Date:         Mon, 12 May 97 23:38:50 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Speedometer markings

On Mon, 12 May 1997 10:02:15 -0500 Sidote, David  [PRI] said:
>I was wondering if anyone knew what the dot markings on the speedometer
>mean. This is in an 83 WB. There are dots at certain points. There is
>one dot at 20, two dots at 40, and three at 65. Are these supposed to be
>the top speeds for each gear? My westy would be screaming at 50 in third
>gear, and 20 in first....forget about it. My Westy doesn't have a tach
>(yet) so usually use the st muir guide of 10, 20, 40 when driving. What
>speed/rpms do other people shift at? Thanks.

according to the 83 WB owners manual:
"after the break-in period, the following speeds should not be exceeded:
Manual transmission
Gear     after 1500km
  1         25km/h      (15mph)
  2         50km/h      (30mph)
  3         80km/h      (48mph)
  4         top speed   (imho: about 80 mph :)

in the OLD models of vws, they had little "bars" that marked the shift mph ...
not dots. i don't know what the dots are.

i generally shift like this: (shift OUT of the gear):
1st    after rolling, at or less than 10 mph.
2nd    about 25-30mph
3rd    about 40-50mph
4th    :)  i wish i did have a 5th gear sometimes!!

3rd gear is the most commonly used one for me, from about 25 to 50 mph, around
town.

joel