Date:         Mon, 07 Nov 94 08:19:27 CST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Driving in high winds

On Mon, 7 Nov 94 08:09:02 CST David Carment said:
>Last night driving down the freeway , I had a heck of a time staying in
>the lane and keeping up the speed of the Vanagon above 50mph. I was
>driving directly against winds betwen 80 and 90 kmh (50-55 mph). Is it

50 MPH!!! good grief! we call that "Tornado Weather" around here!

>"normal"  for Vanagon handling to be compromised by high winds? Will

well ... yeah, it gets somewhat 'interesting' when the wind gets up above
about 30mph or so.  but i'll tell you this: the vanagon shape is a whole
lot better about side-winds than my old 71 bus. head-winds, however, just
really slow you down ... there's not much in that big, square front end
that 'cheats' the wind. :(

>reinforced tires help the situation (I have C tires in the back only).

it probably wouldn't have made an awful lot of difference in a head-wind.
unless you were being blown back and forth from side to side ... then i'd
think maybe tires would be a factor. or maybe shocks.

>Plus driving into the wind is like driving a barn door into a hurricane,
>speed becomes a mute issue except going downhill. DC  --

ayah. somewhat akin to the wet-noodle-up-the-wild-cat's-rear-end situation:
definitely a handfull.  you definitely have to pay attention to the weather
reports and listen to the truckers (if it's blowing you around that much,
think of what it's doing to one of those big rigs). which is another plus for
having a CB radio: if the truckers are staying off the roads, maybe it's a
good idea. ;)

but the answer is: pretty much yes; in that much of a headwind, you would
likely be going very very slowly ... you don't have a lot of power back there
and, like big hills, a strong wind can put a lot of strain on the engine.

there are supposedly some bridges out in the northwest that have such fierce
sidewinds that even the ford and chevrolet vans have been flipped on their
sides as they crossed. my point being, that as a big square box on wheels,
we are pretty much at the mercy of the wind.

joel