Thanks to those of you who participated in the Vanagon MPG survey.  Here
are the results in summary form (You may have to clean up the table a
bit to suit your email package):
---------------------------------------------------------
Summary Results:  MPG
Automatics:     City    Highway
   Vans               17.5      19.5
   Westfalias   16.5    17.4

4 Speeds:       City    Highway
   Vans                17.4     22.4
   Westfalias   18.0    20.5

5 Speed Syncro 4WD  City        Highway
   Vans                 17.3    20.0
   Westfalias   12.0    17.9
---------------------------------------------------------
Summary Results:  L/100 Km
Automatics:     City    Highway
   Vans                 13.5    12.1
   Westfalias   14.3    13.8

4 Speeds:       City    Highway
   Vans                 14.0    10.7
   Westfalias   13.2    11.6

5 Speed Syncro 4WDCity  Highway
   Vans                   13.7  11.8
   Westfalias    19.6   13.3
-------------------------------------------------------
There were 28 usable responses:

# of vans in survey:    Vans    Westfalias
Automatics      2       4
4 speed manual  7       8
5 speed syncro 4WD      5       2
------------------------------------------------

All respondents were for gasoline engines.  One eurovan, one bus, one
response did not break out city & highway, and one response did not
include any MPG data; these were not included in the averages but are
reported with the raw data.

The results put numbers to common knowledge:  Automatic transmissions
consume more fuel that manual transmissions; 4WDs consume fuel more than
2WDs; heavier vans (Westfalias) consume more fuel.  I tried to report
the numbers in a way that allows each of us to compare 'our' van with
others of like kind.

We could all take driving lessons from Sudhir Desai's mother. Sudhir
reported 27 and 30 MPG (7.8 & 8.7L/100km)!  When I asked him about it,
he responded:
"my mom owned the van before i did, and kept it in perfect running
order, and she got 27 mpg averaging both engines the van had in it's
life. the 30mpg was her best effort with the first engine that was in
our van driving 900 miles to Gemantown, Tennessee."

We are all aware that averages, by their nature, aggregate disparate
information.  Many people noted differences in summer and winter driving
(I used mid-point #s in these cases); vans in Florida being compared to
vans in Alberta might not be fair; and we all have different driving
habits.  For those who find meaning in the numbers, I am glad to have
done the work.

I have been told by Ron Lussier that the raw data (including summary
results) will soon be available at www.vanagon.com.  When it is
available, (I assume) we will all be notified.

On a personal note, my motivation in doing the survey was to get the
numbers to compare the fuel consumption of my newly purchased Canadian
'91 Westfalia Syncro that is wearing a Weber 4 barrel CARBURETOR (it's a
long 'engine box fire' story).  In June, I plan on driving from Halifax
to Winnipeg and back, I'll report on my fuel consumption, gotta beat 27
mpg (let's see:  80 psi in the tires, 40 mph, hook up the propane tank
to the intake manifold....:-).......)

Malcolm Stebbins

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