Ok, here are the numbers from Road & Track June 1985 for a standard
waterboxer (1.9L):

BRAKES
Minimum stopping distances, ft:
From 60 mph ............... 178
From 80 mph ............... 297
Overall brake rating .... very good

Ok, so from 60 to 0 is 178 feet, 80 to 0 is 297, sounds to me like the 70 to
0 should be around 250 ft.  If you'd like to verify these numbers go to:
http://www.tiu.net/~des/vw/reports/83bus.html .

Here's another form an 80 Vanagon:
BRAKES Minimum stopping distances, ft: Control in panic stop ... excellent
From 60 mph ............... 164 Pedal effort for 0.5g stop, lb.. 28
There were no 80 mph numbers, guess  it didn't go 80?  Anyway these numbers
can be found at: http://www.tiu.net/~des/vw/reports/80bus.html

Oh, look, an 86 Syncro, now these are impressive numbers:

BRAKING
70-0 mph @ impending lockup ...... 191 ft
Modulation ....................... excellent
Fade ............................. none
Front-rear balance ............... good

191 ft?  Yeah, the 86's have the new(er) caliper design and it's a syncro,
what do you think a 2WD does??  If Lawrence describes his brakes as poor
what more could you want????  These figures can be found at
http://www.tiu.net/~des/vw/reports/synchro.html  (yes, there  is an h in
SyncHro, maybe these special H Syncro's have better brakes?)

: )  <---Me happily gloating about my Vanagon, and it's brakes.

Dave Filcoff     ICQ: 4146736
coolbus@v-dub.musa.com
87 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg (129k)
88 Fox GL (148k)
St. Louis / Columbia, MO
LiMBO - Gateway VW Club - VWoA VW Club - Der Busbezitzer Gruppe

volkswagens! Vanagons to GTIs.
http://v-dub.musa.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence Johnson <ljohnson@halhinet.on.ca>
To: Multiple recipients of list <vanagon@vanagon.com>; Dave
<dave@v-dub.musa.com>
Date: Saturday, June 27, 1998 7:58 AM
Subject: Re: Vanagon Safety - Stopping Distance?

>Fellow Listees, who knows how fast the Vanagon stops?
>
>Dave Filcoff says "Back to the brakes, if memory serves Car and Driver's
>standard 2WD Vanagon non-Westy stopped 70 to 0 mph in 201 ft, I think it
was
>around '85 or so."
>
>I checked with an old copy (Mar 1992) of Road and Track. They quote
stopping
>distances from 80 mph. I used the (70^2/80^2) ratio to calculate 70 mph
>distances for a few vehicles:
>
>1992 Road and Track   80 to 0 mph   70 to 0 mph
>
>Infiniti Q45                      253 ft         194 ft
>Mercedes 500SL             256 ft         196 ft
>Toyota MR2 Turbo         254 ft         194 ft
>VW Corrado G60            266 ft         204 ft
>Volvo 940 Turbo             256 ft         196 ft
>
>I find it hard to believe that the Vanagon is in this league.
>
>Larry
>
>