Date: Sun, 12 May 2013 23:52:37 -0700
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: driving in gusty winds...
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEu+QFvaC=FumamXn08gCn2EDFyLdZO9znfhrVsXBv2dwnw@mail.gmail.com>
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oh you should watch Dancing with the Stars if you appreciate ballroom
dance as an Art Form.
the qualityof the dancing of the pro's on there is 14 on a scale of 10.
The most elegant powerful perfect cha cha cha and argentine tango and
everything else that I have ever seen ..
and I've been facinated with dance my whole life. It doesn't get
better than on DWS ..many of the pro's are Russians....many professional
ballroom dancers are Russian, especially men. Not everyone appreciaates
dance, which I just can not understand at all. It is one of the major
art forms.
if you are running on 14 inch wheels and tires , you are giving
something up in tracking down-the-road stability.
you might not get more than say 15 % improvement..
but you will get some improvement going to other wheels and tires.
I think the wheelbase is perfect for the size and type of vehicle, I
wouldn't all it 'short' ..though, like BMW they could have made an L
model for longer wheel base version. Mercedesdoes that too.
Mabye 5 or 6 inches longer.
as you add wheelbase, you gain in someways and loose in others.
they got it pretty right for what it is.
Ihave very few criticisms of the basic vehicle concept ..
for what it is ..
a rear engine, people sit on top of the front wheels van ..it's about as
good overall as anyone could evercome upwith.
scott
turbovans
On 5/12/2013 9:23 PM, Don Hanson wrote:
> Thanks, yes I imagine it would help some...but there is windy and then
> there is WINDY!. ...the Gorge wind is the second type....Interstate 84
> runs through the Gorge and the sides of it are littered with parts blown
> off trucks, cars, RVs, etc. It is quite common for the wind to gust so
> hard that it picks up water right out of the river and blows it up into the
> air in clouds....We call it "Smokin'' and that means it's a good time to go
> windsurfing.
>
> We also have two F-250 4x4 diesel trucks...those, too, get blown around,
> but not so much as the vanagons. There are probably a dozen Syncros who
> frequent the Gorge....Those, too, go all over the road in gusts...It's not
> a stretch to suppose that the large boxy shape and the short wheel base
> offer the wind pretty significant leverage.
>
> What was so interesting about my trip today was that....I was probably
> about 20 lengths back from the other van.....He'd go a little, then I'd go
> just the same....like a pair in "Dancing with the Stars" (I suppose, having
> never watched it)
>
>
>
> On Sun, May 12, 2013 at 7:25 PM, Anthony Egeln <regnsuzanne@yahoo.com>wrote:
>
>> I'll second this notion....
>>
>> When I went to 15" wheels and the 225-15-70 tires there was a marked
>> difference in
>> stability during windy weather.
>>
>> Anthony
>> '89 Syncro GL (Hidalgo)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Robert Stevens <mtbiker62@GMAIL.COM>
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Sent: Sunday, May 12, 2013 10:15 PM
>> Subject: Re: driving in gusty winds...
>>
>>
>> On May 12, 2013, at 8:08 PM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>
>> I always seem to have my hands full driving my
>> van in the Gorge, even though I have been completely through all the
>> suspension, steering, tires etc., When you are rolling along at 65 into a
>> 60mph gust, then it hits you from the side....then stops, then from the
>> other side, etc etc....all the way along with high cliffs and through the
>> various side canyons....a tall profile and relatively short wheel base
>> vehicle like our vans....they 'feel' the wind....
>>
>> Put 15" to 17" rims/wheels on your van with good vanagon-worthy
>> truck tires, and you will notice a HUGE improvement in this. It's not
>> possible to describe the difference. The driving experience with larger
>> rims, despite not larger overall diameter of wheels, is completely
>> different from stock.
>>
>> bob
>>
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