Hey all,
For my '81 Vanagon (2.0L air-cooled) I have been diligently keeping
track of fill-ups with gallons bought and miles driven since 9/1/97.
I did an average of those numbers today, and the average miles per
gallon I get in my Vanagon:

A whopping 15.6 mpg.

The high for this period is 18.5 mpg; the low is 12.2 mpg.

Just a data point.

Of course it's worthy to note that most of this recording takes place in
the cooler months here in Virginia, and I've been doing a lot of letting
the van warm up before driving, and a lot of short-trip city driving in
cold weather.  Most of the instances where I've gotten halfway decent
driving are on highway trips.

Of course I carry lots of weight in my van all the time (tools, etc) and
have the tires inflated to VW spec, 33 psi front, 40 psi rear.

Just one more data point for everybody.
--
Sean Bartnik
Fredericksburg, Virginia
'81 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia
'74 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible
http://www.type2.com/bartnik/myvan.htm