Originally posted by Honkeytonk Monkey:
That is why I used the numbers from a 1990 model with AWD and a 4 speed automatic. The numbers won't differ too much, 0-60 was still over 10 seconds (thank the weight of the AWD system) and remember there are going to be power losses through the AWD system from the engine. The pushrod engine lost steam early on since the torque and HP dropped off after an early peak, and the torque wasn't that linear either, so from a stop it wasn't a sprinter either. In the case of the Mystique/Contour ATX the transmission is the culprit as simply having an MTX cuts alot of time off acceleration numbers.

BTW the sticker on my 82 Jetta in 82 was 14K adjust for inflation... point is it's worth about $3 now, and even in mint condition (your's isn't, I can see the carpet through the fading steering wheel spokes) your car will fetch about $2K or $3K (I'm talking CDN here BTW)if you can sell "air ride suspension" to some sucker. It's actually called an auto load leveling suspension, load the trunk with groceries and the back seat full of kids, suspension stiffens, then you don't have to bottom out over all the speedbumps on the way out of the parking lot.


The car is in mint condition. There's nothing fading in it, the interior is 2-tone light/dark gray. And yes, it is an automatic leveling suspension, but Air Ride is the correct name for it (also called Electronic Ride Control in newer 1990s).