New to List - have questions...

[jklun at earthlink.net (Klun John)]

Hi all!

I'm new to the list having just purchased an 84 'rocco from our VW mechanic.  We have a 1986 Jetta (bought new) with about 400+K miles on it (we're retiring it in March) and an 84 Vanagon GL bought from our wrench 3 + years ago.  Bob- see below- rebuilt the 1.9l Vanagon engine using real German bearings and sodium-filled valves.  The Vanagon is my daily driver (100 miles R/T) and she runs smooth and fast for a waterboxer.  My mpg with the stock 4-speed tranny is 23-25 in the summer and 20-23 in the winter from a 16 gal tank.  By the way, our mechanic's name and address are (shameless promo for a fantastic mechanic):

Bob Birkholz
Grand Mesa Imports
1526 Hwy 50
Delta, CO 81416
Tel:  970-874-5794
E-mail:  gmi@doci.net

The rocco is an 84 MKII I guess.  My wife looooooves it and it's her daily driver!  Bob replaced the original engine (had over 200K miles on it) with an '85 Jetta that had 100+K miles.  Everything else seems stock.

The question:

I went looking through the 84 specs on the .org website and gas mileage is supposed to be around 36.  Rocky is getting 28-29mpg and with a 10 gal tank, it doesn't give us much range.  I noticed that the transmission gearing is a little different from our Jetta's (which has a 14 gal tank and gets 35-37mpg) with it's gearing set up.  Would the Jetta's 5-speed with its gearing get me the better mpg in the rocco?  I realize we would miss the 'instant' response of the rocco gearbox but the Jetta's was no slouch either in her heyday.  I notice the tach reads 3800 at around 65-70mph whereas the Jetta's was at 2800-3000 for the same speed.

Any Ideas?

John Klun