Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (November 2007, week 3)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:53:18 -0600
Reply-To:     joel walker <jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         joel walker <jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: Turning Circles in your mind. ;)
Comments: To: Mark Drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=response

> Martin, I don't know why you say this about the turning radius. My > 82-88 > owners manuals all give the same turning radius with no distinction > made > between manual and PS. Do you have technical data that shows a > difference?

in the 1985 vanagon brochure from VW, it sez:

"Turning circle: 35.1 feet (37.7 feet with power steering)" same thing in the 1986 brochure.

in the 1980 camper brochure,it sez: "turning circle,curb to curb: 34.5 feet /10.5 m." same in the 1983 brochure.

in the 1988 brochure, it sez only: "turning circle 35.8 feet" no mention of power steering. same in the 1989 brochure. and in the 1991 brochure.

so it looks like vw just put whatever number they felt like would sell the bus. which usually is the lower/smaller one.

i know that my 1986 bus WITH power steering did NOT turn as sharply as my 1980 bus WITHOUT power steering. it seemed more like 3 feet difference to me ... the 1980 bus could whip around on a two lane road without getting too far off the pavement on either side, but the 1986 bus would get off into the grass on the side of the road. :(

now, there's also one other factor to consider: the size of the steering wheel. with NON-power steering, the wheel is bigger, and you can put a bit more force/torque and haul that sucker around quicker. in my opinion. with the smaller WITH-power steering wheel, the wheel is smaller and you kinda have to grab at it more times to get completely locked to one side.

or it's a combination of the two: the power steering difference in geometry somewhere down under there, and the size of the steering wheel.

anybody even run power steering with the non-power-steering steering wheel? wonder if it would make the steering too twitchy?

interestingly enough, in the 1997 eurovan camper brochure (the winnebago one), it doesn't even list the turning circle. anybody know how the eurovan compares to the vanagon in turning circle?

joel


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.