Date:         Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:16:35 +1300
Reply-To:     Andrew Grebneff <goose1047@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Grebneff <goose1047@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Heart vs. Head
In-Reply-To:  <6bc66ccf0911191953r4bdc00b8v99fede0b16bd164f@mail.gmail.com>
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> The driveshaft that
> Scott speaks of drives all the extra crap that modern vehicles come
> with..Except in the Toyotas, it seems to keep working...according to all the
> listings I see..

They have a driveshaft running forward from the crakn via a rubber
cushdrive. This cushdrive IS a problem spot in that they do fail
9though not often) and ara expensive (laborwise) to replace.

> Toyota stopped making them around 95

Wrong... the first generation was made until the beginning of 2000,
when a new model came out (not sold in USA). The current generation is
the third. I can't understand why they make a very similar but
different car in USA, the Sienna, but with an oddball 3.4 V6.

>  The motor is mid mounted and they are RWD, which makes for supposed great
> handling.

Only the earliest ones (1990) were good-handling, after which Toyota
dropped the IRS and the vehicles became gross understeerers,
especially in the wet with cheap tires like Firestones (I have slid
right past intersections in the wet in my wife's 5-speed 1992 2.2
turbodiesel, wheels on lock and just washing-out; my wife also has a
diesel auto 97; both are narrow-bodied versions).

The diesels don't get very good economy and the 2WD gas ones are noted
as guzzlers. A 4WD will be worse.

Don't get me wrong, they are great vehicles, and very rigid in the
body. But the door openings are too low for loading large items, so
they make rather poor vans (there is one around town being used as a
tradesman's van... probably a plumber or electrician). They are one of
my favorite vehicles, and still look ultramodern. They'd make a great
project vehicle; I've seen a couple that were lowered, with big alloys
and bodykits, and they looked great. Engine swaps would be good, but
difficult, due to the laid-down (12 degrees, I think) engine
position... Subaru 3.3 with modified inlet?


-- 
Regards
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
Fossil preparator
Mollusc, Toyota & VW van fan