On the open interstate I keep my revs at around 4200 rpm which works out to a about 75 mph.  It's hard to keep the camper at speeds below that.  I do not have to downshift unless I'm in the mountains pulling up a serious hill.  I realize that's faster than most folks are comfortable with, but I've put over 70K miles on my previous camper driving at those speeds with no ill effects on original heads.

Also, the speedo in my two campers actually reads a little low unlike what most folks here report.

Chris S.

----- Original Message ----
From: Matthew Snook <matt@SNOOKSBAND.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Wednesday, December 5, 2007 12:38:02 AM
Subject: 1-800-Howsmydriving?

OK, I have a question for all the techsperts out there.  I'm a new
 Westy
driver, and I have a question about how to drive so as to minimize
 engine
wear.  My speedo is lame, so I can't trust it - reads 80 when I'm purdy
 sure
it's only doing 55mph.  So I drive with the tachometer instead.

I've been keeping it at 3200 rpm, which I believe comes out to about
 highway
speed anyhow.  When I encounter a hill which drops the tach to 2500,
 then I
shift down to 3rd, which pops it up to 3500, and I then drop it back to
 the
same 3200 I was maintaining in 4th.  When I top the hill, I accelerate
 up to
3500 and shift, bringing it back down to 2500 again, and work it back
 up to
the target of 3200.

Is this a good range for the 1.9 I've got in here?  The redline is way
 up by
5000, but it sounds to me like 4000 is as high as I want it to go!  Any
suggestions?  Is it better to keep the rpms higher than that, or lower,
 'er
whut?

Thanks,
Matt

      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page.
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs