About my weekend in the '95............(c=........

[redgtxdi]

So I've been preparing myself for the last few weeks to take a trip something longer than the average 20 minutes to/from work.

I already went thru the engine oil, tranny oil, cooling system, spark plugs, thermostat, etc. etc. and I'd been driving back & forth to work long enough that everything felt trustworthy enough to take a road trip. Learned a few things & had a few questions..........

#1.) The 1.6L / 3 speed combo *WILL* do 80+ mph! Yes, it revs high, but actually sounds smoothest at these 3 speeds...........

70mph, 76mph and 81mph (Actually, 81mph was silky smooth, just high-revving for sure)

#2.) After balancing the tires & replacing one tire w/ a new one, the steering wheel is VERY smooth, but I still feel a *slight* shimmy/vibration (?) coming from the rear (?). Can't be positive.

I'm going to move the rear tires (one at a time) to the front & go on a test drive & see if any vibration moves to the front.

I wonder if anybody else can give feedback on their Gen 7 w/ regards to "road feel" above 60mph. (In case nobody recalls, I had a bad steering wheel vibration above 65mph, but wheel balancing seems to have fixed that completely except for possible rear shimmies)


And just in case it *isn't* the tires......(right rear is now new, left rear looks perfect & was rebalanced Thurs).........what else in the back *could* cause any shimmying??

P.S. Yes, it could use struts, but they're not *toasted*.

[redgtxdi]

And I *should* mention the most important part of all................

Averaged 29mpg!!!!!!! (Not bad for a 10yr old car w/ 130,000 miles on her, eh??)


I think I'd have easily hit 30mpg (or more) if I hadn't been doin' 80mph the whole way down & not had the A/C on most of the time. (Plus I hit some parking-lot style traffic for about 20 minutes in one spot on my trip.)

I'd guess she could probably hit 31/32mpg at 70mpg w/ no A/C & maybe more at 65mph.

Still, I was happy. (252 miles & filled back up w/ 8.62 gallons of gas!!)