I needed some tires before our trek this past weekend, so I hit up Les Schwab and got these:
for as aggressive as they appear, they were amazingly quiet on the highway.
they are Maxxis MA-751 Bravo Series in size 27X8.50R14
ive ran both the 195r14 and these 27x8.50R14's on my Vanagon and couldn't determine any difference in head temps or climbing ability in the hills, so I stuck with them even though I know some say oversized tires is a huge no-no.
In one mile:
185R14 turn about 811 times
195R14 turn about 791.4 times
8.5 x27 turn about 772 times
There seems to be some confusion over the gearing of the air-cooled Vanagon and the baywindow busses.
From the researching I have done, the difference in 4th gear between the late bay and the air-cooled Vanagon:
76-79 4th is .89
80-83 4th is .85
4th gear x final drive on a bay is 4.07 to 1;
on a Vanagon it is 3.88 to 1
at any rate, they worked well on the highway, felt very easy to turn and corner with in the city, and performed great in the loose gravel roads along the coast - though I bet I would have felt the same about any new tired I put on, so it's hard to say how they would compare to brand new tires of another brand/type.