US Gas Prices

[EternalLife]

Capt. Ann, if your husband doesn't know how lucky he is, smack him upside the head once or twice for me. And, do you know who Guy Penrod is......

 

[rajas]

But the problem is that 80% of the people that own trucks and SUV's will never use them for pulling or hauling anything. They just like them because they are big and expensive. Then these people complain about gas prices. "It cost me $80 to fill up my tank yesterday!"... well who's fault is that now?

Whatever, I've gotten up to 38 mpg with my Civic while commuting 40 miles to school every day.

 

[ErezS]

Diesel fuel has a slightly slower expansion rate then gasoline resulting in longer power strokes, combine that with the smaller lighter size of the Volvo and you have better acceleration. The rapid shorter bursts of power from a gasoline engine and heavier body and frame produce a smoother ride and better highspeed handling (open freeway). Diesel engines are actually more efficient overall but gas engines are much easier to start in cold weather. The older Chrysler sedan is not a real good comparrison, I guarantee you won't find any problems with acceleration in any series of American muscle car or the trucks.

Despite what you hear most of us don't drive SUVs and gas guzzuling Lincolns and Cadillacs. The SUV is a very recent trend, after the gas crunch of the 1970s japanese imports and small economy cars almost totally dominated the market. Public transportation is often almost non-existant in some places and what is in place is woefully not adaquet. If you are lucky your daily commute is under 20 miles, for most its closer to 30 miles one way. We don't always drive because we are lazy, it's because we have no alternative, we have things to do and strict deadlines. It's a cut-throat free market, if you won't get there in under an hour, your competeitor will.

 

[sangreviento]

Wow! Thanks for the complement, Kwaj! My husband tells me almost every day how much he loves me, and 16 yrs after the fact, I still think that I'm the one who got the better end of the deal when we got married.

And yes, I know who Guy Penrod is. I actually met him once (briefly) at a convention. Are you a Gaither fan?

 

[Beatriz]

Missing the point there...if fuel goes up, everything goes up.
And besides the big issue in this country is the fact we are charged fuel duty ( a tax ) and then Value Added Tax on top of this. Effectively a tax on a tax.....clever stuff!

Only other people who get away with this are of course banks who charge you interest on interest.

I have heard though, that a deisel engine will run on vegetable oil with few modifications. Currently costing around 30p Per litre for cheap crap from asda/tesco. Might be worth a thought.

My car...206 diesel, removed the EGR and CAT to give more MPG ( well over 50 per gallon )

Other car...v6 Capri ( about 24 per gallon if I drive sensible, but whos kidding who? rear wheel drive, tyre smoking fun fun fun! ) I wanted a dodge charger, but they are like hens teeth over here.

 

[AjO]

This makes me think biodiesel or ethanol wich from my limited understanding can both be produced from crops like corn/soybeans, and the USA is very good at growing stuff. Also I heard biodiesel can be used in any diesel machine. I don't believe hydrogen will be viable until electricity is cheaply produced, then we might as well go electric right?

 

[theprophetforany]

Not missing the point. At the time I chimed in, the point was simply gas prices. Ergo, no point to miss until all the economists hopped in pointing out how everything is going to go up in price, which, surprisingly I haven't seen yet.

 

[DuckieMom]

HUGELY......