I have found that tires make all the difference.  We had an 81 Vanagon L
prior to our 87 Vanagon GL, the 81 was excellent in the snow with it's
185/75 Continental 4 season tires.  We did have to use chains on the
rear tires while going up pikes peak in a snow storm, but it made it.
Our 87 was absolutely terrible in the snow and rain with the stock
205/70 Michelin MXL (I think they were MXL's, what ever the OE tire
is).  When they were replaced with 205/70 Goodyear Invicta GL's the snow
traction was greatly improved.  Although the wet weather, i.e. rain,
starting traction was still not so great, compared to my current tires,
it was still a big improvement. Wet weather cornering was never a
problem.  I currently have 205/70 Michelin MX4 RainForce tires which are
fantastic.  They are great in the snow, excellent in the rain and the
quietest tire yet.  I would highly recommend them, they are worth the
extra money.  FYI Michelin does sell a MX4 in addition to the MX4
RainForce, it has a slightly different tread pattern, but it's easy to
tell the difference, the RainForce's say "RainForce" in 2" letters on
the sidewall.

Dave Filcoff            dave@v-dub.musa.com
Volkswagens!            http://v-dub.musa.com
------------------------------------------------------
87 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Weekender (129k)
88 Fox GL 4 door (151k)
90 Associated RC10 Team Car, Aluminum
95 Specialized Stumpjumper M2 FS
------------------------------------------------------
St. Louis / Columbia, MO
LiMBO - Gateway VW Club - VWoA VW Club - Der Busbezitzer Gruppe

>My experience has been that my '85 is terrible in snow.  Power seems to
go
>to the wheel that slips, not the wheel that grips!!  Actually, one
night
>while scanning boring web sites I came across the US trade commission
site
>and found many complaints filed against VW for "poor wet weather
traction".
>Anyway, a friend in Whitefish, MT.swears by her Vanagon - she puts four

>studded snows on it though.  They say tires make the difference.
>Mark
>