On Tue, 9 Sep 2003, Germain wrote:

> May be you can get 25mpg with a manual Westy but I wonder you can get
> more than that.

I routinely get 25 mpg with mine, but it's a diesel.  I might be able to
eke out a bit more if I had better injectors, better fuel, or a 1.9L
diesel with a gasoline van transmission (for the higher gear ratios.)  I
doubt I would ever see 30 mpg, though, unless I drove 40 mph all the time.
;)

> Infortunately this van is not burning gas as a compact car.

Nope...mostly because it has twice the drag coefficient, twice the frontal
area, and half again the weight. ;>  Even modern minivans rarely get
better than low 20's fuel economy, and full-sized vans are lucky to get
numbers in the high teens.  Our Vanagons are sort of in between -- they're
sized much like a minivan but have the weight and load-carrying capacity
of a full-sized van.

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Diesel Westfalia
'94 Honda Civic Si