><< I was also under the impression that my
>  Vanagon would be fantastic on ice and snow- >>
>  is it just me or are ALL the presnt and former diesel vanagon owners
>snickering?
>I don't KNOW why, but the diesels just GO in the snow...I've even got video
>of me *pulling* a short wheelbase land rover UP a snow covered hill that was
>so steep the van stalled out in 1st gear (oops!) and it NEVER SPUN A WHEEL!
>When I finally got home I ran the whole mess around the house..6-8 inches of
>snow..it went 200+ ft and finally stopped moving when the ground got too
>soft...

Hmmm... FWD diesel cars are also unstoppable in sheet black ice, as
I've found with our Toyotas on very long steep hills. I think it's a
combination of off-idle torque and having the mass of the heavier
engine over the driving wheels. On occasion I have driven a diesel
Corolla up a real steepie, with the engine at idle rpm and the tires
slipping a bit, but not much. Other times I've tried stepping on the
diesel (well, I can't say stepping on the gas...) and though this
results in instant wild wheelspin, there is no reduction of the car's
speed. This is with standard tires. On these occasions gas cars of
the same models get stuck partway and are abandoned where they stop.

On the other hand, my RWD SR31 Skyline diesel was utterly hopeless in
ice; even in rain it could swap ends under engine braking alone!

--
Andrew Grebneff
165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
<andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
Ph: 0064 (3) 473-8863 fax: 0064 (3) 479-7527
1986 Toyota Corolla 1.8DX CE80 diesel sedan
1989 Toyota Corolla 1.8DX CE96 diesel van
1989 Toyota Corona 2.0D Select CT170 diesel sedan
1992 Toyota Estima Lucida 2.2 turbodiesel MPV (=narrow "Previa")
1984 VW Caravelle GL (to be fitted with 260hp Subaru SVX flat-6 &
Porsche G50 trans)
Seashell, Macintosh, VW & Toyota van nut
Friends don't let friends do Windows