Date:         Mon, 07 Nov 94 08:29:22 CST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Bobo Iceskater

>From: John Ritchie <ritchiej@ucs.orst.edu>
>>Anybody else have any good bus-ice-and-snow anecdotes?  None could match the
>>snowmobile trails one, but what do other people think about driving
>>in adverse conditions?

i'm a bit more cautious with my 88 bus (than i was with my 71 bus or even my
80 vanagon), but how much of that is due to age and intelligence, i don't
know. ;)  i used to just 'go' in the old 71 bus. didn't matter where or when.
the only time i ever got stuck was on a sandy beach down south ... got out
by letting the air out of the tires. :) even in a blizzard-winter of 1978 in
chicago, it never got stuck. did about a 110-degree slide one day, but that
was it. good old bus.  even in the 80 vanagon, i never got stuck. snow in
rhode island, colorado. mud and creeks in texas. :)

the, ah, 88 bus, however ... seems to have a problem with low-rpm torque.
that is, it has too much. it breaks the rear wheels loose very quickly. in
almost very mild conditions. got stuck in my own back yard ... in only three
inches of snow! most humiliating!  but if you keep moving, it seems to be
ok.

>I pulled off to the shoulder to avoid it.  The shoulder had fresh snow and I
>was able to use it to slow down and stop at the light.  I also passed several
>people at the same time but at least I was able to stop.

i had to use a snow drift (in a beetle) one time. i was just glad that the
snowplows hadn't hidden another fire-plug in there! :)

joel