I just read an very interesting article in today�s Old and Male newspaper
describing automotive trends since 1980. In the light of this article, it
shows these archaic, underpowered rigs of ours really were not that far off
the mark for their time.

It also shows how gradually, through the forces of marketing, we have been
hoodwinked. I also think it shows that us VW van owners are actually more
progressive than the general population, resisting a powerful trend.

What the data shows is that since 1980 average vehicle horsepower climbed
85%, vehicle weight 30%, while MPG stayed mostly static at around 20. For
light trucks as a category, acceleration has increased 4-fold.

There are several issues here. The most obvious is that if we still accepted
the power and acceleration of our old rigs in modern vehicles, one can only
imagine the MPG we would be getting. Drop engine displacement by half and
imagine what fuel economy you would get with modern, powerful, fuel
efficient engines. I know these things aren�t linear, but my wife�s echo has
a 1.5 litre @ 108 hp. It gets 54 MPG. If it had a one-litre motor in it what
mileage would it get? In 1980 that would have been adequate power and
displacement. 

While these vans were never speedsters (who would expect it with a camper
anyway) the engines were acceptable in their time. Remember, average hp was
almost half of today�s in 1980. It is our expectations that have changed.
More power and speed and damn the economics and environment.

What would be really, really interesting, would be to take a modern, low
displacement high efficiency engine and use that for a conversion.
The Echo engine above I believe has 108 ft/lbs of torque which is close to
the WBX, so you wouldn�t notice the power difference in a van, but I would
bet you would get a hell of a boost in MPG. In my AC van I could put in an
even smaller motor without noticing a power difference, but I doubt one even
exists today.

Sometimes it worth the while to stop and think about these long term changes
that happen without anyone asking if that�s what we really want.
If somebody came forward today and said it would be official policy that
motor vehicle power would double over the next twenty five years with no
improvement in gas mileage, I think there would be at least a lively debate
about it.