Re: Diesal (sp?)

["Warburton, William" <William.Warburton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,
    It's "diesel", BTW.

 I dunno when (if?) they were available in the US, but VW built 1600cc diesel
versions of the "Vanagon" (It was just called Transporter in Europe) in the
early eighties. I think the first one came out in the UK in about 1981, they
might have been available on the continent earlier than that.
 For the first few years they were "normally aspirated", ie not turbocharged,
this means they get the best fuel economy you'll see in a rear engined VW
transporter but they come close to redefining the term "slow" :-)
 Basically, the diesel is a straight swap from the Golf (etc) and makes about
50 bhp. About the same as an upright 1600cc, but in a bigger, heavier and
less aerodynamic body than a '71 bus.
 After a couple of years they started fitting them with turbochargers and
the output rose to something a bit more user friendly.

 Don't get me wrong- the early diesels arn't bad vans by any means- you
just need to be aware of the limitations that the powerplant imposes-
it will be fine in the city and cruise OK but acceleration is measured
in minutes rather than seconds...

 I would guess that the Vanagon list would be more useful for information
on these vehicles- the expertise on this list is more focussed on the 
aircooled engines, whereas those guys like their engines wet inside, and
generally have more experience with the Vanagon bodyshell.
Cheers,
        W.