Subject: 4k gas mileage

[C1J1Miller <C1J1Miller@aol.com>]

Andrew wrote:
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A few days ago I struck up a conversation w/a woman in a pre-'85 non-Q 4000
that had 190K miles on it. I didn't find out if she'd had the car from new,
but she'd had it a long time.

At one point I asked about gas mileage. She said it used to get 38mpg on the
road, but now it's down to 30. I didn't probe further, but I'm assuming that
both figures were compiled over time, we're comparing apples w/apples, and
just tuning it up doesn't restore the missing 8mpg. Of course, lowered
mileage from an engine w/190K of wear and tear on it sounds plausible. Is
the delta here about par for the course?
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I'm guessing this is the 4 cylinder engine; basically a VW.  I believe the
only VW of this era to get 38 mpg was the diesel rabbit, a lighter car, BTW.
Seems like her figure of 38 is inflated; 30 seems more like it, especially if
just highway miles.  Could be that she's relying on a trip computer (if it has
one), and the computer is inaccurate.  Don't expect that high miles would
lessen mileage significantly, if it's in tune and working in spec.
Chris