Date:         Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:27:43 -0700
Reply-To:     Shawn Wright <vwdiesels@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Shawn Wright <vwdiesels@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      VW Routan impressions
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

We just returned from a 2 week trip to SoCal, where we rented a VW Routan
(not planned, it was a free upgrade from a Malibu/Altima I had booked, but
worked great since my parents were also joining us for a few days). Here are
my impressions of this vehicle (yes, I'm well aware that there is very
little that is VW about it):

First impressions were pretty good - it drove much like other Chrylser vans
I've driven, although the suspension was noticeably stiffer, and steering
seemed to provide a bit more feedback, with nice variable assist, although
the ratio was quite slow (as I found out during an emergency lane change at
65 in LA). Seats were comfortable, and  overall the interior was decent,
with plenty of space (it was a base model without leather). I found rear
visibilty was poor, and side mirrors too small for such a large vehicle. The
6 speed auto shifted cleanly, but often held the revs for no apparent reason
under light acceleration. Playing with the simulated tiptronic feature soon
lost appeal, as it rarely shifted when told to do so, more like 2-4 seconds
later. The engine was quite rough at idle, possibly due to poor maintenance,
as the oil looked like it had never been changed. The rotors were badly
warped, but seemed to have reasonable stopping power, although a few stops
from 70mph were less than comfortable in terms of stability. The power
windows and locks were both problematic - both front window switches were
flaky, sometimes going up instead of down, and often stopping  part way up
or down. Turning radius was terrible - it felt like a full size PU. The
engine was also noisier under normal acceleration than I expected, but due
to tall gearing was not an issue on the highway - <2000rpm at 75mph. We
averaged 19mpg over two weeks, and the return trip from Carlsbad to LAX at
70mpg recorded 24mpg, which seems fairly decent for a heavy vehicle with a
low tech V6. The rear stow away seats worked well.

I suppose if I were in the market for such a vehicle, I'd drive the Chrysler
to compare, as I can't imagine there is much difference. But this van is
much larger than we need on a regular basis, and we'll never part with our
Westy... :-)

Shawn
'88 TD Westy