Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:49:53 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Gas mileage query for bostig converts
In-Reply-To: <006501cceccd$fb0bb100$f1231300$@com>
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to Harry ..Hi.
I suspect that larger rims are not going to help your fuel milege.
it's not like you need to lower the rpm's with that engine ..
the one I drove in an 85 westy with 4 speed trans ..
didn't like to pull top gear unless it was near 4K rpm and above.
Lowering the gearing with larger tires will only make that situtation worse.
For an experiment I'd try smaller tires .
( easy for me as I have an easy dozen vangaons and many sets of mounted
and balanced tires )
perhaps you can swap tires with a vanagon friend for an experiement.
there was a guy on the Subaru vanagon list, getting something like 20 to
21 mpg and thought raising his trans gearing ( or tires, I forget which
) would get him more fuel mileage ..he got worse fuel mileage.
in all cases .....if it's not some 'system' problem ( and poor fuel
mileage can be one of the very hardest symptoms in the car world to fix
sometimes...I have heard of *many* vans that could not get over 15mpg ,
no matter what was tried ) .
anyway ..in all cases...factors leading to poor fuel milage typically
are ...
driving at higher speeds, say above 65.
driving it hard a lot, 'power boosting' up hills ...
large tires .. ( check out the tires on a mileage champ car like the
Honda CRX HF ....very small engine, tall gearing, narrow tires )
Tires that have high rolling resistance.
junk on the roof and outside of the van
that all adds up, or can be factors.
Consider when the vanagon came out ( 1980 ) ...consider they don't have
flush windows,
consider that the national speed limit in the US at the time was 55 mph
( an 82 diesel vanagon has that well marked on the speedometer face )
they are ..frankly ....60 to 65 mph vehicles.
You can push them faster than that ...
with more engine for sure.
I consider 80 to be the top practical semi-safe speed.
You don't have airbags ..no ABS brakes ...
less crash protection than modern cars, by far ( that is the reason, I
am pretty sure ...behind the thinking of the Eurovan ..
all drivetrain mass is in front ..
oddly ...the torsion bars < in place of springs > are on the upper arms ...
the only car in the world like that that I know of .torsion bars are
always on the lower front suspension arms ..to keep the mass low ..such
as in Jag XKE, porsche 911 ......to put a huge torsion bar on the upper
front suspension arm, and place the occupants quite a bit higher in the
vehicle..I can only imagine that is all about crashworthiness..
and of course...the aerodyamics of a eurovan are much better than that
of a 'box' vanagon )
anyway ..
fwiw, I get a steady 20mph in my 85 Adventurewagon, running a 2.1 wbxr
engine on 1.9 digijet EFI .....I run Migilin aggiles in 205/65 R 15's in
front.....Falkan brand 215/65 R15's in the rear...
she goes up most hills on the west coast freeway in 4th gear..
the tack is always between 2,500 and 4,200 rpm ....
almost boring even .....seldom have to use 3rd gear, she's unusually
smooth and quiet ( not AWD of course ..which also tends to increase fuel
comsumption )
also ...vanagons ...with their weight, body shape, and gearing, are
designed for an engine that is fat in its power in the 2,500 to 4,500 ..
if putting in a non-turbo engine that starts to make its good power near
4K rpm ......you can see that doesn't quite match up right.
a turbo of course .....I haven't driven a turbo zetec ..but 'usually'
turbo gas engines have lots of power everywhere. My 88 740 turbo volvo
sedan sure does ....there is no flat or weak spot anywhere in the power
curve or gearing ....she always wants to go. She'll only do about 20.3
mpg tops ..but she'll go 90 just anywhere anytime.
what fun vanagons are !
Scott
www.turbovans.com
On 2/16/2012 9:11 AM, Daryl Christensen wrote:
> I always got 17 to 20 when mine was stock. Speed is also the big mileage killer of all Vans
>
> I have found, plus the Zetec does better when the revs are kept up some. Lugging it in 4th at lower speeds doesn’t help any.
>
> With the turbo Bostig I get less, but then my right foot may have something to do with that issue..
>
> Daryl of AA Transaxle
>
> 425-788-4070
>
> "On the cutting edge of Old technology"
>
> 86 Syncro Westy w/Turbo Zetec in the trunk
>
>
>
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Harry Hoffman
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 5:22 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Gas mileage query for bostig converts
>
>
>
> Hi All,
>
> If you've moved from the wbx to a zetec would you mind sharing your average MPG and whether you're running the stock 14" rims or something larger?
> I'm getting around 15mpg, city driving, right now and wondering how much savings can be realized with larger rims.
>
> Cheers,
> Harry
>
