David Marshall wrote:

> I will put money on Bj�rn's TDI (to be) winning a race against your 1.8L or
> my 2.0L gasoline powered Vanagon.  Torque is where the TDI has a *BIG*
> advantage.  There is only a few FT/Lb less torque on the TDI as there is on
> the VR6 plus the torque peek is at 149@1900RPM where the 1.8L is 110@3200
> and my 2.0L is 135@2600.

Would you agree there is a difference between performance on paper and
real-life driving? I've always thought so. I've driven a TDI Jetta and
while it's a truly remarkable vehicle, I wouldn't put it even close to
the VR6 in terms of "kick". I've always seen huge differences between
how a car runs and how it should run. For instance, Mazda Rotary
engines. If I announced on the list that I was going to install a RX7
engine in my van everyone would be screaming "no low end torque",
"that's a high RPM engine". I've met a guy in Columbus that installed
rotary's in just about everything he owned, a bus, Vanagon, Ghia. I rode
in the Vanagon and it was nice. You tell him his van is slow, if you can
catch up to him.

I don't want you guys to totally misunderstand me so I'm going to come
clean. I don't believe the performance figures of ANY auto manufacturer.
Would VW have any incentive to show a higher performance stat for their
engines? You bet your bubble block! I'm not saying they're lying,
cheating, stealing... I just wouldn't bet the farm that what is
published is proof.

I'm just sore because a couple months ago some jerk (from the list, but
not anyone in the current discussion) was telling me how slow my van was
"just HAD to be" and there was no way I could get more than 16mpg from
my setup. He probably got all his "proof" from David's site :) I told
him to go change his head gaskets and haven't seen him since :)

After Bj�rn finishes his van let's all get together and race, say in
Vegas. I'll concede he'll probably beat me, but there is no way he would
beat your 2.0L crew cab. Nah-way!

(I am kind of kidding about all this racing stuff:)

Has anyone offically done a TDI conversion? Will Bj�rn be the first?
Cool!

_______________________
Erik O        Akron, Oh
82 GTI Westfalia
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