[Vwdiesel] mileage woes

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

So now I'm looking at a total trip of between 320 and 350
miles, using about 10 gallons. 32-35 mpg?!?! Man, was I bummed at that.
But then I got to thinking, I was driving pretty fast there and back,
averaging probably 70-80mph. Of course, no speedometer, so I really
can't be sure. But I was passing a lot of people. Now I'm wondering,
could my fast driving really have affected the mileage that much? I'm
really hoping so!

  As Jake put it, " A Rabbit has all the aerodynamics of a flying brick"
Kinda sums it up.  The faster you go, the more mileage it eats.  A 
5 speed would help.  I usually got 40mpg highway and 45 doodling 
around semi highway and town.  It's also winter:  snow tires, denser 
air, longer warm-up times, more idling, drag from snow, rain, slush and 
so on.  Even more drag on the alt from heater fan, rear def. and headlights.

> 
> Also, about what speed does the rabbit start shaking? At times, the car
> would start vibrating, but only when I was going really fast, and the
> engine sounded like it was about ready to rip itself to pieces (4spd
> manual). It's got almost new tires, that were just mounted/balanced, and
> a front end alignment just last week.

  Depends, when does the spin cycle start on yours?  ;-)  If it's shaking, 
it's not a "normal" thing.  Figure out what tire's shaking it.  Could be a 
bad tie rod end, lower control arm bushing, bad strut or shock, still out 
of balance tire, out of balance drum, bad CV joint, bent axle and so on.
Just stat eliminating things until you find a bad one, see if it fixes it 
and keep looking if necessary.
  A friend of mine commented that at 60mph (with a diesel and 4 speed) 
it sounds just about ready for take-off!  It's gotta really be buzzing at 
80!!

> 
> Which brings me to yet another quick question, my brother mentioned that
> it looked like my car was driving sideways, or at least angled, when he
> was following me. Can the rear end be out of a alignment? Can it be
> fixed?
> 

  Since a Rabbit kind of tapers at the rear they can look like they're 
"crabbing" down the road when they aren't. Not to say yours isn't.  
I've seen bent rear axles and rear wheels can be out of alignment.  
My Jetta is currently over 2 degrees of negative camber, a bit much.
Toe is also off.  He's ordered the shims for it, I just haven't had a chance 
to get it back in yet.  My Rabbit was also way off on one rear.  It quit 
"plowing" on corners after he fixed it.  Just takes shims and someone 
that knows what they're doing with a 4 wheel alignment.
     Loren