Date:         Thu, 30 May 1996 15:36:00 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@gi.com>
Subject:      RE:Vanagon Bake-Off~Nevada Race


>It sounds like William Kennedy, Steve Maher, and Tom Forhan need to check
>out today's Wall Street Journal.  There is a short article regarding a race
>in Nevada where the average speed for the 1995 winning entry over the 90
>mile course was something like 182 mph with a top speed of 205 mph in a
>modified 1992 Corvette!  The article mentioned that the average speed 
topped
>this year's Indy winners average speed.  Call me calloused from being over
>gullible as a youngster but I find it hard to believe.

Is there anybody on this list besides the three mentioned above, who
hold to the (admittedly unpopular) notion that giving a VW van more power
than it originally came with, DOES NOT make it a race car?

It simply makes it a "car", guys... able to do pretty much what other
ordinary cars do.

Well, I always knew this was a wild and crazy list. Finally we have come
full circle. Now the stock 4-cyl people keep bringing up the idea of
racing buses, and the 6-cyl guys are trying to cool *them* off! What a
country...   :^)


>My Vanagon can only dream of half that speed.

So can mine, as long as I'm the one driving it. Older buses weren't made
for 100+ mph-- haven't got the suspension, brakes, tires, etc. to handle
it. A 30% larger engine doesn't change that... makes the bus more tailheavy
if anything, which certainly doesn't help the high-speed handling.

>I am proud when the singlecab simply makes it over
>a 90 mile course of any kind.

Gotcha there, Rusty... mine makes it over such courses with aplomb.
Of course, it occasionally finishes without a clutch...   =:-O

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 Steve Maher         smaher@gi.com           '80 V6anagon w/Chevy 2800
                                             '66 Mustang Coupevertible

            Check out the cars at http://www.wp.com/IrishMafia

              *** There are plenty of jobs around!
                     Hell, I have three of them! ***
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