I also have been perplexed by the same issue.  The manual says to stay in
the green.  On my 87 Westy that is between 2 and 4k rpm.  Europeans would
rather sacrifice an engine to save gas in the long run because gas is so
expensive.  In my van it seems that in order for the next higher gear to
start around 2k, you definitely need to be shifting around 3500 or higher.
Otherwise the next higher gear will be between 1.5 and 2k.  However, I can't
say that I do this consistently because it is so hard to let myself rev the
engine that high in the lower gears.  Does anyone have any reassurances or
other comments?
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>:-)
Phillip Bouton
-----Original Message-----
From:   Jarod Bishop [mailto:jbishop01@FOXINTERNET.NET]
Sent:   Thursday, November 19, 1998 7:38 PM
To:     vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Subject:        simple engine RPM question

I recently bought an '87 Syncro.  Having never owned a VW, I'm not used to
running the engine at a higher RPM rate like people have told me.

The speed seems to max out at around 3500 but I give some more gas and get
it past 4k before shifting, but I've heard you should go atleast 4.5k or
5k.  I was hoping to get input on what others typically run their vans at
before shifting up.

Thanks

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