I would tend to disagree. With its original tires, my vanagon had poor
traction in the snow, adding snow tires with a very aggressive tread
improved it considerably.  With the added ground clearance I was able to
get through fairly deep snow during our last blizzard and a very bad
storm last year. While others got stranded the old "Battle Bus"  was
able to get through. Note that I do have a camper and that does add
weight.

Tim Fast
88 Westy (The Battle Bus)
West Des Moines, IA

-----Original Message-----
Date:    Mon, 23 Mar 1998 09:02:30 -0800
From:    "sh@interlog.com" <sh@INTERLOG.COM>
Subject: Poor Traction

We've only been out in the recently acquired bus (82 Westfalia) a couple
of
times on slippery, snowy roads.  While I knew that any van, and
especially
VW vans, handle more poorly than regular cars, I was surprised at how
bad
it really is.  The slightest glaze on the road, and the van wheels start
spinning.  It regularily gets stuck simply parked on the snowy street in
front of the house.  Yesterday, at Albion Hills conservation area, the
VW
was spinning its wheels on several grades that other vehicles had no
problems with.

Tires (not snow tires) are in reasonable shape.  Is this typical of
Vanagons?