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From: hakanson@orstcs.UUCP (hakanson)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: Dodge (Mitsubishi) Colt
Message-ID: <12300015@orstcs.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 23-Jul-85 17:34:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: orstcs.12300015
Posted: Tue Jul 23 17:34:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 28-Jul-85 09:33:53 EDT
References: <392@amdimage.UUCP>
Organization: Oregon State University - Corvallis, OR
Lines: 40
Nf-ID: #R:amdimage:-39200:orstcs:12300015:000:2154
Nf-From: orstcs!hakanson    Jul 23 13:34:00 1985

<yum!>

Mitsubishi has always built the Colt -- the fwd Colt first came
out as a 1979 model.  I bought mine in 1980, it now has 77k miles
on it.  I change the oil & filter every 7500 miles, and in general
follow the maintenance schedules in the manual (I do nearly all
of the maintenance myself, including tune-ups).  My car has the
"sporty" RS package, which includes a rather stiff suspension,
wider tires/wheels, quicker steering, and guages, all of which I like.

Let's see -- I've averaged about 34.5 mpg since I bought the car,
and I drive it fairly hard on occasion, but the majority of the
driving is under 60mph on highways (expect 36+mpg under those
conditions).  I'd recommend getting the large (1.6l) engine,
which works less hard than the 1.4l.  My car is a lot of fun to
drive, as the Twin-Stick transmission gives it the low gears to
be quite quick (Road&Track says 10.4sec to 60mph), and yet still
get the mileage when you want to.  The RS model handles quite
well, but the suspension is stiff enough that you notice bumps
more than some might like -- not all models are like that, though.

The car is quite reliable, and very well built -- I have hit huge
pot-holes that I thought would tear the wheel off, yet I have never
had to align the front end, and the tires have always worn evenly
(I'm nearing the end of my second set -- and I rotate them every
oil change, as per the manual).  The car has never stranded me at
any time, and the only faults worth mentioning have been a sunken
carb. float ($14), and a burned-out heater blower resistor ($5),
both of which I diagnosed and replaced myself.

Oh yes -- I'm 6'3", most of which is in my torso, and I have just
enough headroom with the seat tilted back one notch.  But I had
to insist on not having a sunroof....  One of the editors of
Road&Track has a Colt with 129k+ miles on it, and all he had
done to it was replace a clutch cable.  All in all, I would sum
up the car in the words of Road&Track, "...it may well be the
best of the econoboxes."

Marion Hakanson         CSnet:  hakanson%oregon-state@csnet-relay
                        UUCP :  {hp-pcd,tektronix}!orstcs!hakanson