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Tue Dec 02, 2014 1:19 am

How fast is your 2.1 vanagon?
My Westy can easily get up to 75mph on a flat freeway. She purrs!

Tue Dec 02, 2014 1:37 am

It's the fastest thing on the road! Porsches? Vettes? No problem at all passing those slow pokes. 75 mph is nothing... I cruise 90 all day, waving to cops who are so bewildered at the sight of the vanarocket they don't even think to pull me over.

Kevin

Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:24 am

Heck my old 1.9 would do 120 easily................oh KPM

Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:06 am

My 2.2 rebuild is the fastest :lol:

Tue Dec 02, 2014 6:21 am

Tue Dec 02, 2014 6:29 am

"Well, I suppose if you had a straight stretch of track with a level grade, and you weren't haulin' no cars behind you, and if you can get the fire hot enough, and I'm talkin' about hotter than the blazes of hell and damnation itself... then yes, it might be possible to get her up that fast."

Tue Dec 02, 2014 7:23 am

sure, I've even had mom's up to/around 80mph with a draggy front brake caliper.. well once they get to the hotttt phase the fiction reduces..
but throw a hill in front of it from a complete stop or a short uphill interstate merge and well never mind..

Bazzer485 wrote: How fast is your 2.1 vanagon?
My Westy can easily get up to 75mph on a flat freeway. She purrs!

Tue Dec 02, 2014 7:37 am

A 2.1 is plenty powerful in a 2wd tintop. It's not quick, but it easily keeps up with prevailing traffic, and I always drive in the fast lane on I-5. I've had it up to 85+mph, but generally don't exceed 75.

Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:04 am

certainly the slowest thing in our garage since we moved to the southwest and got rid of the riding mower.

come to think of it, that mower moved pretty good.

Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:39 am

Ahwahnee wrote: certainly the slowest thing in our garage since we moved to the southwest and got rid of the riding mower.

come to think of it, that mower moved pretty good.

Thank you for that! :lol:

Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:41 am

Advanced the ignition timing a little bit and its now a torquey little beast (1.9L)

Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:49 am

honestly... it's pretty FAST in the slow lane...

:D

Tue Dec 02, 2014 9:04 am

61Scout wrote: It's the fastest thing on the road! Porsches? Vettes? No problem at all passing those slow pokes. 75 mph is nothing... I cruise 90 all day, waving to cops who are so bewildered at the sight of the vanarocket they don't even think to pull me over.

Kevin
X2. I swear i blew through more speedtraps in my 74 baywindow doing 70 - 75 in 55mph zone. I figure they thought either their radar guns were off or i probably couldnt go any faster.

Tue Dec 02, 2014 9:10 am

Zeitgeist 13 wrote: A 2.1 is plenty powerful in a 2wd tintop. It's not quick, but it easily keeps up with prevailing traffic, and I always drive in the fast lane on I-5. I've had it up to 85+mph, but generally don't exceed 75.

My new 91 Syncro base model and winter van has a resealed 2.1 WBX with 215/75/15s...it flies.
I've been driving the WBX powered Syncro Westy all summer and saw a huge difference between the two immediately.
I am in no rush when driving the Westy so I don't even try to exceed the speed limits.
The tintop has a sweet spot at about 70mph with plenty more to go.
I actually had to add a top speed warning to my digital speedo app on my phone to flash so I don't attract the PoPo. :wink:

Long live the WBX :!:

Tue Dec 02, 2014 9:33 am

A: Fast enough to get in trouble, but not fast enough to get out.

:lol:

Tue Dec 02, 2014 9:37 am

dhaavers wrote: A: Fast enough to get in trouble, but not fast enough to get out.

:lol:

Good one.

They aren't friendly when the lights are flashin'.

Tue Dec 02, 2014 11:54 am

I once blew away a Z06 Corvette in a stoplight drag, with my first Vanagon (an air-cooled '83 tintop).

Got next to the 'Vette at a red light and started blipping the throttle. He looked over at me and busted out laughing. Was laughing so hard that when the light changed he forgot to move out and I beat him to the next red light just ahead.

OK, he wasn't trying very hard. BUT I BEAT HIM!

:)

That said, my current Vanagon (2.1 wasserboxer, totally stock tintop, manual trans) is certainly not fast but has adequate acceleration and cruising speed for what it needs to do.

Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:22 pm

Our tintop also cruises right along at 70-75 for hours when its flat. On hills, I intentionally back off just because when I'm in Mango I tend to be unhurried either on a vacation trip or driving her to run errands.

During the tow trip back bringing this Van home from Georgia in April, my son and I were doing about 70 when I spotted a Vanagon coming up on us. Empty freeway. We were in Colorado driving into the setting sun and I could clearly see a middle aged lady sitting with a forward posture of stress as she got closer. She never even gave the Vanagon on the trailer a look and blew right past us. Had to be doing near 85. We watched her pull away for a moment and I said to my 13yo son "Wow, I didn't know these things would go that fast!" Turns out they will. Hope whatever reason she had to be so hurried turned out well.

Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:26 pm

Suddenly I feel that we will have an influx of rod throwing on a few 2.1's :lol:

don't do it....keep it under 4800rpm

Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:38 pm

Hey, where have you been?