No way can these trannies hold up to 300 hard driven HP in my humble
opinion...
Gently driven without a pile of extra weight, they do ok (no capital letter
ok here) overall with the 265 hp Subie 3.3..
I also have heard from some reliable Euro sources that about 200 hp and
lb/ft of torque is about the limit they suggest.
Trans cooling is a must for big HP in hot climates as well. 175 deg F or so
is a reliable max safe temp.
 My Turbo Zetec is about 180 hp or so with 200 lb/ft of torque I am told.
I run Swepco 210 and so far its fine.

Daryl of AA Transaxle
425-788-4070
"On the cutting edge of Old technology"
86 Syncro Westy w/Turbo Zetec in the trunk
90 Doka Tristar w/2.5 Subie

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
David Clarkson
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 7:47 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: towing capacity with big brakes and turbo zetec engine

Sorry, it is a 2WD. Trailer brakes would make good sense to me. Seems that I
saw on the Zetec conversion site that the limit of the stock tranny is 300
BHP? That seems a bit high to me and maybe I could see 225 BHP and no more
than 175 ft./lbs. torque as being the limit that it might take and then only
with synthetic and a heavy duty clutch. Any thoughts on that?

David Clarkson

-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
To: vanagon <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wed, Mar 28, 2012 5:22 pm
Subject: Re: towing capacity with big brakes and turbo zetec engine

Don's right ..
trailer brakes would make the whole affair about 75 % better and safer,
over no trailer brakes. ..
in terms of braking and braking while cornering.

stress on the trans under load ..
if you're real nice to it , it might be all right.
A trans speicialist might chime in.

I don't think it says if this is a 2WD vanagon or a Syncro AWD one.
some factor there on the trans I'd think.

On 3/25/2012 6:34 PM, Don Hanson wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 25, 2012 at 5:44 PM, David
Clarkson<dvdclarksn@aol.com>  wrote:
>
>>   Does anyone out there know what the towing capacity is for a
turbo zetec
>> engine(I think about 180 BHP/ not sure of torque but probably
slightly
>> less) westy outfitted with bigger front disc and rear disc brakes
assuming
>> suspension is in good shape (I have HD Bilstein and getting new
progressive
>> springs). Just thinking about future plans that might involve
towing. Could
>> this setup tow 1500-1800 lbs( Harley on a light trailer or two
medium size
>> 4 wheelers) assuming safe speeds and braking and no extreme hills?
Is this
>> only possible with a Subi 3.3 and upgraded trans/axles? Thanks
list.
>>
>> David Clarkson
>>
>    I think you might want brakes on the trailer, too.   I've towed all
kinds
> of loads with various rigs and once the towed load gets up there in
> comparison to the weight of the tow vehicle...the load really 'pushes'
the
> tow vehicle during slow down maneuvers.   With some simple electric
brakes
> and the controller properly adjusted, you'd be much happier and safer.
I
> recently pulled a 10' Wells Cargo utility trailer with my wife's Subaru

> Forester...While the load was OK (about 1200lbs, I guestimate) with the

> power, under braking, especially when cornering, it was pretty
> sketchy...brakes on the trailer would have eliminated the tendency of
the
> load to push the rear end around...
>
>    Somebody will certainly chime in on the reasons you can't do it, I
bet.
> I guess you could, the key word is guess, if you drove with care.
>    Don Hanson
>