Date:         Thu, 14 Dec 2006 17:11:01 -0500
Reply-To:     dvdclarksn@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Clarkson <dvdclarksn@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Slow diesel thread-misc. ramblings
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Reading all of the diesel threads reminds me of the huge difference between my 90 westy with the 2.1 vs. my 82 westy with the 1.6 NA. My bumper sticker said "0-50 in 11 minutes". I wrote in with a sharpie "really" to avoid the one finger salute. I rebuilt my diesel and even added a rebuilt quantum turbo (for sale to anyone interested) with an intercooler. I even had a snorkel with a K&N filter coming out of the back so it sounded like the Batmobile when the turbo spun down. Really the net effect was like buying your grandmother a pair of track shoes and expecting her to run a 4 minute mile-not going to happen. I think that if I had it to do over again that I would have bought the much nicer from the factory 1.8 TDI that went into later model VW's. It was going for about $4000.00 at the time.  Then there are always different gear ratios that can be swapped out in the transaxle for better performance. I have heard of other people increasing torque/BHP with a variable boost control but that could be rather risky IMHO. Bottom line is, if you want quick acceleration and horsepower then go with a gasoline engine such as an I4, suby 2.2/2.5/3.3, or one of the super charged engines mentioned in other vanagon threads. I sold mine for $1000.00 to a young girl that wants to convert it to biodiesel. Diesels are fun if your not in a hurry and feel like being eco-friendly.

David Clarkson
90 Westy (234K)

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