It's almost Friday so here's one with very little Vanagon content, but it
concerns letting up a bit on the throttle to save fuel.

  Our first outing in one of the events they call Open Road Races.. We ran
in the sedate 140mph class with my Porsche 928 GT (the car like in "Risky
Business).  The course was about 90 some miles and we used just about 10
gallons of fuel...Race gas, of course.

  The next time we ran that course, we ran in the Super Sport class with a
target speed of 165mph..we went through almost 16 gallons of fuel.  We
covered that 90 some miles in about 25 (+/-) minutes at that speed.
  The Porsche is long gone, but late last fall, we retraced that
route...Austin, Nv. to Battle Mt. Nv. in the 84 vanagon..That trip up the
road took almost two hours, but we did save some fuel...I guess the Porsche
was a little more fun over that road...more comfortable, too...except for
the fire suits, the roll cage and the helmets.

   These events are essentially very high speed rallies and are a total
blast to attend!
Our first trip to race in Ely, Nv. we were in stitches, as all the
competitors paraded through the main street of Ely and we were serenaded by
the high school band, set up on the courthouse steps in the center of Ely.
The most prestigious award at the Silver State Classic has to be "The
Hooker's Choice" trophy..All the commercial ladies in the best 'house' come
outside and judge the cars...mostly the bachelor's cars..then one is
chosen...The year we were there (we got eliminated for exceeding our Tech
Speed of 170mph) the winner was a swoopy Corvair with a big block Chevy in
the middle..
  Check out the websites..you won't believe how awesome it can be to go flat
out in your fast car without worrying about tickets and such...
http://www.openroadracing.com/
http://www.sscc.us/
  Don Hanson