Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 11:04:41 -0500
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Subject: Re: Snowstorm hits the Mid-Atlantic
In-Reply-To: <4E5F7B79-4220-11D7-B201-00039398EEBC@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
I was heading from New York to Florida and I ended up driving through
that mess in Virginia. The Syncro handled it with ease. It is amazing
how many cars and SUV's made it into the ditches and trees on the side
of the road. I am now in Florida, the FUN BUS turning 198,400 miles,
original engine and head gaskets.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of Kim Brennan
Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2003 9:34 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Snowstorm hits the Mid-Atlantic
WhoHa!
So, the GoldBrick has the 15" wheels (Rhein) and 215/75R15 BFG A/T's.
Real Snow capable tires. It also has the Tiico engine to go along with
the Syncro drive train. Being an 86, (first year Syncro) the GoldBrick
also sits up higher than just about anything else out there on the Road
today. Hummer included.
So I took it out in the snow today (about 18 inches on the ground
during my afternoon jaunt.) I've got about 14 inches (estimated) of
ground clearence. This is plenty for most snows encountered in the Mid
Atlantic area. Today I got to see how (or if) it could handle something
deeper. Most of the roads were already plowed at least once, so it was
really only a matter of surfing the ruts in the snow. Fun but not what
I was looking for.
I headed out of my neighborhood (Tyson's Corner, Virginia, if you know
the DC area) and headed west to visit some friends (making sure that
they didn't need anything or need to get anywhere.) Their neighborhood
had not been plowed. 17 inches of snow. A few other vehicles had
traveled the road which made it a bit like swimming in heavy surf. Van
was tossed a bit, but handled it with ease.
Then I headed over to another friend's place. His driveway was
unplowed, unshoveled and completely untouched. This was a challenge as
the GoldBrick was bottoming out in the snow and getting dragged to a
halt as the snow piled up in front of it (I was going up hill). I
backed up and got a running start and plowed a bit further. Backed up
again and finally made it to the top.
And the snow is continuing to fall. I think 18 inches is about as much
as the Gold Brick can handle without more weight on board. Maybe I'll
consider some way to hook up the snow plow from my ATV to it. I'll need
it in about 20 years to the next snow storm of comparable depth in this
area....
BTW, I did see a few people out on the road that still haven't learned
that you just don't go fast in snow. They were still trying to figure
out how to get those jeeps out of the ditches. I never went faster than
30 mph, most times only about 25, except going downhill I'd slow it
down even more.
I love how neutral the Vanagon is when you slam on the brakes. Comes to
a complete straight stop (I did this to make sure I knew how it would
handle in a panic situation before I got out of by immediate
neighborhood.)
Crank up the heat and it was quite comfortable inside. I had to make
sure to NOT direct heat to the windshield as otherwise the snow melts
on the outside and then refreezes to the windshield wipers...not a good
idea for maintaining visibility. I had forgotten this knowledge since
it had been so long since a really major storm was in this area.
I saw a number of SUVs, two subarus, one car and one hummer (h2) on the
road. In additon, that is, to all the snowploughs and snowplow carrying
pickups.
After getting back to the house the beef stew I whipped up tasted
mighty fine. At last check I believe there was about 22 inches of snow
on my front porch.
