By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
X-560
Not to mention, XM sat service and an 11 speaker Bose system. Climate control would be nice on the warm days and cool days.
Still not sure how the NHTSA allows them on the road without seat belts, crumple zones and air bags :sick:
Two 70 some year old guys are driving a pair of the 500cc models across the country.
Also weighing in on the exercise issue - I don't find that I get a good aerobic workout on a bike ridden in town or the city, as there are too many stops and times I coast or don't pedal hard. If I want aerobic exercise I do 25 min. on an elliptical (cross-country skiing motion using arms and legs) in a safe gym.
For years, she relied on public transportation, her bicycle and the kindness of friends and relatives to get around. So, we figured that getting her a scooter might expand her horizons, specifically when it came to employment.
So, for about $2500, we got her a 49cc scooter and a helmet. No insurance, no license necessary. She gets around just fine on it and in fact is now holding a job at a location about 3-4 miles from where she lives.
I have a co-worker who uses a scooter to commute. What's funny is that he's 6'3" and rides it almost year round (other than when the weather is really crappy). He and his family moved to a new house to be closer to the office (wife is a stay at home mom).
"If" I had a safe bike path (which I don't) to ride from my house to various places, I still might want to incur the expense of $4+ gas for a car rather than sit on a bike. Have heard through the years that a bike seat might cause harm to a part within a man's body.
Good question, How much does the biker weigh? How much does the bike weigh? what type of tires does the bike have? How aerodynamic is the bike? Are you riding in a hilly area or is it flat? Which way is the wind blowing and how fast? Is there a lot of stop and go riding or is it a constant pace? Whats the gear ratio of the bike?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I don't know about other places, however in NYC there is no such thing as affordable housing close to downtown work centers... try finding a 3 bedroom apartment in midtown! If you can afford it, you can afford the gas that you are spending driving in from suburbia. I last lived in Manhattan in 2001, and on E 39 St in a nice building, my 1 bedroom went for over $1600, not to mention the $300 for parking in the basement. NYC is different, and with our mass transit, many folks live in the outer boroughs and commute via subway etc, however millions pour in via car every day.
Telecommuting is a technologically viable choice, however many large companies frown on the practice. Ironically, I worked for a telecom company, that sold the stuff, however frowned on telecommuting for employees! As an example, I was based in NY and had one employee in Texas. She had no people reporting to her, yet folks got twisted when I let her work from home - we are still not good at measuring results, so we feel better if we can "watch" people.
Where I live in the suburbs I have not locked my car or front door in 25 years. 8 miles away in the small city( pop. 100,000) an eight year-old girl was blown off her front steps by some 15 year-old thug tossing bullets at a rival down the block.
If that's what the city has to offer I'll take a third job to pay for my gas out here.
I think crime, or the perception of crime is what is keeping people from moving back to the cities. Saving money pales next to saving your kids.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Yes, indeed. I reported last week that I'm getting 217.6 mpg on mine.
Also, I have a friend who lives in Canada and does not own a motor vehicle. However, she has several bikes and pedals the 4 miles each way to work YEAR ROUND. She says there are a few intense days during the winter where she resorts to the bus but not often. She once did a century ride when the temp was 15F below zero.
On the cardiovascular fitness thing, I had one of my better (more fun) rides to work today. The wind was blowing with me and the temp was in the low 70s. With those favorable conditions I managed to get in and stay in the wake of a few passing dump trucks and draft them at 35 mph for a few minutes. If someone doesn't think cycling gets the heart pumping they should try that exercise.
RUG is still hovering at $3.84/gal today.
For being the Land of the Free, our cities are far from free of crime. The other negative to city living is noise. Horns, sirens, gunshots, loud music and screaming people. I will take my quiet patio with no road noise, only birds and crickets. Life is too short to worry about the price of gas.
I live in a city, and in my neighborhood if it rains on a summer day there is always a rush of folks out to close car windows, the UPS guy has left shipments of tires on my front steps and our idea of crime was some kid stealing my valve caps to use on his bike. We had a shooting a few years ago - some guy committed suicide.
I guess my point is that tragedy can happen anywhere, and that crime can happen anywhere, or not. I guess most small towns could safely eliminate police departments if there was no crime anywhere other than cities.
And plenty of people continue to move to the cities - Vancouver BC has added 70,000 downtown residents (and a new elementary school) in the last few years. (Seattlepi.com and another PI link)
On the other hand, I think I've read that LA only has ~6,000 full time downtown residents, but I think they are changing their zoning and building code laws to make living downtown easier.
Given a choice, I'd much rather be out & about in Manhattan after midnight than Poughkeepsie.
I know plenty of people living in the sticks, I would not recommend breaking into any of their homes when they are there.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Most definitely. We certainly have had our problems here just like any other city. There were some parts of our inner city that had become very run down and were havens for our societal underbelly. A few brave entrepreneurs, our persistent arts community, and a stepped up police effort have cleaned up most of that. Now I feel comfortable downtown with my family anytime we go there. We don't live there, but I have a few friends who do, and I can see how it could appeal to some. My friends love it and their walking commute.
There were plenty who felt it wasn't worth the effort, including me, but it has worked very well so far. Funny thing is, the re-development so far doesn't look anything like those studies said it should, and our city planners have continued to support sprawl.
Personally I think I'm more like you. I grew up in farm country and prefer a little room to stretch out. My wife is the city girl. I more or less put up with visiting her hometown, Baltimore, with her.
I grew up in those sticks. You speak wisely Grasshopper.
And in that case, what about dedicated bike paths? Is it legal to ride them there?
There is a 1-mile stretch of my commute where the only way over the hill is the freeway itself, or a bike path that runs parallel - those are the only two choices. One of these 50cc scooters obviously isn't going over the hill on the freeway, but what about the bike path? Assuming I would keep my speed down to bike-type speeds, of course.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
" Despite their opposing positions in the Justice Department antitrust case against Microsoft, Klein was able to work with the Gates Foundation to fund small high schools in New York. At the 43 small high schools funded by the Gates Foundation graduation rates are 73% compared to 53% at the schools they replaced. "
Also interesting to note '97 was the year of the asian contagion ,supposed recession in asia spurred on by the collapse of the Thai Baht. Thai Baht ? lol. Any way it lasted about 8-9 months or so aided by Long Term Capital Management ( first mega hedge fund) collapse in the summer.Any one remember where oil was in the first quarter of '98 ? $11 per bbl. That didn't last long.....
the oil market doth love it's extremes.
Around here paths like that any motiorized vehicle would be banned.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
There were definatly problems, since this was the time of 'American Gangster' and Nicky Barnes and Son of Sam. But with foresight and street smarts there never was much trouble. Actually the situation just got better and better all the time.
When in college I drove a cab 6PM to 5AM in the summers. Again nada.
You were good enough to play at West 4th? Nice!
The rest I can't tell you about, sorry blog rules. But if you'll use a little initiative and do some Google searching, you just might find the answers. Of course, you'll find 100's of schemes and scams first, but there are a couple that actually work, so happy hunting. Stan
that's the smallest percentage difference I've ever seen between those.
also, 4.79 diesel, 20% more price to get 40% more mpg... ok...
We are also discussing driving vehicles which get more mpg than your Ford Ranger; and the future viability of these high mileage technologies.
Yeah.... but that pesky diesel nozzle refuses to fit my car...
This discussion is much more diverse than just exploring how to increase MPG's. Certainly that topic has been fleshed out in here quite a bit, and no doubt it will come up again many times. I guess fuel efficiency is the logical umbrella topic the Carspace staff has available to give some sense of what one might find in this forum, but we really talk about a variety choices and changes that folks are making to deal with increased fuel prices. Sometimes the direction of the discussion is influenced by a news item related to those choices, such as the current thread on moving to reduce commute distance or time, and folks weigh in on various trade-offs associated with those choices and changes. It may seem very off topic, but if someone is considering moving to save on fuel costs, there are other factors to consider to see if the move makes sense. Factors like safety, crime rates, quality of life, noise, living expenses, and quality of the schools. Even when the discussion centers on buying a more fuel efficient car, I'm not surprised if someone mentions issues like cargo capacity, seating, comfort, financing or insurance costs, or even simple vanity.
Anyway, you mention you drive an '08 Ranger. 1000 miles a week is extreme. What did you drive before the Ranger? Did you have the same job? I'd love to hear some particulars about how your budget has been affected if you are willing to share.
IIRC, Edmunds looked at this as one of the things to tweak a while back, and didn't find a major improvement. That said, I do know when my tires are quite low, MPGs drop from 20 to 18. What I've read and experienced is it's good to put them at the max recommended in the manual, but not much to be gained above that.
Very high tire pressure = bone jarring ride
and
Low tire pressure = lower fuel economy
Let me guess, promises about 20% increased fuel efficiency?
Bingo.
Carry on. :shades:
Back in 2003, when gas first went to $2 per gallon, people complained and the economy paused, but gas prices retreated, and everything seemed okay.
Then in 2005, prices spiked again (remember Hurricane Katrina?). Later, in 2006, the national average touched $3/gallon, but the economy continued to absorb the excess. Everything seemed fine, again, when gas dropped back to $2 by the winter of '06.
But in 2007, we saw $3 again. Now in 2008, we're at $4.
The point is, the days of the price spikes and the predictable retreats seem to have ended, and THAT'S what is fueling our pain. We (meaning the economy) can handle temporary swings, but we can't take perpetually-high prices.
$4/gal. sustained is a painful game-changer for the U.S. economy. They finally found our breaking point.
.
Agreed, and it's going to have major effects on the "big" 3. WSJ article about Chrysler, where the new pres says it's problems are because of the old Detroit mindset. Hmmm...no mention of having next to nothing in the showrooms people want to buy at $4/gallon. That stunning ignorance will result in lots of pain, in the form of shuttered plants an out-of-work employees.
You're right. There does seem to be broad consensus that the era of cheap oil is essentially over. On the flip side we have the Saudis telling us they have plenty of oil to feed us for the next 100 years or so, so just relax, no worries. Just like a good drug dealer huh?
We'll see. I do think it is a safe bet that we will not see cheap gasoline again, and that is indeed a game changer. Differing from you a bit, I think we can take it even though there will be some pain. Not to belittle the point, but it's just a matter of figuring out how the game has been redefined. That is a challenge for the car manufacturers, energy suppliers, municipal planners, politicians (ugh!), regular Joes, and our society at large.
Maybe I just prefer to be optimistic, but I think we will figure it out.
or something like that
I guess we all have made choices that have left us exposed to the pain.
I thought Chrysler hired him from Toyota to break that mindset. What is he doing to earn the BIG BUCKS? I cannot believe it is only the posters on Edmund's that see the Big 3 mess caused by the Detroit Mindset.
To be fair, Nardelli's comments are condemning of that mindset. He calls it outdated, and he is speaking more to management practices and business habits rather than product mix. Obviously Chrysler's product mix blows right now, and they need to do something about that fast. Press is working on the mix, Nardelli is working on the fast part. Not sure if it will be fast enough.
Yes they have. And guess who financed their comeback?
Guess who will finance the NEXT comeback, whether it's Chrysler, GM, or Ford?
I also think that with a bigger, torquier engine, tire pressure won't matter as much. But with an engine that's smaller, in a car that's designed for peak fuel economy, it would probably take a bigger toll. For instance, a Crown Vic or pickup might not lose much economy if the pressure gets too low, but with something like a Prius, where every component is dedicated to squeezing every mile possible out of a gallon of gas, it would probably be critical. Oh, and if you're in a Corvair, you might want to watch your pressure! :surprise:
One thing I noticed that was kinda odd, when I was cleaning out my '76 LeMans today. The tire pressure sticker in the glovebox calls for 30 psi up front, 28 in the rear. :confuse: Kinda odd that it would call for less in the back, but would 2 psi be enough to bother? At least with the Corvair, they called for 15 up front, 26 in the back, which was a pretty notable difference.
Yes they have. And guess who financed their comeback?
Various banks and other institutions who are in the business of lending money financed their comeback. And Chrysler paid off those loans in 1983, about 5-6 years ahead of schedule, interest and all. Didn't cost the taxpayers a dime.
Now...had Chrysler NOT made a comeback, and floundered, that would have been a different story.