Same here, and with a Chevy van with a 350 V8. Drove about 50 miles west into the wind and the van was struggling to the point I thought something was wrong with it - on the return trip with the wind in my favor it was fine. Jeff Stewart ----- Original Message -----
> There's a difference, Dennis. He said high winds. In steady winds
> above 25mph (easily done on the front range there in Colorado) that
> heavily eats into the top speed with a stock Vanagon. Even on an
> upgrade it can make a difference. Several years ago, I was traveling
> to Chicago, (and hauling a trailer). My co-pilot was driving and noted
> that he couldn't get it above 65mph even floored. Thought something
> was wrong. Turns out we were heading into a 40 mph head wind, so based
> on air resistance we were closer to 100 mph. For that you need more HP
> than a stock vanagon can provide.
> On Jan 2, 2012, at 11:30 AM, Dennis Haynes wrote:
> > My '87 Syncro Passenger now with 153K on 215/70-14 tires easily gets
> > to 80
> > and beyond. 2 years ago I drove it Daytona from Long Island and was
> > really
> > surprised at well it gets up to speed given a bit of time. If you
> > are having
> > trouble reaching 60 on level road something is seriously wrong. I
> > mention
> > tires as larger tires can actually reduce top speed due to less
> > horsepower
> > being available.
> >
> > Dennis
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> > Behalf Of
> > Jon Kanas
> > Sent: Sunday, January 01, 2012 1:30 PM
> > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > Subject: Not Fair!!
> >
> > Greetings and Happy New Year,
> >
> > Yesterday morning (12/31) at about 7:40 I was Northbound on I-25,
> > north of
> > Colorado 66 approaching Johnson's Corner in very high winds in my
> > gray
> > Syncro Westfalia. My top speed was approaching all of 60mph - like I
> > said,
> > it was windy.
> > Much to my surprise, I was overtaken by a gold Syncro
> > (non-camper) who was easily doing 75 or 80. We waved at each other.
> > If, by
> > any chance, you're the owner of that gold Syncro and on the list,
> > please
> > p-mail me.
> >
> > I need that kind of power!!!
> > --
> >
> > *Best Regards,
> > Jon*