Have you ever driven I-5 south over Dexter pass/Siskyous Mt's? If you have done so without issue or know about them already then you have been over the most hilly sections of I-5 between Grass Pants and San Fran. I just went to Yosemite this March in my air-cooled '81 full westy and easily made those passes at 45 mph (hwy 120 into Yosemite was a different story). I have heard that the 1.6 liter diesel is underpowered compared to the wasserboxers, but I don't know how it compares to my air-cooled 2.0 liter. I would just recommend NOT filling the water tank until after you climb the passes, and to lighten the load as much as possible (don't buy food until near destination?) so that the van doesn't have to work as hard. I weighed my van on my way back and it came to 4,350 lbs without water and no passengers - add about 100 lbs for the water and whatever your passengers weigh. That's a lot of weight for such a small engine! Have a safe trip, and good luck on the terrain! Peter |
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Vanagon mail messages have been archived.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.