Q: vanagon looses speed uphill

Keeping up with the tune up and maintenance on any vehicle is paramount, when it comes to maintaining the performance on any vehicle. With that being said, you must also take into consideration that a 1991 Volkswagen Vanagon with a 2.1 liter four cylinder came out of the factory with a 90 horsepower rating, and 117 foot pounds of torque. That’s not a whole lot of power for any vehicle, and when you combine that with the fact that the base vehicle weighs in at a hefty 3460 pounds, and the fact that it has almost 160,000 miles on it, it honestly sounds like it may be doing pretty well. You’ve got to figure that if it were to lose just 30 percent of its performance, which is on the low side, you would be down to 60 horsepower, and about 90 foot pounds of torque. To be sure that you are getting all that the vehicle has to offer, keeping up with the maintenance and tune up items are going to be your best best, short of a rebuild.