying in local pubs & motels etc but I wanted to keep an
eye on the PA so elected to sleep in the van at the caravan park. It was
my first time sleeping in the van for maybe 3 or 4 years. The van has a
full width really comfy bed and it was nice to feel those familiar
surrounding once again and so I slept very well. Better than those who
stayed at the pub with a nightclub going on downstairs until 2am...:-)

The weather was warm to hot for the whole weekend at around 32-34 deg C
(low nineties for the metric challenged) but the coolant temp stayed
rock solid the whole time and the van cruised along in fine form between
100 & 110 kph all the way there and back.
I was only thinking as we cruised along how happy she seemed to be, once
again being used for her intended purpose just like she always has done
in the past over the last 14 years.

Anyway, the old girl performed flawlessly up there and back, used no
noticeable amount of oil and still gets the same mileage it has always
done since new...10L/100kms.

It was sooooo nice to be back in the Kombi....Made me fully appreciate
her all over again...:-)

Cheers,
Steve O
NSW Australia
'92 Transporter WBX Kombi
'00 Transporter Double Cab
'03 Transporter Double Cab (work truck)
'78 Land Rover Series 3 109 soft top ute (ex-Aust. Army)