HI Dan and others,

        I’m also in the process of making this decision. 

        I’ve been working with Dennis to come up with a best answer for my 85 Westfalia. 

In my case I’ve settled on a GW 2.3.style engine with about 114 HP. 

        I’ll still have my transmission rebuilt to match the engine.  
 Part of the decision for me is that this provides a reasonable increase in HP but not so much as to over stress the original engineering of the van. 

I hope to report back on the updates once the work is completed. 

        I sort of feel like this upgrade gives my vanagon the power it should have originally had but not so much that I’m over stressing the over all systems.

Eric Caron 
85 Westfalia 

	

> On Nov 9, 2019, at 11:51 AM, Sudhir Desai <sudhir.desai@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> I would qualify that with a "depends how you drive".
> I have seen transaxles destroyed by the power of the original 1.9l engine
> because of repeated clutch drops and bad shifting.
> 
> Regards,
> Sudhir
> 
> On Sat, Nov 9, 2019 at 11:50 AM Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I'd guess about 150, max.  Depends on too many variables to give a set
>> answer.  It's really torque that breaks gears and bearings...
>> 
>> On Sat, Nov 9, 2019, 8:42 AM Dan N <dn92610@gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> hi all,
>>> 
>>> there are many talks regarding horse power for a vanagon and there are
>>> different opinions out there and none conclusive... and since I am in the
>>> process of choosing an engine for my van, could anyone educate me on this
>>> question...
>>> 
>>> - what's a safe upper margin amount of horse power for a vanagon NOT
>>> detrimental to the transaxle.
>>> 
>>> thanks in advance
>>> 
>>> dan
>>> 
>>