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Comments
I'm with you on all the high tech being a waste and a big repair bill after the warranty expires. I think cars today are being built as disposables. Put a 150K miles and recycle it.
I think technology is unable to solve the problem of human greed, the main pillar of our civilization. Sure, high tech can solve technical problems - spark plug timing or torque distribution. The chip pro'lly costs $10. If it fails, the automaker will charge $2000 to replace it (including a 5min labor). Technology cannot solve this problem.
Another example: DRL is an expensive safety option in Toyota Sienna, often bundled with others. On some website, they tell people how to insert a fuse or a link in the fuse box to get DRL for free, which is available in every car but deactivated. Can you guess why Toyota doesnt offer this option for $5 or free on a $25000 vehicle?
I think it hurts the car makers' business if car-reliability is too high and cars are driven for 10-12 years or 500K miles, or if they dont depreciate. Solution - use electronics to disable the car - intentionally sabotage it - right after the warranty expires. And its all in the electronics and their proprietary software - no one can complain. Cool way to generate extra profit from selling/recycling more cars. I wish I could buy a car today with absolutely no electronic memory.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Survey: Gas prices post first drop since January (CNN)
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Any way, I put well over 100k miles on all of them and had each one over 13 years. The 75 Chevy pick-up had over 200k when I gave it away.
Currently we own a 94 Ford Ranger with 120K and a 93 Ford Explorer with 190K miles. I plan to replace the Explorer with a new car in the next 12 to 18 months and I hope that new vehicle will be a diesel.
I would guess from my car buying history, I’m not a huge asset to the auto industry.
BTW, All except the Ranger were new when purchased, the Ranger was 2 years old
Our monthly fuel bill is running $150 to $225 with gas being $3.23 -$3.45 a gal.
My solution to $4.00 a gallon gas is to buy a diesel, if and when they get here.
Msindallas, as for technology, I’m kind of looking forward to some aspects of it, but apprehensive about most of it. I like the idea of the oil life display and running mpg, but too much other stuff to go wrong.
I don't think any of them got worse than ~18 mpg. 20 mpg overall was always the target when shopping.
My 2k6 Nissan NISMO 4x4 with 7K miles on the OD gets a steady 19-20 MPG in mix driving so I'm comfortable with that.
I still see people driving 80+ in a 65-70 posted areas so maybe $5/gal will make more of a statement.
As for revving up the Scion xA, that's a waste of gasoline. There's no power up there near redline. That's the case for most very small displacement engines. I have a *sense* now of where my engine's powerband is (a dyno test is the best way I think) and so 4800 rpm or so is my intuitive sense of where anything useful might be hiding in terms of power. :P
Of course, engines like a Honda S2000's, or a motorcycle engine, would be a whole different story. And for a small-ish turbo diesel, I'd expect even below 4500 rpm is plenty good. And for older diesel cars, 3500 is more than enough.
:-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I always wonder if people are tight on $ what do they give up first - lottery tickets, cell phones, cable TV, McDonald's or gasoline? If gasoline is the last thing people give up, then we can expect demand to stay high and the prices will go up.
If I continue to drive at 65 mph, my gas mileage improvements (if they prove correct) will save me, at the current price of $3.43 a gallon, about $250 a year.
If the price of gas were $5, this restrained driving will save me $350 per year.
If I did NOT continue this restrained driving, but merely DROVE LESS, I would have to drive approx. 13,500 per year rather than 16,000 per year.
I could in fact do this by using a bicycle for all local errands. Of course this is only an option for people in fairly temperate climates. But it could easily be done.
And even at 5,000 miles per year, if I really wanted to deprive myself I could really cut it to the bone. My round trip commute is 7 miles per day, and there's a gas station and a grocery store on the way. I figure if I really wanted to rough it, I could cut my driving back to under 2,000 per year. But it would be a pretty boring life.
You must drive almost 100% highway miles. I'd guess that the average motorist drives no more than 50% of his yearly miles at speeds of 65 mph or higher. And since your highway mileage is going to be better it probably only accounts for about 40% of the fuel you consume. So let's say you burn 600 gallons per year, fairly typical. About 250 was burned in highway driving and 350 in city driving. If slowing down on highways improved your fuel economy by 10-15% your talking around a fuel savings of roughly 30 gallons per year, or $100. Most people aren't going to care about that.
Is anybody actually suggesting that we slow down in all situations? I guarantee that I get better mileage in 5th gear travelling at 50 mph than I do in third gear at 30 mph. If saving fuel is of such paramount importance maybe we should be speeding up sometimes?
Yup, me too. And when a problem surfaces, they will just claim oversight. Makes you wonder how much you should trust these people. Regards, - MS.
I like that. "Look, officer, I'm only doing my part to reduce gasoline consumption.".....
Did anybody try this? Is it feasible and legal? How about safety issues? We could also try 20 of those 20gal red plastic cans for saving those 400 gals of gas.
edit-Also wouldn't want stale gas - gas stations have rapid turnover, you'd have to worry about varnish, condensation, etc. Not worth it for the $$ involved.
me: Agree. If you're going downhill and you want to save fuel you shouldn't be braking. To optimize fuel mpg the speed limits should be waived when reasonable, so people can coast further and faster at the bottoms. I drive in hilly country and I know it makes a definite difference whether I go 50 or coast at 75mph.
The other thing we could implement is that if no other traffic is coming at a red light, you can proceed thru the light after stopping. Why have vehicles sitting there idling for 30 sec. unnecessarily? The person opting to proceed from the red would be responsible of course for any accident (just like turning right-on-red).
Also, inept little cities such as my own should be forced to sequence their stoplights to match traffic patterns, and not allow lights to remain on weekday sequencing during weekends. How much less gas would be consumed if city traffic planners would actually do something to earn their pay and pensions?
I've heard that rolling stops are ok in England; one to save gas, and two, it's easier to keep moving in a manual if you don't have to come to a complete stop at an intersection.
Roundabouts help too.
Doesn't it use about a minute's worth of gas to turn the car back on? That's what they used to tell us....
Test #6 Avoid Excessive Idling
Longer than a minute - isn't that what I said? Is someone playing mind games with me?......
I can think of several light in the area where that would actually be useful.
Right now I have taken to slowing down and accelerating and decelerating more slowly. I haven't measured the actual improvement other than to approximate it in my head but it's definitely there.
If I keep driving like this I may have to where a hat and leave my left turn signal on.
The next question is how hard is all that starting on your starter. How do hybrids do it? "Rolling" starts when the gas engine kicks in?
The fun thing will be in August when we go camping. I can shove everything we need, including the people, inside the van but it's like a puzzle and you have to reassemble every time you stop. It's one reason we upped to the EX and the current Ody - roof rack. So I'll save 10% by going slower and give half of it back with the cap.
However, if you have an older, carbureted vehicle where it'll fire back up with just a turn of the key, and no pumping on the gas pedal, I wonder if the threshold would still be about a minute? I know once they get old and out of tune, sometimes you have to pump the pedal once or twice before turning the key, but sometimes you get lucky and find one that doesn't need that.
I think the last time I changed a starter I was indeed the one changing it. My brother's car had died in a parking lot. A friend and I pulled the old starter, went over to an auto parts store and got a new one and put it in. Piece of cake. I'm sure they've ambushed them like everything else now and I would need enough equipment to launch a space shuttle for teh job.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that little "inconvenience". I think the last time I burned up a starter, it cost about $250 to replace. That was one of those little crappy lightweight starters on a 1989 Gran Fury ex-police car. And I can only presume that they've gotten more expensive since then. :sick:
If it is okay to turn right if there's no traffic, why couldn't we also turn left or right after coming to a stop at a red-light? people judge traffic in all directions when they are at a Stop sign.
Why can't we go faster down a hill so we can coast? yes it is slightly less safe, but we as a society let people drive up to 75mph, when we know the roads would be safer at 45mph. Instead you'll usually find a cop at the bottom of the hill, and will penalize you for saving fuel by coasting.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I used to do that, before I moved a few years ago. The shortest distance between my condo and my job was about 12.5 miles. I usually took a slightly more roundabout way that was about 15 miles, but had 7 or 8 fewer traffic lights and much less congestion. The 15 mile route usually took me about 20-25 minutes, whereas the 12.5 mile commute was usually 25-35.
In addition to the brakes, transmission, tires, etc, I might've even saved a bit of fuel on the longer trip, as I spent a lot less time idling in traffic, speeding up and then stopping, etc.
Now while I was in the service during the last of the gas crises' in the late 70's we joked about stealing a loaded tanker truck and burying it on the base and attaching a pump to it. I figured it might be easier to just buy a diesel and use the fuel we had for the boats.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Well since I can barely go a week without having to slam on my breaks or make an emergency swerve to avoid the idiot who made the right turn on red 10 feet in front of me such a rule would cause me great concern.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick