I think a distinction should be made between what an engine is capable of doing to produce the most power and what is necessary for given conditions. I know when my 85 GL was fairly new, 1989 or so, it was a terribly peaky engine. It was very hard to drive because it had no power off the bottom and then had a really massive surge at about 2800 rpm. First gear could hardly be used because it was so difficult to just get the van rolling without tearing forward with a roar. In the higher gears it was manageable and certainly usable at rpms around 2000. But basically the engine was made to deliver high peak power at the expense of drivability. It was not a good match to the needs of drivers on public roadways.

Phillip Bouton wrote:

From:   Dave Ohlemacher [mailto:Dave@ohlemacher.com]
Sent:   Friday, November 20, 1998 10:10 AM
To:     Phillip Bouton
Subject:        Re: simple engine RPM question-need shifting advice
German engines are made to hug the redline, at 3500, you're a long way off. Besides, I think (and have read) it's harder on an engine to struggle through a higher gear at low rpms. What you don't want to do is keep it at 5000 rpm for an extended period of time, that causes undue stress, but to run it up to 3500-4000 when shifting is fine.
Needles to the right!
Dave
86 Vanagon GL
Phillip Bouton wrote:
>
>
> I also have been perplexed by the same issue. The manual says to stay
> in the green. On my 87 Westy that is between 2 and 4k rpm. Europeans
> would rather sacrifice an engine to save gas in the long run because
> gas is so expensive. In my van it seems that in order for the next
> higher gear to start around 2k, you definitely need to be shifting
> around 3500 or higher. Otherwise the next higher gear will be between
> 1.5 and 2k. However, I can't say that I do this consistently because
> it is so hard to let myself rev the engine that high in the lower
> gears. Does anyone have any reassurances or other comments?
>
> ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>J
> Phillip Bouton
> -----Original Message-----
> From:Jarod Bishop [mailto:jbishop01@FOXINTERNET.NET]
> Sent:Thursday, November 19, 1998 7:38 PM
> To:   vanagon@VANAGON.COM
> Subject:      simple engine RPM question
>
> I recently bought an '87 Syncro. Having never owned a VW, I'm not
> used to
> running the engine at a higher RPM rate like people have told me.
>
> The speed seems to max out at around 3500 but I give some more gas and
> get
> it past 4k before shifting, but I've heard you should go atleast 4.5k
> or
> 5k. I was hoping to get input on what others typically run their vans
> at
> before shifting up.
>
> Thanks

--
James Wagner