What's wrong with the turbo diesel? I always though that the vanagon normal gas engines consumed a lot, the diesel consumed little, but had poor performance, and finally the turbo diesel were the right compromise between these two. Isn't so?
Ant
Erik Meltzer wrote in this friggin' newsgroup:
So I've finally decided to get a VW and I'd really like to go diesel... does anyone know what Bus/Camper/Transporter/Kombi models came with diesel engines? How easy is it to convert a gas Bus to diesel?
An help would be appreciated...
BTW, if anyone wants to trade a working diesel Bus with a good body and no rust for a 1992 Plymouth Voyager in perfect working condition with AC that doesn't have any back seats and has a few spots of paint missing on the hood, let me know. :)
Diesels were optionally available from 1981 on in the Vanagon. Converting an existing Vanagon with water-cooled petrol engine to a Diesel is probably rather straightforward if you have a Diesel Vanagon parts car to work with. Aircooled Vanagons and Baywindows also need a Diesel Vanagon parts car, and quite a bit more work. In case of the Bay, *lots* more work.
My pal, who did this to his Baywindow, says that if you have both cars side-by-side on a lift each, you need about a week to combine them into a Diesel Baywindow if you hurry but don't huddle.
My advice would be that if you can live with a Vanagon, get one that's been a Diesel from day one, and avoid the Turbo Diesel unless you absolutely do need the performance. Airhowlingly yours, Erik.
While it does offer nice performance and good mileage, from what I see around me it seems not to last so well. Turbos, exhausts, heads, coolant hoses, it all fails rather frequently. Or so it seems. Might be just a streak of bad luck that my pals with their Turbo Diesels are going through.
Also, the 1600, 70 bhp Turbo Diesel isn't that much faster than the 1700, 65 bhp non-Turbo Diesel that the last years of Diesel Vanagon got. Of course, it is possible to put later 1900 Turbo Diesels or even TDIs in a Vanagon too (or even in a Bay as well), but that's still more work (and cost) than with the smaller ones.
If I ever decide to build me a Diesel Baywindow, it will have the 1700, 65 bhp normally aspirated Diesel. But then, for me this is not about going faster, but about pulling more and paying less.
Airhowlingly yours (and the aircooled ones won't go away if the Diesel ever becomes a reality!), Erik.
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