the big advantage of a five speed is having 3 ratios from roughly 35 or 40
mph ......to top speed.
With a 4 speed you only have two ratios in that speed band.

that's where the 5 speed helps so much , above 35 or 40.

----- Original Message -----
From: "mark drillock" <mdrillock@COX.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 9:16 AM
Subject: Re: I4 Happenings in turbovans land

> Now that you have given up on the original conversion engine it will be
> interesting to see what kind of service the new setup gives you over
> time. Preemptively resetting the clock as it were. Different motor and
> different exhaust. Sounds like a step up in both cases.
>
> A 5 speed will generally outperform a 4 speed in the hills, so compare
> apples to apples if truth is of any concern.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
> Don Hanson wrote:
>>
>>    My van, before I *pre-emptively* swapped in the ABA 2.0 liter block,
>> when
>> it came to me with it's '92 Golf/Cabriolet motor... it had the "rather
>> dorky" diesel exhaust manifold.  Yes, it was pretty restrictive looking
>> and
>> the hanging system was very crude, to say the least.  The guy who did the
>> conversion, he was a door builder, not a mechanic.  He welded on a really
>> tight bend right below that cast diesel manifold and ran a pipe right
>> straight back to a  "fart can" muffler that stuck straight out back, with
>> a
>> steel hanger welded to the frame.
>>
>>    I added a magnaflow muffler across the back of the motor just ahead of
>> the
>> bumper, hanging that on a flexible mount to the frame. I drove it that
>> way
>> for two years without any problems.  That diesel exhaust
>> manifold...strong!
>> Even as restricted as that exhaust manifold must have been,  I still
>> often
>> drove past WBX vanagons on hills.
>> .................
>>