This may be one of those, "just my opinion" responses, but here it is.

I have owned an air-cooled bus ('77 Wolfsburg limited edition yet!) with
the 4 speed manual and currently own a '84 automatic.  The newer bus is
water cooled and less displacement but more horsepower.  I believe my
aircooled manual would easily out accelerate the '84.  Fuel economy was
the same between them, about 20MPG with reasonable driving.  I believe
that if I had a manual transmission I would gain about 3 MPG.  The '84
does not feature a lock up converter which does not help in this area.

My '84 has about 174,000 miles on it which speaks highly of the durability
of the VW automatic.  Contrast that with my wife's minivan (Plymouth
Caravan) with only 84,000 miles on it - I just forked out $1400 for a
replacement transmission which is warranted for only 24 months.

Additionally, if the VW transmission does give up, I am not sure how easy
it is to rebuild or replace since used units are probably as rare as hen's
teeth.

For my money, give me a standard transmission anyday, I know how to
replace clutches!

Best Regards
Howard Allen
S. Portland, Maine

Think about packaging as an enabling technology

Mark Baker <mr_dogpants@YAHOO.COM>
Sent by: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
10/12/2005 02:25 PM
Please respond to Mark Baker

        To:     vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
        cc:
        Subject:        Automatic vs. 4 Speed Transmission

Hello all:

New to the list and about to purchase my first Vanagon, hopefully this
weekend!  Wondering which you'd prefer--auto or manual transmission, and
why?  Is one or the other more prone to breakdown?  Is there a performance
boost with one or the other?

Looking forward to your input.  Been reading the list for a couple of days
and have been overwhelmed by the knowledge here!

Mark in Minnesota

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