At 12:27 PM 8/26/2009, Marc Perdue wrote...
>Is there any kind of automatic transmission alternative that could
>take advantage of the torquey (technical term again) Vanagon engine

Acceleration and holding speed up a hill are all about horsepower. An
engine's torque numbers are only useful as a rough indication of how
wide it's (horse)powerband is, and even then, only when considered in
relation to it's HP numbers.

A transmission can be made to give as much output torque as you want,
it's just a matter of gear ratios - but more torque = lower speed. HP
remains constant through a transmission (neglecting frictional loss).
More gears in a transmission allows one to keep the engine running
closer to it's maximum HP output, for better performance.

The comment you responded to was in relation to the scarcity of
transmissions to handle more powerful engines which have been adapted
to the Vanagon.

For the stock engines, VW engineers designed the gear ratios (and shift
points) for the best all-around performance and reliability, given the
available engine power. The stock 90 HP simply won't push a Vanagon
through mountains at 65 MPH, no matter what you might change in a
transmission.

When going uphill, I just get behind a semi going 45, and enjoy the
journey. If you're in a hurry, a Vanagon with a stock engine isn't a
good choice.