Pondering Pump Price's

[sauerkraut]

Fuel up now, the price will be going up another 10-cents in the coming week. Plus hurricane season starts in two weeks. There's lots of jitters in the oil market. $4.00 a gallon fuel is very near. As for the gasoline prices overseas it must be remembered that 75% of the price on the pump overseas is all tax. They tax gasoline very heavy. They also have good public transportation systems there where as one does not need to drive as much. Here in the USA our whole lifestyle is based on the car. Gasoline is like food we have to have it to carry on with our day-to-day living.

[MichaelC]

quote:Originally posted by sauerkraut

Gasoline is like food we have to have it to carry on with our day-to-day living.

What's this "we" business.  My life doesn't have to revolve around cars.  There are advantages to working from home, and living within walking distance of a grocery store.

[cannon_fodder]

Conan - do some research on the hybrid before you seriously consider buying one.  I considered the Ford Escape Hybrid when I looked to buy a new car last year and was not impressed overall.

Many sources complain that a hybrid has MORE carbon emissions than a conventional car due to the extra components that are required to manufacture (batteries, dual drive train, engine and motor, etc.), the components often contain hazardous materials, and the vehicles have a much shorter life expectancy than an internal combustion only vehicle (newer technology, dual systems means 2 things to break, etc.).  Couple with reliability concerns (new technology and all) and relatively little cost savings (I dont drive enough to recoup the extra cost) I was persuaded to buy a sound traditional car.

I'd love to get a reliable all electric vehicle that had a 100-200 mile range.  I hope it would save me money.  Then again, with the pollution from coal plants (damn hippies hating everything from new coal plants to clean energy like Nuclear all making us use old dirty plants instead) and the inefficiencies involved (coal transportation, 35% efficiency at the power plant, transmission loss, loss while charing batteries, and then 40% efficiency in the car itself) I may not be reducing pollution anyway.

Bastards. All not having easy answers.  I'll guess I will keep feeding the oil monster for a while yet.

ps.  Not all electric cars are for pansies anymore.  A company called TESLA in California has come out with a roadster that does 0-60 in 4.0 seconds flat.  Beating the 9-11 and Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano off the line.  250 miles in a 4 hour charge at less than 2 cents per mile cost.

quote:How powerful is the acceleration? A quick story to illustrate. A favorite trick here at Tesla Motors is to invite a passenger along and ask him to turn on the radio. At the precise moment we ask, we accelerate. Our passenger simply can't sit forward enough to reach the dials. But who needs music when you're experiencing such a symphony of motion.

http://www.teslamotors.com/


Dear god I want one.

[rwarn17588]

Do like I did: Buy a *used* hybrid. Let someone else eat the depreciation.

I bought mine for $10,000 with less than 15,000 miles on it. I've driven it 60,000 miles since. I figure I've already saved more than $1,500 in gas with it. And it's paid for.

Yeah, I've heard that stuff about it taking more energy to build one, that making the battery takes nickel, which is mined, etc., etc.

Except that:

-- Toyota and other car manufacturers are developing batteries that don't require nickel.

-- Toyota and Honda buy back the batteries for recycling if they crap out (under warranty, of course).

-- The additional load the electrical assist takes up makes the main gas engine last longer -- to the tune of 400,000 miles plus. Also, the energy recapturing in the brake system allows the brake pads to last muuuuuuch longer.

-- Any new technology takes quite a bit of energy to produce. But that energy drops in each successive year because of streamlining and innovation. If you halted the production of new products because it takes additional energy, it would grind innovation to a halt.

And if we have something big to haul, which happens a couple times a month, we just use Gretchen:

[jdb]

"What's this "we" business." - the poster formally known as Neptune.

It's a general term that generally applies to the masses. Obviously there are people on the fringe - or way out there in orbit - that defy inclussion.
I spent a decade in that group: but gave it up due to mental health issues.


jdb


Pretty good reason to NOT go out and buy a scoot just for the sake of a few bucks at the pump:

"...motorcyclist is dead Monday...stopped to make a left turn... driver of a Mustang hit the motorcyclist from behind...motorcyclist died at the scene."

http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=127268

You might want to stay in a cage if:

You listen to talk radio during your commute.
You can't pass a sobriety test, sober.
You've thought of buying a cellphone earpiece.
You carpool with three other people.
You have ever trusted anyone else on the road, ever: to follow the rules, hold their lane, or to not doing anything stupid.

Or you want to roll around wearing a baseball cap.
http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=127265

David Brenner suggested we were approaching pollution backwards: we should be making the particles LARGER, so that they can't it up our nose.

I see conserving fossil fuels the same way: It ain't gonna happen until we run out of fossil fuels, so we might as well drive a big donkey SUV - putting a foot in it at every chance.
Then when there's no more gasoline, we switch over to the nedxt best - electric.

Life Apes Video Game?
Only way to get the Sims to start using the train or subway is to bulldoze the roads.

[MichaelC]

quote:Originally posted by jdb

"What's this "we" business." - the poster formally known as Neptune.

It's a general term that generally applies to the masses. Obviously there are people on the fringe - or way out there in orbit - that defy inclussion.
I spent a decade in that group: but gave it up due to mental health issues.


jdb

I'm not mentally challenged.  Did I say not?  What I meant to say was, it's challenging to be mentally challenged.  

Who said that?

Just because I HAVE 3 cars, doesn't mean I have to drive them.  That 2 of them get a reasonable 30 MPG, the newest gets 22, and I don't commute and don't have to use a car everyday, is a reasonable combination.  Decent gas mileage, limited everyday use, works for me.  Not like I live in the South 40, not anymore.

I may feel the crunch in a couple of weeks, taking a trip minus the illicit drugs.  But hey, what's money good for if you don't spend some of it?

nep

[jdb]

"Just because I HAVE 3 cars, doesn't mean I have to drive them." - N



Okie's are said to have multiple vehicles. Most of them tagged.
Every true Okie has at least one on blocks.

Been here, some 10 years, (Hmmm, right about the time I became a retard) and thus have collected an '81 shorty, Sunrader RV, my sled, and a '57 restoration project - up on blocks - still on the farm.

Taking a trip, eh?
Do tell, details, destination, one way?
Inquiry mind(s), jdb

NOTE: Staying home for the day to eat bean burro's and nap on the couch may result in a gas surplus.

[MichaelC]

quote:Originally posted by jdb

Taking a trip, eh?
Do tell, details, destination, one way?
Inquiry mind(s), jdb

He, no way.  I like pickin and grinnin, don't know that I could do that forever though.  Eureka Springs and countrified points north.  Going laking, shopping, showboatin, and barefootin with the locals.  Giggin optional, billy-bob teeth mandatory, so I'm told.

[RecycleMichael]

quote:  Going laking, shopping, showboatin, and barefootin with the locals.  

My wife and I got married in Arkansas because she didn't have to wear shoes there.

[runderwo]

quote:Originally posted by Steve

Unless you come across a crooked retailer, this is absolutely true.  The only thing that makes Texaco different from Conoco different from Citgo different from Shell, etc.  is the "proprietary blend" of additives (detergents and such) that they add to the basic gasoline and use as a marketing tool.  Gasoline is gasoline and all must conform to basic octane and detergent standards.

Speaking of crooked retailers, here's what passes for gasoline in Missouri: http://www.ago.mo.gov/lawsuits/2002/gasplus110702.pdf (Skip to Statement of Facts)

[runderwo]

quote:Originally posted by Ed W


By the way, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol says coasting downgrade in neutral or with the clutch disengaged is illegal. Text

It's illegal because the suspension doesn't work like it is designed to when you are coasting in neutral, and it's easier to lose control - especially in poor weather or with a slightly slick road.  Cops can tell when you are coasting in neutral just by the angle at which your car sits with respect to the road.

[cannon_fodder]

quote:Originally posted by runderwo
Cops can tell when you are coasting in neutral just by the angle at which your car sits with respect to the road.

I call BS.  There is no way a cop can tell what gear I am in unless he surmises it by by accel or deceleration.

When a car is coasting it is in a state of slow deceleration.  If coasting downhill it could be simply maintaining its speed.  In which case, there would be no difference in the angle from rest other than the forces of wind - which would be the same if going 55mph under power or in neutral.

Not to mention, my suspension is independent of my drive train on my high tech Ford Taurus.   It even works when the car is off and sitting in my driveway.  It works when I coast on the highway or roll to a stop, in nearly any gear!  

What if I drive a stick shift?  Does my suspension stop working when the clutch is engaged?  No shifting downhill or in adverse weather?

I had a 1992 Buick Park Ave. that would roll forever while in gear.  There was no engine drag at all.  If you popped it into neutral you felt no difference.  But a cop could tell from the OUTSIDE and somehow this had an effect on my suspension?

I call BS.

[tulsacyclist]

I've been known to coast a bit in my 89 honda accord 5spd.

[sauerkraut]

Oil Insiders say gasoline will hit $4.00 a gallon before this year is out. The oil companies are driving up the prices, they found a gold mine.

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

quote:Originally posted by runderwo
Cops can tell when you are coasting in neutral just by the angle at which your car sits with respect to the road.

I call BS.  There is no way a cop can tell what gear I am in unless he surmises it by by accel or deceleration.

When a car is coasting it is in a state of slow deceleration.  If coasting downhill it could be simply maintaining its speed.  In which case, there would be no difference in the angle from rest other than the forces of wind - which would be the same if going 55mph under power or in neutral.

Not to mention, my suspension is independent of my drive train on my high tech Ford Taurus.   It even works when the car is off and sitting in my driveway.  It works when I coast on the highway or roll to a stop, in nearly any gear!  

What if I drive a stick shift?  Does my suspension stop working when the clutch is engaged?  No shifting downhill or in adverse weather?

I had a 1992 Buick Park Ave. that would roll forever while in gear.  There was no engine drag at all.  If you popped it into neutral you felt no difference.  But a cop could tell from the OUTSIDE and somehow this had an effect on my suspension?

I call BS.

me too, that is BS, you have to be heavy on the throttle to see a nose dip up or down (and have really crap suspension)