I'd perhaps give more credence to the question about dangerously underpowered
vehicles if our own vanagons didn't disprove the notion that underpowered =
more dangerous. In addition to having surprisingly strong frames and
crashworthiness, vanagons had the LOWEST fatality rates of any passenger vans in the US
during their years of production and the second lowest fatality rates of any
vehicle on the  road. Now where the normally aspirated diesel is concerned, I
might have to agree to an extent. I drove a Golf years ago with the same engine
and it was incredibly underpowered. I can't imagine that motor in a van. You
might well get run down by a semi.
Dixon