Miguel wrote:

<I ordered a set of Pirelli P400 non reinforced for my 89 Wolfsburg Ed.
So far I'm happy with the way the feel and handle in the rain. (75mph+)
Where I live on a hill my snow tires would start to spin as I turn the
corner, and the P400's don't.>

Are these the reputed "Super Touring" tires?
If they are, I hope you get better service out of them than I did on my '87
GL.
Mine flat wore-out at 25,000 miles - tread evenly worn down to the TWI's on
all 4 tires.
This was in spite of the fact that they were rotated at 3,000 mi intervals as
speced by Pirelli.
I could almost have lived with the short milage life (this being a heavy
vehicle and all) but along the way to wearing-out they were LOUD on the road
and were the worse tires for 'taking a set' of anything I have seen except for
a racing tire.
In the Winter, I would have to drive 10 - 15 mi to warm the tires up enough
that they would be round.
IMHO there is no reason a modern, passenger-car tire should be built this way.
You're right though, I never had a traction problem with them.

So far, the best tires I've used on a Vanagon (non-Westy) are the Kelly Metric
Radials.
I have the factory alloys and the Kelly's in a 205/70R-14 lasted me 50,000 mi.
I got so pissed about the Pirelli's (at $80.00/tire) that I now have a shiney,
new set of Pep Boy's finest radials mounted ($139.00 for a set of 4) - we'll
see how they do.
I figured that they couldn't be any worse that the Pirelli's and so far I'm
right!

Sam Bateman
Fork Union, VA
'87 Vanagon GL