Hans of Vanaru let me drive a full Westy with a 2.5 a few years ago, and it was amazing! A 2.2 I'm sure would be equally amazing, maybe just slightly less so! Jeff Stewart ----- Original Message -----
> Right now with low compression I can't maintain 45 mph on a moderate
> grade
> even downshifting to second (it's an auto), and semis pass me. Merging
> on
> anything other than a downhill ramp is difficult.  Trying to enter a
> busy
> two lane highway safely requires about a half mile opening since zero
> to 60
> is over 10 seconds on the flat, and I'll never get to 60 on a hill.
> Takes
> all the fun out of driving. I'm confident the 2.2 will be fine, but
> I've
> never driven one so I don't know for sure.
> Stuart
> From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans [mailto:scottdaniel@turbovans.com]
> Sent: Friday, February 15, 2013 6:22 PM
> To: Stuart MacMillan
> Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Friday Philosophy: On Community
> re  "  I can only hope the Subaru conversion will make it more
> tolerable.""
> How fast do you need to go ?   A subaru 2.2 has 135 hp , versus 87 for
> a 1.9
> wbxr and 95 or so for a 2.1 waterboxer.
> btw ..if you had an automatic ..they do suck up some power and
> response for
> sure ..
> far less so with a subaru engine.
> The common Subaru 2.5 is 160 hp ..almost double that of a 1.9
> waterboxer.
> There's a great test hill on I-5 near me.  It's long ...5 to 7 miles
> ...Southbound it gets steeper near the top..
> Normally in a Vanagon you get up good speed in top gear ..like 70
> .....hold
> that as long as you can and when you're down to about 55 shift down
> one cog
> into 3rd  gear with a 4 speed manual trans,   .hoping you can pull the
> rest
> of the grade at a reasonable 50 - 55 in 3rd.
>   A real dog of a vanagon might be stuck at 45 mhp max on that grade.
> If you're a real power hog ..
> SVX  subaru engine converisons  ( 6 cylinders,  3.3 liters, 230 hp )
>  aren't
> done that often these days anymore  .......but one of those will go up
> that
> grade at 75 in 3rd or 4th gear. Easily.  They drink a bit of gas
> though
> .....17mpg would be considered very good.
> a Westy with a 2.2 subaru engine and auto trans can return 21 mpg
> sometimes.
> One guy I know claimed a one-time high of 24mpg at high altitude
> during a
> very hot summer.  That would be rare. But the 4 cylinder subaru
> engines go
> much better than waterboxers and return the same or slightly better
> fuel
> milage.
> On one recent freshly done Subaru 2.2 engine an 85 Westy ....the woman
> drove
> that same  whole I-5  grade in 4th gear easily, not getting below
> about 58
> to 60 mph.  They go good.  Not only more power ....you have 1,000 more
> rpm
> to play with too.  Redline is 6,200 rpm. I never take them over about
> 5,000
> to 5,500  rpm anyway .  Nice fat wide power curve too, very nicely
> matched
> to vanagon gear spacing.
> .........just in case there is doubt that a subaru engine conversion
> isn't
> pretty rewarding in a vanagon.
> It's not just a little more power ..it's a whole other dimension in
> technology ..
> 4 valves per cylinder, Overhed cam/s , no distributor, knock sensor
> igntion,
> sequential fuel injection , lots of nice features.
> VRROOOOMM !!
> Scott
> On 2/15/2013 5:54 PM, Stuart MacMillan wrote:
> Absolutely correct insight.  A community of lunatics that keeps doing
> the
> same thing over and over again hoping the results will be different.
> My kids managed to avoid catching this disease, unlike you!   We had
> great
> times travelling in our '68 Westy starting when they were both
> toddlers, and
> it continued until they were in their mid-teens with my '84 Westy.
>  Later
> they would each borrow the '84 for their own local trips, but now they
> wonder what I was thinking when I bought my "new" '85 last year,
> figuring
> I'm in my dotage and should simply be humored.
> For them it's now using friend's timeshares, exotic travel, and a once
> a
> year family camping trip with us in our van, one family in a tent and
> the
> other in a sailboat moored at Fort Flagler (only place I've found in
> Washington where we can do that).
> I don't blame them.  I sold the '84 because it was underpowered and
> horrible
> to drive, and bought an EVC. That was a great driver, but a money pit
> and
> inferior camper, and now I'm back to a gutless '85 that is horrible to
> drive.  I can only hope the Subaru conversion will make it more
> tolerable.
> If not, maybe the future Ford Transit conversions will be sensible:
> http://westfalia-ford.co.uk/elevated%20roof/index.html  $46,000 base
> price
> in Britain. I wonder what Sportsmobile or Roadtrek would charge for
> theirs.
> Stuart
> Jarrett wrote:
> ......I'll admit my bias here: I grew up with VW campers, and so I own
> one
> now. Because I own one, I like hanging out with folks share that
> lunacy. . .
> .
> Jarrett K
> Olly, 89 Westy made up of parts, parts, parts=