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Compare The Elio To 1980's Answer To Fuel Mileage

Smitty901

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The 1980 VW Rabbit diesel. Sold for about $5,800 I sat on park benches with better seats. When the alternator kicked in the car slowed down. The workmen ship was on par with a Yugo. But if you wanted 62 mile to the gallon (diesel) it would deliver. It was a simple low tech car that most could keep running. The shifter bushings wore out fast but were easy to replace I think it was a 1.6 litter 51HP diesel, tiny but it held up well. 0-60 in a couple minutes. I don't think it would hit 100 mph down hill. My lawn tractor had bigger tires on it. Still not bad for 1980. Fast forward. 2015 . ELIO seems to have good seats 0-60 pretty snappy for a small engine. 50 to around 84 MPG predicted top speed seems to be 100-106 from what I read. The design and workmen ship seems to be pretty darn good .Price $6,800 and up, $1000 difference over 35 years not bad ELIO. When you compare a car that came on the market in 1980 and was sold as away to save fuel to the ELIO of tomorrow ELIO has made one heck of a leap at a very reasonable price.
 

Gas-Powered Awesome

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Having worked on Rabbits in the 80's, the workmanship was pretty good. In no way comparable to a Yugo. They were nearly impossible to kill, but they did have electrical problems. Fortunately diesels don't need electricity to run. :D

The worst part of the Rabbit diesel was the vibration. It would shake your teeth loose. And it's published top speed was 83 MPH, still faster than any legal speed then or now. But it did get outstanding mileage, even on the filthy bunker fuel sludge they called "diesel" back in the 80's. All the "problem" diesel cars back in the '80's? They didn't have any problems, it was the horrible fuel.

As for Elio's workmanship, we haven't seen a production Elio yet so how can we possibly say if it's good or bad? I'm hoping for good, but even if it is on-par with a Yugo, it should be simple enough to make repairs and modifications to make it good enough, like a Yugo. Design is definitely great from everything I've seen so far.

In today's dollars, $5800 is $16,800. The 1980 diesel Rabbit stickered closer to $7500, equivalent to $21,700 today. Half what a Volt costs! The $6800 base for the Elio would have been $2350 in 1980.
 

carzes

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Having worked on Rabbits in the 80's, the workmanship was pretty good. In no way comparable to a Yugo. They were nearly impossible to kill, but they did have electrical problems. Fortunately diesels don't need electricity to run. :D

The worst part of the Rabbit diesel was the vibration. It would shake your teeth loose. And it's published top speed was 83 MPH, still faster than any legal speed then or now. But it did get outstanding mileage, even on the filthy bunker fuel sludge they called "diesel" back in the 80's. All the "problem" diesel cars back in the '80's? They didn't have any problems, it was the horrible fuel.

In today's dollars, $5800 is $16,800. The 1980 diesel Rabbit stickered closer to $7500, equivalent to $21,700 today. Half what a Volt costs! The $6800 base for the Elio would have been $2350 in 1980.
I dunno 'bout ALL of that. I had one and though it got Great mileage there were some problems, beginning with the way it burned through glow-plugs like they were cheap, which they weren't, and it took a miracle to get it to start in the cold. My favorite part was the way it would build up oil in the cylinders 'till it ignited and the car would take off like at full throtle blowing a big black cloud behind it until the oil burned out, then it was normal again. But aside from that it was built OK.
 

JEBar

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another 80's answer to mileage concerns was the Chevy Sprint ==>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Cultus<== ours had a 3 cylinder, 1L motor, manual tranny, that delivered 50+ mpg (interstate) in a 4 seat vehicle .... I've read reports where others good far better longevity than we did, well shy of 90,000 miles, the motor was done .... we literally had to add a quart of oil between gas fill-ups .... that is the last 3 cylinder motor we have owned in a car, have had several on boats .... I have to admit that when I learned EM was featuring a .9L 3 cylinder engine, I almost stopped looking

Jim
 

Smitty901

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I sltill thik a turbo diesel like the one in the Fiat "Idea" would be great in the Elio. Plenty of go, plenty of torque, and very efficient. Maybe in later editions.

Well maybe not the Fiat one but yes a small turbo diesel would offer even better mileage and power. However US EPA hates diesel. Any version would have so many restrictions on t it would almost be a waste of time. All the new equipment we get now with either diesel regeneration systems or the phony exhaust fuel setup have issues. And when one fails and it happens often it gets expensive.
 
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