After owning my first Vanagon - I concluded they were more like
airplanes than any other vehicle I have ever owned. Seem take more
maintenance per hour/mile driven than other vehicles - except airplanes.
And if you have a syncro - well -  more of the same with increased
frequency because of the complexity. All that however doesn't negate the
pleasure of owning and operating our respective vehicles. I used to have
a wide-body full time JEEP Cherokee with a Borg-Warner auto-lock drive
in it. Driving on ice on a slope in Alaska was a kick because with the
system turned on - yo could feel the wheels auto-locking anytime there
was slippage of a wheel on the ice. The thing used more gas, was a pig
on maintenance - but I sure loved driving it in winter. We love our
Vanagons the same way = whatever the stripe

John

On 9/11/2013 1:25 PM, Scott Daniel wrote:
> On road in snow can very very nice in a Syncro.
> They do have great on-road all weather capabilities.
>
> forexample...the front and rear axles being joined mmechanically ( with
> some slipat the Viscous Coupling ) provide an anti-lock braking feature
> in some degree. ( in most 2WD rear wheel drive cars you can just lock up
> the fronts under heavy braking if traction is less than idea . )
>
> Most syncro's have a locking rear differential. This can be so useful
> that some people get their 2WD vanagon transaxle rebuilt with a syncro
> case, so they can have a rear locking diff.
>
> In Europe they can be purshased with a locking front differential even.
> Some have decouplersso there is a 2WD mode.
> They come, all versions with the wiring all ready in the harness, for an
> indicator light for the decoupler.
> Everysyncro I have ever seen have provision on the dash ..for knobs and
> indicator lights for rear diff locked, decoupler in AWD or 2WD mode or
> not, and front diff locked or not.
>
> Considering their era and no electronics used anywhere in the drivetrain
> they are just Fantastic vehicles.
> Awesome pperformance, upgradable in dozens of ways ..
> nearly unstoppable quite often.
>
> for normal povement use there is a weight penalty ..
> and quite a bit more complexity and expense to own one long term..
> there's no way around it though ...they are the King of Vanagons.
>
> they'remuch harder to work on then 2WD Vangaons, but after a while you
> learn the tricks and it's not so bad.
> They also like to rust out their fuel tank mounting straps ...another
> fun thing about them.
> Taking the fuel tank in and out is not fun either !
>
> they're awesome though, noway around it. Just demanding too. More like
> owning  a Porsche say.
>
> Scott
> On 9/11/2013 12:13 AM, JRodgers wrote:
>> I don;t have one - have driven the two-wheel (really one wheel) Vanagon
>> from Alaska in Winter to Florida i Winter and summer. And unless you get
>> off the pavement - a Syncro is just a status symbol and a whole bunch of
>> mechanical nightmare  you don't want. If however you do get off road -
>> they are a whole bunch  nice to have,
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>>
>> On 9/11/2013 12:46 AM, raceingcajun wrote:
>>>     Hello Vanities,
>>>
>>>     One of my Sons hit his head in the shower, and now has an
>>> un-controllable desire to buy a Passat W8. Keep in mind that we live
>>> on the
>>> Gulf Coast. No snow/ice, winter temps are in the high 30's low 40's
>>> and the
>>> last time we had a wisp of snow was in 1997. Also he lives in town,
>>> never
>>> get of the cement or goes off road mud riding. Worst driving conditions
>>> heavy rains, some fog.
>>>     Now with that back ground in mind. What I'm looking for is a general
>>> users critic of the Volkswagen Vanagon Syncro system, its mechanic's and
>>> driving idiosyncrasy's. General cost of maintenance, etc.
>>>     So wipe off those crystal balls and lets have your learned
>>> opinion good
>>> and bad!
>>>
>>> Thanks in Advance
>>>
>>> Howard
>>>
>>
>