fennec fox
ferrets ferrets ferrets ferrets FERRETS!!!
Dude, insurrection is not going to help my gas bill!Doth Togo said:
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So has gas hit $3.00 anywhere in the US yet?
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Gas is around 2.30 here now. I can usually go about 2 weeks on a tank, though I've managed to go 3 on the current tank. Filling up 20+ gallons just feels like getting slapped in the face...I remember when 1.50 was outrageous.
Having a V8 Jeep is a love/hate relationship I guess.
Having a V8 Jeep is a love/hate relationship I guess.
I live more or less down the street from Cooper, and premium prices (required for my car) are $2.77/gal at my default gas station. OUCH.
As much as I love my car, I might be reading reviews on the Accord Hybrid soon. I have a thankfully short commute to work, but I'm sensing a trend here...
As much as I love my car, I might be reading reviews on the Accord Hybrid soon. I have a thankfully short commute to work, but I'm sensing a trend here...
All I know, when I look at the gas pump it says :
".45 per gallon is tax"
Then I drive across shitty roads to take my wife to teach at a public school that is barely staying afloat with no money and little supplies.
Where the fuck is that 45 cents per gallon going?
That's the real crime in gas prices, but no one seems to care.
".45 per gallon is tax"
Then I drive across shitty roads to take my wife to teach at a public school that is barely staying afloat with no money and little supplies.
Where the fuck is that 45 cents per gallon going?
That's the real crime in gas prices, but no one seems to care.
-jinx- said:
Bah, the money you'll blow on a Hyrbid Accord will basically cancel out the money you save on gas. Just pick up their Insight. Ugly as fuck and gets close to 70MPG for the standard. It's win-win! Every little aspect of that car is designed with fuel economy in mind, plus it's actually got a good safety rating and warranty.
jobber
Would let Tony Parker sleep with his wife
tedtropy said:I think you misunderstand the purpose of shortcuts.
Nah, if I drove the normal way to work without taking the highway, which can be a pain in the ass in the mornings, it would take me 20+ minutes. I work downtown and with construction reducing traffic to 1 lane, I just take the side streets through the hood.
Why are hybrid cars purposely made incredibly ugly?tedtropy said:
Bah, the money you'll blow on a Hyrbid Accord will basically cancel out the money you save on gas. Just pick up their Insight. Ugly as fuck and gets close to 70MPG for the standard. It's win-win! Every little aspect of that car is designed with fuel economy in mind, plus it's actually got a good safety rating and warranty.
demon said:
While I can't speak for others, the Insight is designed with fuel economy emphasized over EVERYTHING. For as ugly as it looks, the car is shaped to be as aerodynamic as possible, down to the fugly wheel covers in the back. It won't get you laid, but with the money you save on gas, you could splurge and get a hooker WITH teeth.
jadehorizon1
Member
Maybe asking this is a little too deep for this thread but if electric cars are indeed crap and non exsistent ... when oil eventually becomes a rarity and reaches prices no normal person (me) could afford ... then what? I mean please tell me someone out there is thinking ahead?? ... I mean the hybrids are ok, and I'll be the first to admit I have way too much pride to be caught driving one of those, but they still use gas ... I dont know how long the earth will still have oil at the rate we use it ... 20, 30, 40, 50 years? Esspecially with China's economy ready to explode. I'm not saying, lets make protest signs and march on the white house, but im genuniely concerned ... am I the only one?
I do remember the chemistry majors here got a car to run on bananas and lemons a few years ago
I do remember the chemistry majors here got a car to run on bananas and lemons a few years ago
-jinx- said:
I am sorry to insult you, current or future hybrid owner.
I have already seen hybrids that, you know, don't look like design school rejects.
If you spend 40,000 on a new car .. it should at least look appealing to the eye. So what if it isn't optimised to aerodyamic perfection. Its still leagues better than the combustion engine alternative.
So, I go back to my original statement. If you buy that car it is to be an attention whore. You can buy a hybrid that looks like a typical sedan.
jadehorizon1 said:
We all turn on each other, society falls into anarchy and, with much time and hardship, some brave scientific pioneer develops a car powered by the blood of the vanquished. America resumes full course.
There are (at least) three technical/economic difficulties with moving to an alternative energy source:xsarien said:
1) Infrastructure. If you buy a car which uses anything other than gasoline, where do you refuel it? From an economic point of view, it's a Catch-22: People will not open refueling stations for fuel X until people start buying lots of vehicles which use X...but people will not buy a vehicle which runs on X until it is convenient to operate it.
2) Energy density. Gasoline is extremely energy-dense compared to most other alternative fuels, meaning that you get more mileage per equivalent weight/volume of fuel with gasoline than anything else. Alternative fuel vehicles will either have to have more space to store fuel (reducing passenger size or increasing the size of the vehicle), or will have to refuel more often, which compounds the difficulty in #1 above.
3) Commonality with legacy designs. Without access to economies of scale, manufacturing anything becomes very expensive. If alternative fuel vehicles require the design and manufacture of specialized parts, the vehicles will be more expensive to produce, more expensive to buy, and more expensive to service, so the lifecycle cost savings may be negated.
I'm staying away from the political aspects of the puzzle, but clearly, overcoming the list above will require significant government investment and incentive. Since these changes will require a lot of lead time to implement, waiting until a crisis happens will be far too late.
Transition to a new fuel wouldn't be done in a week. The hybrids are still far from ready to replace petrol cars *looking at that Insignia picture* but they're in the right direction. A slow shift from gas only to hybrind is just a beginning - later on, the hybrids will become dual fuel. A hybrid that produces electricity from both gasoline and propane or ethanol would be the first step.
Can't wait for the first diesel powered hybrid to hit production. Since diesel engines are a lot more economicam in nature and produce greater torque, it would probably get up to 100 miles to the galon. Folks living in the country could fill it up with filtered waste vegetable oil (homegrown) mixed with a spoon of spirit (bio ethanol) or any other additive and forget what a gas station looks like.
There's been ways to use alternative fuels for a long time now, but guess what? OIL industry makes so much money, that it rules the world and people profiting on it, don't really embrace the idea of people stoping using petrol.
Can't wait for the first diesel powered hybrid to hit production. Since diesel engines are a lot more economicam in nature and produce greater torque, it would probably get up to 100 miles to the galon. Folks living in the country could fill it up with filtered waste vegetable oil (homegrown) mixed with a spoon of spirit (bio ethanol) or any other additive and forget what a gas station looks like.
There's been ways to use alternative fuels for a long time now, but guess what? OIL industry makes so much money, that it rules the world and people profiting on it, don't really embrace the idea of people stoping using petrol.
videogamer
Banned
1. Are the other hybrids that look like "typical sedanToxicAdam said:
2. How do you come to the conclusion that Insight drivers are "attention whores"? Are you perhaps saying that people who drive unusual or ugly (in your opinion) cars do it for the attention?
Actionman: The Insight no longer accurately represents how hybrid technology is being used today.
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/3q00/honda/insight-3.html
The Insight is just too hardcore to be popular, besides it's not even that economical by todays scale. The Toyota Prius on the other hand looks like a normal car and has even better mileage than the 0.6L Insight. Prius proves hybrids are not just for crazy environmentalists (and you really have to LOVE the planet, to even consider buying a car as ugly as Insight). Hell, I'd buy Prius as a daily driver. There's only one "but".
..the hybrids don't really give you the best gas mileage you can get! It's just clever marketing. And since gas mileage is what they're all about, they're not really ready to take over.
Any of these cars will get a better gas mileage than any of the Hybrids out there today:
Audi A2 1.2 TDI, Seat Arosa 1.2 TDI, Volkswagen Lupo 1.2 TDI, Smart CitySmart 0.8 DCI, Citroen AX 1.4D.
The 1.2 TDI diesel engine, developed by Volkswagen, depending on the cars weight (the Audi A2 is from aluminium and is very light), will give you up to 100 miles to the galon of diesel (Audi A2 gets 103. The Lupo gets 95)!!!
Yep, they're tiny and not all that pretty, but hey - they're pretier than the Insight hybrid and will give you 40 more miles to the galon.
What I'm really waiting for is for Toyota to develop a hybrid diesel of the equivalent size as the VW unit. A 1.2 - 1.3 diesel hybrid would probably get mileage close to 130-150, now that will be a hybrid worth buying.
..the hybrids don't really give you the best gas mileage you can get! It's just clever marketing. And since gas mileage is what they're all about, they're not really ready to take over.
Any of these cars will get a better gas mileage than any of the Hybrids out there today:
Audi A2 1.2 TDI, Seat Arosa 1.2 TDI, Volkswagen Lupo 1.2 TDI, Smart CitySmart 0.8 DCI, Citroen AX 1.4D.
The 1.2 TDI diesel engine, developed by Volkswagen, depending on the cars weight (the Audi A2 is from aluminium and is very light), will give you up to 100 miles to the galon of diesel (Audi A2 gets 103. The Lupo gets 95)!!!
Yep, they're tiny and not all that pretty, but hey - they're pretier than the Insight hybrid and will give you 40 more miles to the galon.
What I'm really waiting for is for Toyota to develop a hybrid diesel of the equivalent size as the VW unit. A 1.2 - 1.3 diesel hybrid would probably get mileage close to 130-150, now that will be a hybrid worth buying.
-jinx- said:
That's all really interesting; I remember reading an issue of Wired back in 2002, in it was an article about hyrdogen fueled cars that stated they should be able to get 250-300 miles per gallon! I always thought that claim was a bit far-fetched... plus, as you said, if you have to refuel more often with these cars, then it kind of defeats the purpose of owning one.
I'll bite into the political and corporate aspect of hydrogen-fueled cars: a lot of corporations tied closely to the government (*cough*halliburton*cough) will have a shitfit in 2012/whenever these vehicles start to become popular. You can bet they'll stop at nothing to convice the consumer that what we currently have is good enough. I'm sure a lot of politicians will help them with that as well. It's gonna be a mess.
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