>And... too little power can mean that you may at some stage
>find yourself in an accident situation and unable to accelerate out
>of it..

This is true, but "too little" is entirely relative to the accident
situation. I got hit on a 250cc Honda motorcycle (an RS250 I think?) a
decade ago because I didn't have enough power to accelerate out of the path
of a left turning car (right turning for you left-side drivers), and it was
by no means an underpowered vehicle. I'd have to agree that the waterboxer
has very little power to spare and that I'd be a lot more comfortable with
another 40 horses (minimum); but by the same token, I knew guys who built
up their Camaros to the point where they'd break the bead and spin the
wheels inside the tires if they floored the accelerator, and there would
always be one or two of them who claimed the reason for it was "I want to
be able to accelerate out of an accident"-- yeah, out of the first one and
into another. I had more trust in the sensibility of guys who said "I did
it because I like to go fast". Not that this comes up but once in a blue
moon with WRX or 911 flat-6 powered Vanagons, of course; but I'm still wary
of the "accelerate out of trouble" notion. I've always been of the opinion
that attentive, sensible driving will keep you out of more accidents than
any amount of reserve power. There's always that 7-sigma event that only
attentiveness AND extra horsepower will get you out of, but most of those
"accelerate to safety" guys I've met seemed like they'd accelerated INTO
that trouble in the first place. Just my experience from hanging out with a
Bad Crowd, I guess.

John Bange
'90 Vanagon "Geldsauger"