Actually, old VWs weren't good - Saab General Bulletin Board - Saabnet.com
The banner above is an advertisment - if it asks you to download software, please ignore.
Site News - 4/9 Saab Owners' Convention Day Pass Raffle | 3/26 M Car Covers (by State of Nine)
[General | Members | C900 | 9000 | NG900 & OG93 | 93 | 95 | NG95 | 99 | Sonett | Vintage Models | Clubs | Other Cars | FAQs | Gifts | Member Photo Galleries | Member Directory | Classifieds | Manuals | *Buddy Registry | *Mileage Registry | Polls | What's New | Raffle | Photo of the Month | Sponsors]

General Bulletin Board
[Subscribe to Daily Digest]
(Search Author's Posts: e.g. Keyword:username)*Members Only

[Main General Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Actually, old VWs weren't good
Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board
Posted by Ari [Email] (#2847) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Ari) on Sat, 3 Jan 2009 07:49:23 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: Re: So... what makes a good snow car?, No Snaab, Sat, 3 Jan 2009 06:54:55
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

Having owned a few.

Here's three problems with the old air-cooled VWs-
(1) No heat. Defrosting was a real problem. Assuming the heat exchangers off the exhaust weren't rotted, and the cables hadn't seized, you would get just a little heat. But once the levers stuck and the exchangers developed holes, you got no heat.

(2) No weight over the front wheels. With little weight over the fronts, the front end would get pushed around by the snow. The front wheels were more like rudders than wheels. A couple of inches of snow would lift the tires from the road and push them around. Changing lanes when there were snow piles between the lanes was a real white-knuckle affair.

(3) Too much weight hanging out back. Brakes? Don't use them - engine braking only. If the fronts did grab, the rear end would pass you in a second.

No heat, no defrosting, a front end that would get pushed around by three flakes of snow and a rear-end that wanted to pass on dry roads, much less snow. No, I don't miss the old VWs.

Yes, you did get traction - see my note below about traction. Be careful what you ask for - you could get moving, but once moving, the steering wheel was just a suggestion box.

posted by 76.221.218...

Posts in this Thread:
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Post a Followup

No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.

Name: Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
E-Mail: (Optional)
Re-Enter E-Mail: (Confidential & Secure - Not revealed to other users!)
Note: Please check your spam folder for BB responses.

Subject:

Posting rules are simple - No for sale/wanted ads may be posted here - use the site classifieds.
You may not cross-post your message to multiple BBs.
Not permitted: political/religious topics and being disrespectful (personal attacks, insults, etc...).
 Site Members do not see any red text, inline ad links, bottom of page anchor ads, box ads, or anti-spam check.

Message: (please no for sale/wanted classifieds - post those in the Saabnet.com Classifieds)
Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).

Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post above, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).
Optional Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/)
Link Title: (Optional)
Optional Photo/Image Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/img.jpg)
Photo/Image to Upload: (Please be patient while file uploads)



StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2024 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]

Random Saabnet.com Member Gallery Photos (Click Image)
This is a moderated bulletin board - Posting is a privilege, not a right. Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY. Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages. This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes type of forum. Saabnet.com has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the Saabnet.com Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are not anonymous. Site Contact | Site Donations | Other Sites by SP - Poverty2Prosperity.org | Run Club Menlo Park | ScreenBot


Site Members do not see red text instructions, bottom of the page anchor ads, or box ads.
Click here to see all the Site Membership Benefits!