Hacker News Reader

Yeah, I couldn't remember the curb weight off the top of my head, but I did remember the 5k gross. It still describes a very sturdy, solid one and a half ton truck with a one ton capacity frame and suspension...powered by a 80-90 hp gas (or 52 hp!!) diesel motor. :-)

Had there been the Oettinger flat-six available in US-market transporters from the beginning, perhaps the minivan market would've turned out a little different....

View on HN

Had there been the Oettinger flat-six available in US-market transporters from the beginning, perhaps the minivan market would've turned out a little different....

Wanna know why inline fours bolt up so nicely in Vanagons? Because VW originally intended to put an inline in them. I mean, do you really think VW wanted a an air-cooled engine with friggin' ignition points in a 1980 model? And an anemic, decades-old engine design in a 4000lb. (in the case of our Westfalia) vehicle?

Had VW not done their usual (IMO) half-assed planning and design, it might have been different. But then they wouldn't be VW, would they? :-)

I've got the 52hp diesel Vanagon camper weighing over 4,500 in my garage. Freeway performance is..... underwhelming.

67bhp in our '81 Westy. I view keeping the speed limit on any incline to be a victory. You diesel owners I view as masochists. :-)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com