Rabbit vs. Chevette

[BrianAbington]

there's always a way around that.

[ShadeTreeMech]

vee dub all the way. IIRC, the chevette was made for fewer years, and the rabbit remained the same for centuries, so replacement parts are easier to find.

And Germans tend to be a bit more interested in quality than Detroit was in the 70s and 80s

[BrianAbington]

I found the article about the car that diesel power wrote...it said the chevette was not even offered with A/C as an option because the engine was not powerful enough to spin an compressor and keep the car moving.

I still find it interesting because it is RWD...I like the prospect that has for future mods.

[bestclimb]

That rabbit will take parts all the way up to the 92moddle year. A1 and A2s are very similar as far as engine and tranny go. You also have jetta and caddy to rob parts from. I know a RWD is much funner, but in any inclimate weather the front wheel drive will beat the pants off the RWD any day. I get 42mpg in my 85 jetta driving it like I stole it during winter. The heat the heater puts out is epic for a small car.

The VW diesel is based off a vw gasser. In some applications this concept has not worked out well, in others it seems to be ok. VW seems to have made it work. Mine has 200000+ and still makes power(such as it is).

The Isuzu diesel is a good little rig, I think they were in pups and chevy luvs so parts may not be too hard to find.

[BrianAbington]

I'm not to concerned about parts...I don't often buy used parts for things that are critical to the operation of the vehicle. If I need any body parts there are no rabbits in junkyards out here so both cars will be equally hard to find used body parts for.

I've been reading about the chevette's and it seems that everyone who has ever ridden in one was scared to death to be in it, and every one who owned one loved it and got close to 500,000 miles our of it before giving it away to someone who needed a car.

I am still intrigued by the possibility of what can be done with this car because it is RWD.

[robchalmers]

other than drifting, what can be done with a RWD car that you can't witha FWD??

[bestclimb]

Engine swaps are less of a hassle.

[BrianAbington]

Rear Gear swaps as well

Also I like RWD for manual transmissions because the shifter is directly in the transmision and not connected to a bunch of cables or linkages.

Just weighing the pros and cons.

[Ryland]

It's not so much finding used parts, altho used parts are nice at times, but finding new parts, call your auto parts store and ask them about a starter and alternator for each, glow plugs.
You might even have a hard time finding tires for either car.

[roflwaffle]

Aren't 155/85R13s still pretty common?