Fuel Prices

[yogestee]

Fuel prices are going through the roof worldwide..What are your strategies??

[AngryCorgi]

Strategy: Walk

[DozerLYP]

I could start digging in my backyard to see if I can find some oil, but this would take a lot of work and money.
So I'll just do the same with maybe a little less driving around for no reason.

[yogestee]

I'm whizzing around on a 125cc 4 stroke motorscooter here in Laos..A bit of a pain in the butt during the now wet season but generally a whole lot of fun..

[AngryCorgi]

I dunno what is going to happen long term, but this topic is just driving political conversations (at least her in the US) that lead nowhere but to back and forth bickering between various political figures. I wish someone in my country would look past the political foolishness and move toward a solution. Being familiar with Brasil (my wife's home country), I was initially impressed by the moves to create a partnership with Brasil and move forward in developing an economical ethanol production system, but even that has stalled and I have heard nothing new on this front. I have seen a lot more corn crops near my parents' place, where it used to be just hay fields. Maybe the ethanol front is charging forward and just isn't being publicized. I'm just under-informed, under-impressed and hoping for the best.

:-P

[ironchef31]

It's either save money of fuel or waste time on transit. Our 2 kids go to different schools for kindergarten and pre-school and start at different times. We have 2 pretty fuel efficent vehicles already and don't do unnecessary driving. We only use 1 car on the weekend.

[ironchef31]

I dunno what is going to happen long term, but this topic is just driving political conversations (at least her in the US) that lead nowhere but to back and forth bickering between various political figures. I wish someone in my country would look past the political foolishness and move toward a solution. Being familiar with Brasil (my wife's home country), I was initially impressed by the moves to create a partnership with Brasil and move forward in developing an economical ethanol production system, but even that has stalled and I have heard nothing new on this front. I have seen a lot more corn crops near my parents' place, where it used to be just hay fields. Maybe the ethanol front is charging forward and just isn't being publicized. I'm just under-informed, under-impressed and hoping for the best.

:-P

Got to be careful with this one. Biofuel is wacking out food prices all over the world as farmers rush to grow corn for fuel instead of food. It also takes more energy to grow and process the corn into fuel than pumping it out of the ground.

[midnight_rider]

I really do not have any intention of letting the fuel prices slow me down in any way. I do however get descent mileage already. I have a HHR so I average 38MPG on the highway. I am sure I would feel differently if I still had the Tahoe.

[WMS]

My suggestion is to vote Every incumbent out of office. This way Both political factions get the message.

Wayne

[AngryCorgi]

Got to be careful with this one. Biofuel is wacking out food prices all over the world as farmers rush to grow corn for fuel instead of food. It also takes more energy to grow and process the corn into fuel than pumping it out of the ground.

Actually, the price of corn is going up due to demand, as my family has told me. A lot of ranchers used corn as a major component in livestock feed!

[KevinAldrich]

Got to be careful with this one. Biofuel is wacking out food prices all over the world as farmers rush to grow corn for fuel instead of food. It also takes more energy to grow and process the corn into fuel than pumping it out of the ground.

Actually, it depends on feedstock. Here's how many units of energy you'll get out of different feedstock per unit of energy that goes into making the fuel. This doesn't inlcude energy obtained from the sun. A number above one means we get more energy out of it then we put into it when making it.

Biodiesel from sunflowers: 0.46
Ethanol from corn: 1.3
Biodiesel from soybeans: 3.2
Ethanol from switchgrass: 4
Ethanol from sugarcane: 8

Gasoline: 0.85
Diesel: 0.84

[AngryCorgi]

Hence why all of Brasil is growing sugar cane for fuel. They have the perfect environmental variables to be a major player in the energy market for freaking ever!

[gjl711]

My suggestion is to vote Every incumbent out of office. This way Both political factions get the message.

WayneI would love to see this happen

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Change my driving habits until I move back to Cheyenne where I can ride my bike. :D

[Bob D.]

I would love to see this happen

I hear Nevada has a "None of the above" choice on their ballots. Is that true? I like that option because if you get the majority of the votes then they have to start all over with new candidates, you're not stuck with the two puppets that the parties put out there. No more 'lessor of two evils' choices to make or not vote at all.

[KevinAldrich]

Hence why all of Brasil is growing sugar cane for fuel. They have the perfect environmental variables to be a major player in the energy market for freaking ever!

Hey, we've got switchgrass. That used to be so widespread in this country until recent decades. Now we're trying to get more people to plant it for biofuels and the paper industry. It'll grow just about anywhere, and you get many times more biomass out of it than trees. That's why we're looking at it for paper. There's a mill in eastern Washington that makes trays for organic apples. Next year they're converting the entire mill from softwood pulp to switchgrass. More paper mills are looking at it also, but supply is an issue, as I said. So if more people could be convinced to plant the stuff (doesn't have to be farmland, like I said, it grows anywhere), then maybe it'll take off for biofuel use as well.

[sevillafox]

I actually just got a less fuel efficient vehicle due to an expanding family but I never really go anywhere anyway. There's no public transportation at all where I live so that's not a viable option. But, it's summer now and I'm a teacher and will be on maternity leave for the first six weeks or so of next school year so I have nowhere to go and will be saving lots due to just staying home. :D

[Just Be]

Even though I have to fuel my WRX with premium, I'm still not freaking out yet. I get 25+ mpg, if I don't ride it too hard. I'll switch to a different vehicle if I can get at least 35 mpg. Until then I'm just planning my extra trips a little better.

[rklepper]

Your poll should have more options. I bought a more fuel efficient truck, I bought a bicycle, and I have changed my driving habits. I think this crisis will in the long run make us better as societies, but we just must go through these growing pains.

I really wish the push for alternative fuels, solar power, etc... in the 1970's here in the US was not brushed aside. So now here we are in panic mode trying to do what we could have done at our leisure 30 years ago.

[KevinAldrich]

Hehe, just realized I forgot to answer the question...

As of yet, I haven't changed anything really. Been at school for the past months and I don't have a car up here. But I do take the train home more rather than having my parents drive up and get me. But during the summers I'll probably just drive to work. Too far to bike like I did last year a few times, but there's also no public transportation. And I'm already too big for my truck, so I think a more fuel efficient/smaller rig is out of the question.

[440roadrunner]

My highly modified Sun EZ-3SX trike, with added basket(s) modified kids electric trike off the rear for emergency power back home, and homebrew handcrank adapter.




http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2229/2273875646_1c71b0cef2.jpg?v=0

[Stocky]

You could always just go somewhere that the fuel is free. The Army needs some more people right now. Let me know if you are interested.

roadrunner: I see that it is all wheel drive with the hand cranks... is that a motor on the back too?

[20droger]

Gas has risen to the point where I can't afford to drive to the grocery. But that's okay, food prices have risen to the point where I couldn't afford anything if I did get there.

[Analog6]

It's a dwindling resource - we as a society have used up, in about 150 years, what took 1,000,000 years to lay down. It is NOT going to get cheaper.

What we need is concentrated government push for alternative fuels, such as geothermal, biofuels, solar, wave power, wind (pity they can't harness the hot air our elected reporesenatative produce!) and nuclear. I hate the last alternative due to the long half life residues, but if we want to turn on the lights at the flick of a switch it may be the only alternative.

And if we are going to keep driving, continue aggresive research into making cars much more fuel efficient.

Public transport for me is unviable, 1 bus per hour, 1.5 km walk at each end, $10 per day for a 15km trip (weekly petrol about $25). I do try to drive as little as possible and walk locally, and hope to be able to get a smaller car, but cannot finance it ATM.

[samsen]

Using the advantage of lower price of big boy SUVs, I just utilized the life time opportunity of buying a H2 and a Denali XL at unbelievable price. Only catch is, may be I will be the last owner of these babies for good to be retired as decorative part of yard for my next generation offspring...

No matter what you see, I can clearly see a day that your can only get rid of your gas engined car after paying a hefty sort of disposal fee, a day that blood will be shade on the floor of last available gas stations in town, or national guards have to control the distribution of last droplets of gas. So enjoy gas as you can right now and don't forget to do all your oversea air travels right now as soon there will be no more Airway company left out there for commercial flight, well you may get the chance of going for vacation to a different planet but not able to travel more radius of that what you can walk about or ride on bicycle...
I afraid that day is not very far from us and may be closer if we only can get into war with Iran in near future.

[AngryCorgi]

Using the advantage of lower price of big boy SUVs, I just utilized the life time opportunity of buying a H2 and a Denali XL at unbelievable price. Only catch is, may be I will be the last owner of these babies for good to be retired as decorative part of yard for my next generation offspring...

No matter what you see, I can clearly see a day that your can only get rid of your gas engined car after paying a hefty sort of disposal fee, a day that blood will be shade on the floor of last available gas stations in town, or national guards have to control the distribution of last droplets of gas. So enjoy gas as you can right now and don't forget to do all your oversea air travels right now as soon there will be no more Airway company left out there for commercial flight, well you may get the chance of going for vacation to a different planet but not able to travel more radius of that what you can walk about or ride on bicycle...
I afraid that day is not very far from us and may be closer if we only can get into war with Iran in near future.

Just convert them to ethanol when that becomes cheaper (higher supply). Humans will NEVER be rid of combustion engines, whether there are fruity people that believe otherwise or not. You can buy a conversion kit to transform them fairly easily to ethanol and use nature's renewable energy! ;)

[Tandem]

I'm doing nothing. At 20 mpg an increase of $1/gallon in the price of gas only increases the cost per mile of driving $.05. Most people panic when gas goes from $2/gallon to $4/gallon thinking that the cost of driving has doubled when it in fact has only gone up about 20%.

There will come a day when we think $4/gallon is a bargain and a good excuse for a road trip.

[AngryCorgi]

Well, FWIW, fuel will never exceed around $6/gallon in the US. At that price, everyone in the process (including the government) will make very good money off of corn-based ethanol. The real shock in this has already happened. I paid $0.95/gal in 1998. The price has doubled twice in 10 years! Any increase we are likely to see at this point is nothing, comparitively, and it will never double to $8/gallon.

[cdifoto]

I've taken to mooching my brother's-in-law Taurus for weddings with any kind of distance driving required, since it uses a lot less fuel than my van. Still use my van for local stuff.

[Stocky]

I have a bunch of friends who decided that the best way to save money on gas is to spend $10k on a motorcycle as a second vehicle. I don't get that one at all. With a plan like that you are lucky to break even in 10 years. Especially when they are getting the bike for upstate NY with a 3 month riding season.

[cdifoto]

No doubt. I'd trade my van for a fuel efficient car BUT the van was a gimme, and a car would require a payment or payments, thus making it near impossible to actually get ahead. I work from home anyway when I'm not shooting for a client, so I really don't contribute much to the profits of the oil companies regardless of what I drive. I typically spend less than $50 a month on fuel for personal reasons.

[gjl711]

... I'd trade my van for a fuel efficient car ...
I’m going through this thought process now. Though our van was not a gimme, it is paid off and we have only put 25k miles on it in 4 years. It’s a very handy vehicle for certain applications but it would kill me if I had to feed it every day as my commute car.

[maytay20]

We needed another car anyway so when we got one we bought a more fuel efficient car and also got it with a manual transmission. We got a Aveo 5 with 5 doors and you would be amazed at what I have fit in it. http://www.chevrolet.com/aveo/photogallery/
I know the manual transmission is only a difference of about 2 gallons saving but over time that adds up. We did change our driving habits a small amount but we already did so much car pooling combining trips to save time there wasn't much to change.

[GilesGuthrie]

We have three vehicles. An Audi A2 (small hatchback - can take the family and no stuff), a Renault Grand Espace (large MPV - can take family and all stuff) and a Honda 125cc scooter (can take just me). I am using the scooter for short solo journeys wherever possible, since it does 82 miles per UK gallon.

I've stopped using the bus, because I can't afford the 120 minutes it costs me each day, and I can run the scooter for the same price as the bus on an annual basis.

The cost of getting around is going up, but this will only get better if we stop having to get around. And if I could get my wife to understand and practice proper use of the gears in the A2.

[cdifoto]

I’m going through this thought process now. Though our van was not a gimme, it is paid off and we have only put 25k miles on it in 4 years. It’s a very handy vehicle for certain applications but it would kill me if I had to feed it every day as my commute car.
Yeah I only get 15mpg at most but I've only driven it about 1800 miles in the past year. Car payments on something efficient would be a lot higher than just putting gas in the van as needed.

[Killjoy]

I drive a six year old Toyota Camry V6 with 130,000 miles on it. It seems like it's just breaking in.
I have learned to keep my foot out of it, and I'm getting over 27 miles to the U.S. Gal. on average. Considering I have a 54 mile commute (each way), public transit is really not an option.
First of all, there is no Public Transit that could take me thw whole distance, and second, it would add too much time to an already long day.
I'm gone from home for about fifteen hours a day as it is.

[cdifoto]

I enjoyed the Taurus on Saturday for similar reasons. Only needed to top off with 4 US Gallons when I gave it back. :cool:

[condyk]

I think the US was built to serve the business needs of the big car makers and oil companies and so you guys will suffer more than most as global societies have to transform themselves. It will be more difficult to do that so long as those same interests are allowed political office. It's a good opportunity to rethink communal priorities IMO. I sold my last car 18 months ago and shifted to publioc trabnsport and walking. I just got a tiny Noddy car to move me A-B when public transport ain't there. Was close to free. Buying a big new car and seeing them as a status symbol will seem silly in ten years time.

[Ed 718]

Took this shot about a 2 1/2 weeks ago before the market dropped and prices went up so the prices may have gone up since then. I know in Europe and Canada it may be more but here stateside this is alot in addition don't even ask about diesel as that is well over five dollars a gallon. The pics were taken in down town Los Angeles. I am lucky to have a daily driver that is good on gas but for those who have SUV's and or diesel pickups they are really feeling the bite.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a65/emendez/IMG_2835.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a65/emendez/IMG_2832.jpg

[Ed 718]

I think the US was built to serve the business needs of the big car makers and oil companies and so you guys will suffer more than most as global societies have to transform themselves. It will be more difficult to do that so long as those same interests are allowed political office. It's a good opportunity to rethink communal priorities IMO. I sold my last car 18 months ago and shifted to publioc trabnsport and walking. I just got a tiny Noddy car to move me A-B when public transport ain't there. Was close to free. Buying a big new car and seeing them as a status symbol will seem silly in ten years time.

I notice in alot of europe countries the smaller efficient vehicles populate the highways more as opposed to the over sized suv's as we do here in the U.S.................or am I wrong on this?

[condyk]

We got plenty of the big 4x4's and big luxury cars but I guess across the board for the population as a whole engine and body size is way smaller as an average. I have never lived anywhere, even in the country, where I couldn't just walk to local shops or easily catch a bus to the city centre. Public transport is good IMO. My guess is even if the US fuel price is way lower you pay similar to us per annum because you must drive further and you have on average more inefficient and very large/powerful engines.

[cdifoto]

Yeah only in the major cities can you get away without a vehicle....public transportation is good and everything you need for daily life is very nearby. Not so for rural and small town America.

[Anke]

Its actually cheaper and faster for me to drive to work rather than take public transport, but I still take the train. The only plus for public transport is the fact that I can fall asleep and it saves my car wear and tear.

[Ed 718]

We got plenty of the big 4x4's and big luxury cars but I guess across the board for the population as a whole engine and body size is way smaller as an average. I have never lived anywhere, even in the country, where I couldn't just walk to local shops or easily catch a bus to the city centre. Public transport is good IMO. My guess is even if the US fuel price is way lower you pay similar to us per annum because you must drive further and you have on average more inefficient and very large/powerful engines.

My commute is 45 miles each way so I do drive a distance to work. I drive a 06 Scion xb ( toyota BB ) for a daily and a nissan 350z ( fairlady zed ) on the weekends. The 350z is highly modified with an aftermarket turbo setup so it's gas mileage has suffered over what was stock. The XB actually is good but def not the best however a refreshing change from the 350z.

[Wazza]

Do nothing. I always aim at driving economically, always calculating my litres / 100km. Generally around 6-7l / 100km average.
Petrol is a small portion of salary, so what's an extra £20 a month?

I've noticed a vast different between cars of Australia and New Zealand (many 3-6litre cars), as opposed to UK where most are 1.2/1.4 range :lol:

[steved110]

I walk a bit, I take the bus, a bit, and I think twice about planning my driving. No way I'm getting on a bike, as I don't think my personality can handle the associated disorders that come bundled with bikes...;)

In the UK in spite of fuel costs, it is still cheaper and more convenient, to travel by car than train.

I have no problem with alternative transport, but I have a huge problem with being made to pay extortionate prices to be treated like livestock on public transport.

[michaelgreen78]

I voted "Do Nothing" - public transport is not much of an option for work and probably costs a similar amount over the course of a week.

At the risk of sounding political, the government should reduce fuel duty - every time the global price of fuel rises the government earns extra £££'s in tax without altering the tax rate. They should reduce the tax to give us poor sods a break!

[jdando]

Ride my bike to work as much as possible!

[NZDoug]

I like the Passat 1.9 diesel wagon for a real car that cheap to run.
I love the chrome and stainless....still.

[NZDoug]

I’m going through this thought process now. Though our van was not a gimme, it is paid off and we have only put 25k miles on it in 4 years. It’s a very handy vehicle for certain applications but it would kill me if I had to feed it every day as my commute car.
I sold my van in Feb. but I kept a mountain bike in it, so the van became the mother ship.
Park out side the expensive areas and intrude on the silent machine, strike like lightning!

[yogestee]

I'm doing nothing. At 20 mpg an increase of $1/gallon in the price of gas only increases the cost per mile of driving $.05. Most people panic when gas goes from $2/gallon to $4/gallon thinking that the cost of driving has doubled when it in fact has only gone up about 20%.

There will come a day when we think $4/gallon is a bargain and a good excuse for a road trip.

Tandem,,,thanks for the maths,,,but the problem when fuel costs go up so does everything else from shampoo to building products due to increased haulage costs..

[BigBlueDodge]

America, in general will feel this gas crunch more than most countries. Our price per gallon is still cheaper than alot of countries, but unfortunately, most of the vehicles on the road get substantially less miles per gallon than other countries cars. Our hunger for more powerfull, and spacious vehicles has come at the cost of poor fuel efficiency (compared to the rest of the world). The CEO of GM has come out and publically stated that the shift to smaller vehicles is now permanent, and as such GM will be lowering production of Trucks and SUV in favor of smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. The shift will not happen over night, but will take 10-15 years in my opinion. I joked with my wife, because when I reserved a car for our vacation to Ireland/Scotland, we reserved a Ford Mondeo (mid size car), which was supposed to get around 30MPG (US). I was on a travel site talking to some folks in Ireland and they said that the Modeo didn't get that great mileage. Most Americans would consider 30+ MPG to be great mileage, as that is certainly at the top of our best our cars can do.

Except for a few of the largest cities, mass transit in America is almost non existent. I remember when I was in Ireland & Scotland, and even in Vancouver, you could get to everywhere by train or bus, but that is not the case for the majority of America. One thing that works against us is our size. We are a huge country. In Europe, the cities are high density, and often close together. In America, except for some of the largest cities, most of our cities are sprawled out and far apart from other major cities. For example, to get from one end of the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex where I live, to the other (west Fort Worth to Rockwall) is roughly 65 miles. I myself have to drive close to 100 miles PER DAY to get to/from work. To put in a mass transit network that would give coverage to most of the population in the US would be ENOURMOUSLY expensive. I just don't see it happening for 100+ years, if that.

So, in the end I voted for "Change my driving habits". While I would like to downsize my truck (which would be considered grossly large by most European standards), I've crunched the numbers every which way possible and in the end it comes out economically cheaper to just keep it, rather than downsize. So, I only take the 7500lb beast out only for necessary reasons. No joy riding, fun driving etc. My next vehicle will be smaller (but still a truck :) ), but that won't be for another 4-6 years off.

Oh, and I don't want to hear any more of the whining about the price of gas. Diesel prices are just insane right now. Gas in my area is running about $3.80 a gallon. I've been paying $4.70 a gallon for diesel for some time now. It's just not supposed to be that way. Diesel is supposed to cost less than gas, it's always been that way. They are breaking the rules !!!

[_aravena]

I would ride my bike to work if the Mrs. let me. But I do go at 300 AM and there are no sidewalks.....w/e

Either way, once I graduate and start teaching, I'm not keeping my Jeep.

Or e like those idiots that had 45 gallons in their apartment and it caught on fire and burned down the whole complex. :rolleyes:

[BottomBracket]

In the mornings I drive my son and wife to school and work respectively, and park the car immediately after. I bike the rest of the way to where I have to go, and in the afternoon I bike back to my car, pick up my son and go home. This has effectively cut my gas bill in half. The bike commute is 20 miles daily which is just relaxing for me.

[Tandem]

Tandem,,,thanks for the maths,,,but the problem when fuel costs go up so does everything else from shampoo to building products due to increased haulage costs..
It is true that when prices increase the budget gets modified to compensate. In that respect it is impossible to "do nothing". It is not anything that I worry about.

I still plan on retiring at the end of the year and I will lose the expense of driving 50 miles round trip to work each day. I plan on doing most of my photography work in the local area so I'll have more options such as walking or using a bike and trailer or a trike. I already have the cycling gear so it doesn't count as a change.

I remember that when gas spiked years ago that putting turbos on smaller engines was the rage. That is until someone did the math and determined that the initial cost and upkeep of the turbo was more than the cost of gas to run a bigger engine for the same horsepower. Anyone know if that is still the case today with current gas prices?

[gardengirl13]

I can't see how getting a new car will save you money in gas? Hhow can spending $16k+ save you so much in gas it would be cheaper?

We don't go out on weekends very much. We shop after work on the way home. That's one thing we changed.

Our car (a subaru legacy wagon) gets 28MPG on our hilly back roads and 36MPG highway. I did a gas savings calculator to see if a hybrid would save us money in gas, it would save us something like $300 over 10 years. Not worth it when our winters demand AWD. Plus that $300 is gas only, not including the increase in car insurance and the increase in car payments.

Our landlord is a small egg farmer. He said ethanol pirces have made his grain prices triple in the last 4 years. his whole egg prices were $.20 a dozen in 1940 when he started, they hit $.75 in 2005, and since then have gone up to $2.00. That's a huge difference! Ethanol use for cars makes all meat dairy and egg prices sky rocket. It makes it hard to find corn for human consumption which includes every single item that uses corn, corn startch, high fructose corn syrup, etc... Wheat prices have sky rocketed because farmers can make more money if they get rid of their wheat crops and switch to corn for ethanol. Alomst everything you buy is made from corn, wheat or dairy so the food in the stores goes up. Plastic made from petroleum makes price go up. Have you noticed that items like mayo, ketchup, baby food, salad dressing all that used to be glass now it is all plastic, so now they can raise prices just because of the price of oil going up. Prices increases for food weekly used to be $75 buying organic or more natural products, now it's $125 and we're not buying organic or natural products any more.

To save money we keep our house cool in winter 58 at night and while we're at work and 62 while we're there and awake. It's miserable! But this July our monthly oil bill will go from $75 a month to $150 a month!

Gas locally is now $4.31+ a gal for regular. To keep things "low" we fill the car every single Friday on the way home from work. No matter if we only need a few gals, it's better to only pay $20 a week instead of having to pay $60 from almost empty. Mentally it's easier at least.

[M5Man]

Fuel prices are going through the roof worldwide..What are your strategies??

Well fuel will never go down now....:(

My plan sell my daily hack which i have spent £ks on restoring and buy a sensible 1.6 Mk 4 Golf 1.6

Also my wkd toy is up for sale but not shifting as no one wants a 5.0l v8 at the moment.

So after being a car enthusiast all my life with nice fast cars its time to go sensible.

The only person happy is my wife as shes been telling me for years to stop wasting money on cars.

Conclusion: I will now waste my money on camera gear :lol:

[stathunter]

I have been driving a Ford Excursion 4x4 (V10) since we bought it in 2000. It gets 10.4 mpg no matter how it is driven. I have 4 kids and 3 dogs so need the big vehicle but wen out last month and purchased a new Honda Civic to use when we did not need to hall everyone around. Getting the new car is fantastic! It gets 30-40mpg and costs me about $40 per week. The excursion was costing me $150+ per week to drive--- there were weeks where I was spending over $200 per week in gas with the Excursion.

So I think our family can single handedly cause the demand for gas to drop! :)

[adsayer]

65mpg average for my little beast of a car.

Although a couple of years ago I went all out just to see what it was capable of and got just over 100mpg.

Thats the larger UK gallons as well. I rock.

[narlus]

I really do not have any intention of letting the fuel prices slow me down in any way. I do however get descent mileage already. I have a HHR so I average 38MPG on the highway.

this car:
http://www.autotropolis.com/car.review/2008/Chevrolet/HHR/fueleconomy.htm

gets 38 on the highway?

calibrate your odometer/speedometer.

[narlus]

So, in the end I voted for "Change my driving habits". While I would like to downsize my truck (which would be considered grossly large by most European standards), I've crunched the numbers every which way possible and in the end it comes out economically cheaper to just keep it, rather than downsize. So, I only take the 7500lb beast out only for necessary reasons. No joy riding, fun driving etc. My next vehicle will be smaller (but still a truck :) ), but that won't be for another 4-6 years off.


i think this will be the biggest change...having a truck makes sense for people w/ commercial (construction, trades, etc) or personal (towing a boat, trailer, etc), but for people who buy and drive them for personality extensions will be paying a premium for that vain endeavor.

also, people talk about about the US and how it's so spread out as compared to europe, but in europe it's very rare for people to have long commutes, and you can certainly choose where you live. now, if you have kids you need to contend w/ school systems in an urban setting vs suburban, but i think that having a 100 mile commute is insane in all ways.


ireland vehicle insurance is tied to engine displacement, and i think that makes sense too.


i voted 'no change,' mainly because i live 9 miles from where i work, can ride my bike as a commuter, and my car ('02 civic 5 spd) gets ~35 mpg on average. i do a fair bit of driving into boston to shoot shows, but that's about the only long distance i do (~28 miles each way). in the four years since i've owned my car, i've put about 40K miles on it.

[Ed 718]

Oh, and I don't want to hear any more of the whining about the price of gas. Diesel prices are just insane right now. Gas in my area is running about $3.80 a gallon. I've been paying $4.70 a gallon for diesel for some time now. It's just not supposed to be that way. Diesel is supposed to cost less than gas, it's always been that way. They are breaking the rules !!!

In some parts of SoCal diesel is well over 5 dollars a gallon. I'm in the aftermarket turbo and intercooler business and our main focus in the past was the cummins, powerstroke and duramax upgrades. Since the increase in diesel fuel our sales of diesel upgrades have gone down. My neighbor who is a car salesmen tells me the same thing the big SUV and diesel trucks are sitting on the lot and even after the discounts/ bonuses or incentives offered.

[gardengirl13]

My question is what happened to gas mileage in cars? My moms old Horizon in the '80's got 60MPG highway. Why do little cars boast 30MPG highway like it's a good thing? As i said my heavy AWD wagon gets 36. Why would I give that up for something smaller that gets worse MPG?

Why do people think 30 is good? All the Ads on TV go nuts abouthow great it is? I just don't get it.

[narlus]

safety standards increased, and vehicles got heavier.

60 mpg in a Horizon sounds a bit absurd, though.
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/1985_Plymouth_Horizon.shtml

[gjl711]

My question is what happened to gas mileage in cars? My moms old Horizon in the '80's got 60MPG highway. ....
I think back then they cheated. Well not cheated but stacked the deck. For instance, my mom had an old Datsun 210 that claimed to have something like 50 mpg but she never really got better than the mid twenties. So maybe they tested the cars on steep hill with a strong tail wind and used some augmented gas with some extra kick.

[narlus]

plus, how you drive the car in real life makes a huge difference. i laugh at people who gun the car to get ahead of the guy in the next lane.

[kevin_c]

I have a 4x4 double-cab pick-up and a 7.5 ton horse lorry, both diesel. they both get used as 'workhorse' vehicles, not for show, so I just fill em up and pay the money!

I've thought about getting a little runabout car for all the town/shopping trips etc. but the cost of buying it and the maintenance/mot/extra insurance etc. doesn't really make it worthwhile.

[BigBlueDodge]

i think this will be the biggest change...having a truck makes sense for people w/ commercial (construction, trades, etc) or personal (towing a boat, trailer, etc), but for people who buy and drive them for personality extensions will be paying a premium for that vain endeavor.


In Texas, I believe I saw a statistic that close to half of the vehicles on the road were trucks/suv's. Texas is by far the largest truck market in the US. A large part of that is due the the large rural populate we have, where trucks are not just vehicles, they are tools to run/operate farms. Down here, it is just common for people to own them, there no vanity reasons why. There's a saying that you aren't a Texan if you don't own a pair of boots or drive a truck. Given the huge presence of trucks around here, Texans will pay dearly during this fuel crunch. At this point, I don't think I could give my truck away, and the dealers know that. I have heard reports that some dealerships are refusing trucks or suv's for trade in, because they can't sell the new ones they have on the lot. If you do find someone willing to give you a trade in, you will get pennies on the dollar. Many people just tell me why don't I trade it in for a smaller vehicle. They don't understand that trading it in right now, and starting over on payments will actually wind up costing me more money in the long run. I've become an expert at EXCEL with all of the number crunching I've been doing :)

I don't foresee trucks going away. People use them for work, so they are a necessity. I see that large trucks will slowly transition into smaller trucks on the road. However, I do see that SUV's futures look very bleak. It will be hard to justify buying a SUV going forward, when most of them are just used to haul kids around.

So in the end, I think most peope will just be forced to change their driving habits to cope. Buying a more fuel efficient car ultimately won't be the cheaper route for most I suspect, and switching to mass transit is a shaky alternative. Today I read am article that said many cities mass transist systems are being overloaded. Buses are running at full capacity, and are having to skip stops because there is no room. We have to remember that our mass transit systems were designed when most people were driving. That assumption has changed, and people are no longer driving as much, and hence the mass transit systems are getting overloaded. I only expect that wait times will get worse as more people start parking their vehicles.

If last resort, I can just move closer to the border of Mexico. Diesel is much cheaper down there (around $2.50) as the Mexican government subsidizes fuel. I've read articles where people in the US are taking multiple 55 gallon drums in their truck over the border, and filling up with Mexican diesel, and bringing it back across the border. I suspect that Customs will end this soon, but many people are taking atvantage of it and making "fuel runs" across the border.

[TeeJay]

So, what has all this got to do with photography?......

TJ

[BigBlueDodge]

So, what has all this got to do with photography?......

TJ


Because it does effect peoples photography habits. From the hobbyist, to the working professional, all are impacted by fuel costs.

[Tandem]

plus, how you drive the car in real life makes a huge difference. i laugh at people who gun the car to get ahead of the guy in the next lane.
And they are up there driving in clean air, laughing at all the poor people behind them driving in somebody's exhaust fumes. Sometimes it's worth it to burn off an extra $.02 in fuel to get away from the crowd.

[Tandem]

So, what has all this got to do with photography?......

TJ
The rate of growth of my photography business may be a bit less than if prices were lower. It is difficult to say how much though. The bottom line is B&H Photo/Video won't be sharing in my profits as often as they would otherwise.

[CyberDyneSystems]

I really wish the push for alternative fuels, solar power, etc... in the 1970's here in the US was not brushed aside. So now here we are in panic mode trying to do what we could have done at our leisure 30 years ago.

I came of conscious during the Carter administration,. (grade school age) and it has had a profound effect on me.
I recall being amazed at the changes and progress we were making, when McDonalds dropped Styrofoam packaging it seemed if that could happen, ANYTHING could happen.

Then we lost track,. and in fact moved backwards in a HUGE way. The Greed culture of the '80s started it, but the momentum of teh progress we had been making did not truly die off untill another ten years or so later. By the Mid '90s few even remembered a time when conserving energy was important.

In 1979 30+ MPG cars were common place, My Dad's late '70's Mazda GLC got 42 MPG, and the similar Honda CIvic hatchback was high 38-39MPG. These cars were all over the road and Ford Chevy etc were all making there horrible attempts to copy them. VW Rabbitts were the rage, and "sporty" cars like Saab and Volvo even got mid 25 MPG or more.
By the mid 80's no one wanted a V*, turbo charged 4 cylinders and V6s ruled, and high school teenager like me could pick a fire breathing pure bred muscle car liek a 1970 Dodge charger with a 440 V8 for $500.00 bucks as no one wanted them. They were gas guzzlers.

The average was obviously far better then than it is now.

We've not only lost those 30 years but gone backwards considerably, and worse, taken a good part of Europe with us. In the mid 1970's you'd be hard pressed to find a huge gas guzzling car in Europe, now they are all the rage there As well. (though still not as far behind as in the US )

[narlus]

And they are up there driving in clean air, laughing at all the poor people behind them driving in somebody's exhaust fumes. Sometimes it's worth it to burn off an extra $.02 in fuel to get away from the crowd.

:lol:

[narlus]

In Texas, I believe I saw a statistic that close to half of the vehicles on the road were trucks/suv's. Texas is by far the largest truck market in the US. A large part of that is due the the large rural populate we have, where trucks are not just vehicles, they are tools to run/operate farms. Down here, it is just common for people to own them, there no vanity reasons why. There's a saying that you aren't a Texan if you don't own a pair of boots or drive a truck.

i don't doubt that a lot of people use them on farms...i'm just wondering about the 'cowboys' in Cummins 2500 or F-350s who drive around Houston, Dallas, or San Antonio...and don't get me started on those Escalade 'trucks'...

http://www.idcow.net/idcow/products/jd2001.jpg

[Killjoy]

this car:
http://www.autotropolis.com/car.review/2008/Chevrolet/HHR/fueleconomy.htm

gets 38 on the highway?

calibrate your odometer/speedometer.

The link you posted takes us to a page that shows that it gets 28 on the highway. Not 38.
I have a 2002 V6 Toyota Camry that gets around 32-34mpg on the highway. Unfortunately, that is my commute rat. :rolleyes:

[narlus]

The link you posted takes us to a page that shows that it gets 28 on the highway. Not 38.


right. i was posting that in response to midnight_rider's post, where (s)he claimed 38 mpg on the highway.

[yogestee]

also, people talk about about the US and how it's so spread out as compared to europe, but in europe it's very rare for people to have long commutes, and you can certainly choose where you live. now, if you have kids you need to contend w/ school systems in an urban setting vs suburban, but i think that having a 100 mile commute is insane in all ways.

narlus,,,but one can compare Australia with the US where our major cities are thousands of kilometers apart..Large country,,small population..Although we have a reasonably good train/flight service between these centres many people still prefer to drive if time allows..Driving holidays are still popular..

Unleaded regular in Australia is around 1.50AUD a litre I believe,,I haven't been home since August '07..There is talk of it being 2.00AUD by Christmas..

Fuel in the US is still heaps cheaper than in Australia..The sad bit is Australia is an oil producing country but our fuel prices are based on OPEC prices..1/3rd of the price we pay at the bowsers is tax,,,straight in the Government's pocket..

In the last 15 or so years smaller more fuel efficient cars are becoming more and more popular,,,although the Aussie made "6" (six cylinder) still rules the roads..

[Killjoy]

right. i was posting that in response to midnight_rider's post, where (s)he claimed 38 mpg on the highway.

And see here, I thought I read the whole thread. Sorry. :oops:
Thanks for the correction.

[Stocky]

I love driving, and I made a conscious decision to get a turbo charged car and a V6 truck. I got them knowing that I would pay a premium for them and I am ok with that. Most people complain about the fuel economy of the cars, but when it comes down to it they end up getting the big trucks, SUVs and full size cars anyway.
If people were all just a little less worried about keeping up with the Joneses then they would be getting 40 mpg.

Am I the only US resident that isn't all worked up over fuel prices?

[smcclelland]

I agree with Stocky... While I did buy my car before the giant spike of gas prices I knew that you had to pay to play. I hear all my friends and family complaining about $1.30/L and I laugh at it because my GTI will only take 94 octane at a lovely $1.51/L. If gas prices continue to rise then the GTI will just turn into a track car/nice day ride and I'll dial the boost back to accomodate the squirrel piss we pass off as 91 octane here in Canada.

[gardengirl13]

right. i was posting that in response to midnight_rider's post, where (s)he claimed 38 mpg on the highway.

i had a Honda civic that was rated for something like 32 highway, mine got 42 highway, you can do better then what is rated.

My subaru is only supposed to get 28 highway yet I get 36. And yes I test it every single time I fill up, I calculate how many miles I went the driving conditions and how much gas I put in. maybe both my cars were exceptions and came off the line that much better then the others, or it could be my driving style, or whatever, but all I know is how well my car does. Those are estimates only, you can do better or worse.

And yes, somehow my mother did get 60MPG back then. Not sure how she did it, but I remember braging to friends about how great the car did.


CDS the 2000's are a repeat of the horrible 1980's. Greed rules the world. It's the me generation to the max. I get so frustrated seeing how we're making the same mistakes we made only 20 years ago.

I read that driving slower can save around $.86 a gal.

[_aravena]

Here is my ideal car to solve this problem.

http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php

[Nightstalker]

UK diesel is now selling at $9.60 - $9.70 per US Gallon.

What am I doing about it - absolutely nothing except paying more.

Unfortunately for me fuel is an essential - I average 30,000 miles a year with my work - if I cut down my travelling I have to turn jobs away.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Am I the only US resident that isn't all worked up over fuel prices?

I think it's a good thing and want it to get a lot higher.
I'd like to see the prices FORCE us to be more contentious..
If that is the only way to get through to us, then so be it.

[Canon Soldier]

use one of these (http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/xebra-sedan)!

[Tandem]

I'm beginning to like the price of gas. There is a lot less traffic on the roads - less teenagers, SUV's, RV's, teenagers in SUV's, etc. The natural choke points going into the mountains are less congested. Driving seems like it was twenty years ago.

[AngryCorgi]

Here is my ideal car to solve this problem.

http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php

Maybe not...the first batch is shipping with single-speed transmissions because Tesla got in a pissing match with their tranny supply. The delay on this vehicle has been unbelievable so far. The current shipments have been told they will receive a 2-speed upgrade (for free, supposedly) when it becomes available, since all the people who put their deposits down were promised certains specifications. The early Teslas should be pretty slow off the line, until the upgrade, as Tesla is opting to run it in gearing for optimum range.

I was psyched about Tesla long ago, but they have been as disappointing on their time table as is possible. I'm eyeing the Volt in 2 years, as I believe GM will make the production date happen and the vehicle will be far more realistic in use than all-electric. Having a range extending fuel-based generator means the volt is more of an everyday vehicle.

[Killjoy]

Here is my ideal car to solve this problem.

http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php

Maybe not...the first batch is shipping with single-speed transmissions because Tesla got in a pissing match with their tranny supply. The delay on this vehicle has been unbelievable so far. The current shipments have been told they will receive a 2-speed upgrade (for free, supposedly) when it becomes available, since all the people who put their deposits down were promised certains specifications. The early Teslas should be pretty slow off the line, until the upgrade, as Tesla is opting to run it in gearing for optimum range.

I was psyched about Tesla long ago, but they have been as disappointing on their time table as is possible.


So are we talking about leaving a carbon footprint? Or the cost of fuel?
If it's the carbon footprint, then this is a realistic option. Until you get to the point of having to replace the batteries.

But at $100,000 us, you would have to do a hell of a lot of driving for the "savings" to pay off. You could buy a lot of fuel for the extra money.

[_aravena]

Maybe not...the first batch is shipping with single-speed transmissions because Tesla got in a pissing match with their tranny supply. The delay on this vehicle has been unbelievable so far. The current shipments have been told they will receive a 2-speed upgrade (for free, supposedly) when it becomes available, since all the people who put their deposits down were promised certains specifications. The early Teslas should be pretty slow off the line, until the upgrade, as Tesla is opting to run it in gearing for optimum range.

I was psyched about Tesla long ago, but they have been as disappointing on their time table as is possible. I'm eyeing the Volt in 2 years, as I believe GM will make the production date happen and the vehicle will be far more realistic in use than all-electric. Having a range extending fuel-based generator means the volt is more of an everyday vehicle.

Heard about that. I've been out of the car scene though for so long, just as the Tesla was first being mentioned. Quitting racing kinda made me drop out, best thing I've done though.

[AngryCorgi]

Heard about that. I've been out of the car scene though for so long, just as the Tesla was first being mentioned. Quitting racing kinda made me drop out, best thing I've done though.

Did undercover officer Brian O'Conner bust you and set you straight?



:lol:

[_aravena]

No, honestly when you never get caught you know it'll happen once so I kida quit while I was ahead. Also, money. Although this is only slightly cheaper. :lol:

Actually quite a bit, I never hesitated to get a $5000 turbo upgrade but on a camera or lens I think twice. Also can't earn as much money as quick. :D

[mangaloreaviators]

My Hero Honda gives a amazing 70Km/Litre. It is a 100CC Bike and made in INDIA.

[AngryCorgi]

Actually quite a bit, I never hesitated to get a $5000 turbo upgrade but on a camera or lens I think twice. Also can't earn as much money as quick. :D

What was your racing platform?

[_aravena]

'94 Eclipse GSX

[CyberDyneSystems]

I'm beginning to like the price of gas. There is a lot less traffic on the roads - less teenagers, SUV's, RV's, teenagers in SUV's, etc. The natural choke points going into the mountains are less congested. Driving seems like it was twenty years ago.

Exactly, Tax it even more, IMHO, and get the cost of home heating down instead.

[_aravena]

Yeah, my rents just suffered from a high electric bill relating to rising gas prices. Although I think something else supplied the high cost.

[Tandem]

I had a lady in an SUV in front of me who was driving so slowly she couldn't merge onto a highway so she decided to stop at the end of the acceleration lane. Not only that, when she finally did get a long enough gap that any normal person would fit into she accelerated like she was on an uber fuel economy run - very slooooowly. I was behind her watching the traffic behind us in the mirror closing at a high rate of speed and wondering if I was going to be the meat in the sandwich of the "big one". Fortunately everyone seemed to get slowed down enough to avoid hitting each other as it caused quite a big ripple effect.

There is a time for slow and a time for go and merging onto a busy highway is definitely a time to go. It isn't worth saving $.02 worth of gas if you cause a wreck doing it.

Ok, rant over, sorry for the interruption. :)

[blueM]

I would have answered more than one, I given the choice. I replaced my large SUV, last Aug with a small SUV which gets 20-25 % better fuel economy.

I've also changed my driving habits to reduce trips or length when I can

[Jim G]

Ride a bike more. It's working well so far and I've just about halved my fuel consumption. The only time I've driven to the shops in the past 6 months is to pick up two 12-litre water cases and there's no way I'm carting those about on my treddlie :p

[wardie]

I've quit driving to work in the past few weeks as I have a 150Km round trip commute daily. With the petrol prices here nudging AU$1.70 a litre it has become too much. I now catch the train and then a bus each way for $16.00 per day which has close to halved my spend on transport. The down side is that I had turned a 1 hour trip into 2.5 hours each way.

Wardie

[TMaG82]

I just recently came back from a 3 week trip to Japan/Korea where the gas crunch was just starting to hit. It's probably a lot worse now. At the time gas was starting to creep up, it started at around 1800 ($1.80) won per liter in most places and rose to around 1900 ($1.90) won per liter in most places and in Seoul hit over 2000 ($2.00) won per liter. Not that bad if it were per gallon, but on average a small Camra sized car would get about 50-60 liters. So you're talking about $100-130 to fill up a smaller car, probalby $150-180 to fill up a larger car. On that end people have started to buy LPG or gas powered cars which cut the costs in about half but still would put the fuel costs at around the US average. The only saving redemption in Korea is that there is a ton of public transportation with buses going to every major city and not costing that much ($20-30 for a 3+ hour bus ride). And pretty much all of the major cities are within 3-6 hours of each other. In the US if you drive for 3+ hours you'd be lucky to cross into another state on occassion. You drive for 3 hours in Korea and you'd pass through at least 50-60% of the country, you drive for 3 hours in the US and you'd pass through maybe 2% of the country.

The US has been hit hard since we're not used to the high cost of fuel but it's a lot worse elsewhere.

[OdiN1701]

I bought a new 4WD SUV is what I did!

[rklepper]

Well I purchased a Toyota Tacoma which gets 28 MPG on the highway and a Cannondale Street Premium which gets about 650 kcal per mile.:D

[rklepper]

I bought a new 4WD SUV is what I did!

Great. the sooner we use up all this pesky oil, the sooner we start working more diligently on alternatives. On your dime though, of course.:D

[slimninj4]

Well now that the US corn crops are hurting because of the weather the prices will skyrocket soon for that. The farmers were expecting to bring in millions this year with a clean crop but most of it is wiped.

The wife and I have cars so we have not made many changes concerning gas. We only use one on the weekends but I was thinking of getting a scooter to drive to work (10 miles) during the dry days. I not sure if 2000K for a scooter is something I can do right now though.

[20droger]

Get a bicycle. 10 miles is nothing on a bike, at least after the first few times.

[NZDoug]

For the last 100 years, people would drive for entertainment.
Marshall McLune (Medium is The Message),or was it Alvin Tofler,( Future Shock)? said travelling took away modern mans frustrations,as he didnt do the hunter gather thing.
World in changes. :D