I am not trying to start a flame war...
BUT only inform my fellow Vanagon drivers that want more power, need more power and desire more power that there are safe ALTERNATIVES to swapping the engine to get more power beyond the basic "Bolt On" power to get the power thay want.  They can do it at home, do not have to have a degree at conversions, etc. ,etc.

I also have a five speed SA .457 ring & pinion transmission.

I am able to go up hills easily in fifth gear.  I had to back off the throttle when going up the hills because the power increases up hills if I do not lift my foot some.

As the vacuum decreases under the increased load, the fuel pressure increases giving the engine more fuel. Since he DF FI is designed to run leaner, my engine really responds when it gets additional fuel from the increasing load of a hill.

If I do not eventually switch to a different FI setup, I am going to get the ECU chip upgrade…If I could only find the source of the chip to avoid the middle mans markup...

You do not need a conversion to go up hills fast...

My 73 VW Bus with a self customized T4 2L can GOES UP the STEEP Black mountain in NC on I40 at 70mph  –75mph…

I plan to try my 88 soon...  But first some additional suspension modifications to handle those tight curves at 75mph...

Anybody wanna ride along...

Robert