Anyone ever try water injection to get the extra boost to climb hills? I
wonder why it is not used as it was in the past? I think it would work
well on high altitude climbs. Just an idea. Aloha, Ed

On Mon, 8 Jul 2002 17:47:35 +0100 Clive Smith
<clive.harman-smith@NTLWORLD.COM> writes:
> Definitely turbo, but not a big one, unless you want to intercool,
> rather
> than just restore sea level performance. Also, manual gearbox -
> definitely -
> I think I'd shoot myself before buying another auto of that vintage,
> even in
> the UK - as a race we tend to hate them. At least you could
> entertain
> yourself by changing up and down now and again.
> Ensure air-cleaner is spotless and can not pickup 'any' warm air
> from engine
> bay. Check the plug colour, if it looks a bit dark or very light
> (unlikely)
> after a plug chop (when you need to take a pee whilst climbing for
> half and
> hour) then at least you know the altitude's not fully corrected for
> by the
> injection. If its running at all weak, you will be losing power and
> remember
> that weak mixtures take longer to burn, though the answer is not to
> necessarily advance the ignition - correct the mixture if you can.
>
> Reduce weight, the unnecessary crap I've seen onboard some vehicles,
> defies
> belief. Turn off all unnecessary ancillaries.
> Up the tyre pressures to the max for safety and handling. Try to
> reduce the
> engine-bay temperatures by every means, there's an article on
> Vanagon site
> about soundproofing, but this also talks about insulating the
> exhaust system
> with something called F1 tape (I think) - keeping the heat 'inside'
> the
> exhaust system achieves 2 things, extracts exhaust gases better
> (improves
> cylinder scavenging) - more power, lower cyl. temps and reduces
> heat
> transfer to the engine bay. I imagine the heat from the auto might
> be upping
> the engine-bay temps too. Do all this and you might go from 30-35mph
> (with a
> manual gearbox) - but thats what? 18%
>
> At 10,00 ft air pressure is 78.8% and density (what matters) 73.8%
> of that
> at Sea level, so you've lost 25% at least by then, remembering that
> what
> matters is not absolute power, but EXCESS power, power available to
> do work
> above and beyond just driving the ancillaries, gearbox, torque
> convertor,
> alternator, etc etc. Any increase you can make will go directly to
> to
> improving hill-climbing - in short, gaining 2 BHP at the engine will
> be
> equivalent to gaining say, 2.5 or more at the wheels as these losses
> are
> nominally constant. If you ever climb to an altitude where the
> vehicle won't
> climb at all anymore - in that gear - then you can do a rough sum of
> the
> horsepower consumed by the ancillaries and transmission (horrendous)
> -
>
> density at  5,000' =  86.15% of sl
> density at 10,000' = 73.8% of sl
> density at 15,000' = 62.9% of sl
> density at 20,000' = 53.3% of sl
>
> Power will be approx. proportional to density (the number of
> molecules of
> oxygen) provided cylinder filling holds up.
> Nitrous Oxide anyone? Fuel additives, methanol?
>
> Clive Smith
> '88 Syncro Transporter  2.1
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "mike" <mwmiller@CWNET.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 4:55 PM
> Subject: Re: High elevation adjustments?
>
>
> > Turbo.  Big one.
> >
> > > From: Andrew Fox <afox@CNR.COLOSTATE.EDU>
> > > Reply-To: Andrew Fox <afox@CNR.COLOSTATE.EDU>
> > > Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2002 09:34:11 -0600
> > > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > > Subject: High elevation adjustments?
> > >
> > > I routinely drive my van at elevations ranging from 5,000-14,000
> feet
> here
> > > in Colorado.  Above about 8,000 feet i experience loss of power
> such
> that
> > > I am only able to maintain about 30 mph while keeping the engine
> floored
> > > in second gear.  I know its a crime but i routinely drive my van
> with my
> > > foot to the floor for a half hour or longer while going uphill
> in second
> > > gear (auto tranny).  So my question is are there any adjustments
> I can
> > > make to have a better high elevation driving experience?  Any
> Colorado
> > > listees out there that can tell me if they get better or worse
> performance
> > > on some of Colorado's steep/high highways (ie I-70)?  Going east
> up to
> the
> > > eisenhower tunnel on I-70 my max speed is about 30 MPH (second
> gear,
> foot
> > > to the floor, 2.1L, AT).
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Andrew Fox
> > > 86 Westy
> > > Ft. Collins CO
> > >
>