Neat story by Patrick Flohe, just as I received it:
Just thought I'd submit my entry here..... I just ran across this site
today! I had two diesel Chevettes that I never should have gotten rid
of, but I am 6'3" tall, and not small. There was an '82, and it was an
automatic four-door car. It was a good and reliable car, but was more
tired, and gave me less fuel mileage..... The better one by far, was my
'83 two door...... It was a five-speed car, and I checked it three
times minimum on a trip to Michigan and back (from Seattle, in 1995),
getting 54.5, 54.4, and 54.6 mpg!!! I thought all diesel Chevettes
got
that kind of mileage! At one point I pulled into a rest stop in
Minnesota during a blizzard, pointed the tailpipe so that the wind
would carry away the exhaust, and the front-end wouldn't get all
plugged up with snow & ice, and let it run all night long. I got up,
went into the rest stop to get ready for the continuation of my
journey, and headed back down the road. A little ways further, there
was NO snow, and I filled up at a service station, noting that I still
got over 19 mpg, even with all of that running in a stationary spot!
I would also like to note that prior to this "incident" on the same
trip heading East, I traversed the entire State of South Dakota in a
blizzard with extremely poor conditions, following trucks with my
rear-wheeled-drive Chevette that was too small for the ruts left by
those trucks, and blazing my own trail in other places..... -All the
while passing stuck front-wheeled drive vehicles, but finally getting
stuck on an off-ramp at Murdo? -The snow on that off ramp was at least
two feet deep, and I was pulled out by a 4x4 after two or three hours
of patiently waiting. I got stuck again on the overpass just "blocks"
from the truck stop. The irritated local who pulled me out the first
time showed up again hours later to pull me out again, asking me WHY I
didn't go straight to the truck stop (straight ahead and in our view)
as I had been told???!!!!??? I explained that I would have lost the
fight with the oncoming snow plow, and elected to go for the large snow
drift instead. After rescuing me once again, I indeed went straight to
that truck stop, and hung out there. Somewhere, I have some pictures of
that car in a couple of these situations, and maybe I'll forward them
to you if you are interested. My theory on how I was able to go so far
in such conditions is that the front suspension and engine, heck, even
the floor pans were carrying the car up front on the snow.----A
front-wheel drive car could never have done this, and had I never
gotten off of the Interstate, probably would never have gotten stuck at
all. But hey, you gotta go potty sometime, and eat too. Helping me were
the tires, etc. in the back of the car, as I had stopped at a
gas-station and put on the studded snows when the snow first started
flying. The normal radials were in the back, providing me with some
extra weight for traction. WHY DID I EVER SELL THOSE CARS??? Is there
anyone out there who can sell me one of these little beasties??? I am
going to be laid off in about 60 days, and could really use that fuel
economy, and don't really want anything else!
By the way, I had the dealer replace the timing belt as it was overdue,
but the mileage never seemed as good after that. I was never able to
take the time to drive it long enough on the highway to check the
mileage before I sold it, as it takes alot of time & distance to use
that much fuel. I had never checked the mileage around town, or a with
a mix of city/hwy driving.
Patrick Flohe
Port Angeles, WA