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That is a good point. I remember when I went snow camping with my dad
and he had his stock 1973 bus, and I had a somewhat modified Volvo
245 rally car. His bus did much better, and could drive in snow over
a foot deep. He even towed out some 4WD and FWD vehicles. I just
don't want this to happen again:
http://web.science.oregonstate.edu/~backmant/volvobaja.jpg
That is me in my Volvo 740 Turbo in the middle of the desert in Baja
last march. It was going along fine until the sand suddenly got soft,
and the car sunk up to the frame in sand. If we didn't find and old
pallet do disassemble and drive on 3 feet at a time, I would have had
to hitchike home 2500 miles sans all of my equipment and an otherwise
excellent car. We had a winch, chains, and redneck traction control
(using the parking brake to control tire slip). There was nothing to
hook a winch to, and the chains just dug it in faster :-& Yes, I know
I am insane for taking a 2WD wagon out there...
Tyler
On Dec 3, 2006, at 8:14 AM, Dan Weeks wrote:
I have a Vanagon Westfalia with a 1.6TD engine and the higher-geared
DK code transmission from an aircooled vanagon. It's a great vehicle.
The ultimate vanagon for your purposes is probably a Syncro with a
mechanical-pump TDI, although that runs into quite a bit of money.
I have found that the 2WD version is quite capable for limited
off-road, and certainly very rough-road use. I've forded 18"
boulder-strewn streams with mine that have had modified Jeep
Wranglers shifting into 4WD low and reaching for their locker
switches without any problems at all--much to the astonishment of the
Jeepers. The approach, departure, and breakover angles of even the
2WD version are quite good, and the skinny tires and rear engine
provides quite good traction for a 2WD vehicle. As long as you can
keep the speed up to where you're getting boost in 1st gear, it's got
adequate torque as well--and tire chains turn the thing into a
veritable tractor. The only time you'd really need a syncro is if you
were doing serious off-roading, when the lockers and crawing gear
would be needed. But for getting to skislopes and traveling on most
3rd-world roads, a 2wd vanagon is plenty. I just got back from
Mexico, where bay-style VW busses with inline-4 VW engines are
ubiquitous, and do lots of back-country service. No 4WD.
dan
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