1981 Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel in Arizona for sale

[Crazyrabbit]

I hate to do this, but I have posted my treasured 1981 VW Rabbit Diesel on the Phoenix, AZ Craigslist: 1981 VW Rabbit Diesel

It is really pretty darn easy to get ~50 mpg in town, and over 60 on a trip with this car. The modifications are pretty minor but they add up to a car that gets better than EPA, and is much faster than stock. The exhaust system cleaned up the emissions so much, you could crank up the max fuel flow stop, and make it much faster, and still pass emissions.

Based on e-Bay sold prices, the car is priced to sell. Hopefully, someone mechanically inclined, and familiar with the VW 1.6 NA IDI engine will buy it.

I had a number of things planned for it I never got around to. I am pretty sure with some more work, it could be a 75 MPG car.

[Xist]

Ha!

The clock is accurate twice a day.

I am not familiar with that engine, although I know Tempe decently. I live by ASU. If I had that kind of money, I am not sure I would still live with students.

Why does it have a second fuel tank?

I hope you are able to find a good buyer. Good luck!

[Crazyrabbit]

With the second tank you can buy fuel when it is cheap, and not need to buy it again for a long time. Gas in Tempe is $1.36 now, if Diesel gets down there, I'll fill both tanks. Or if you are traveling, you can go ~1,000 miles between fill-ups.

[Xist]

I keep not expecting gas to go down much further, but it does. Why am I hypermiling as hard as I can?

[Crazyrabbit]

Well, if you are like me, you just want to see OPEC declare bankruptcy. Energy efficiency isn't the only thing, it is everything.

[Xist]

There is not a meaningful way to measure how much I pollute. I made XYZ changes to my car? How did that effect emissions? Less gas does not necessarily mean reduced pollution, but at least there is less pollution between the pump and the well.

[Crazyrabbit]

With a gasoline spark ignition engine you are right, you can improve MPG's and upset the emission controls and end up with more NOX especially. If you remove the equipment for the emission test, you are right you may not know, unless you have your own exhaust gas tester. With the changes I did to the Diesel, I left them in place for the emissions test. The emissions were so low they couldn't believe it, and it took a lot of extra time to get through the test as they were looking up whether it should have had a cat. etc.

[TedV]

Originally Posted by Crazyrabbit

The emissions were so low they couldn't believe it, and it took a lot of extra time to get through the test as they were looking up whether it should have had a cat. etc.

with a 1981 Diesel Rabbit, there should be a sticker in the door jamb that states "non-catalyst" or maybe that happened for a few years later.

Nice ride

[Crazyrabbit]

Yes, it has that sticker. The emissions folk only found it after pawing through their thick manual, and not believing it. Then they found the sticker, and were like "oh yeah, no it does not need a cat". It was fun to see how blown away they were with the low emissions, but honestly until you get a passed certificate, your time at the emissions station is not time pleasantly spent. And more is not as good as less.