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just paid $3.85 a gallon

#61
Ívar Þórólfsson said:
But I was in Las Vegas in june and I was absolutely amazed by the sheer size of the vehicles there.
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Thank you Ivar, and the other European folks for enlightening me. Having spent my entire life in the USA, my perspective on the issues you mention is slanted. I would love to travel to another continent and see how people in other parts of the world live just so I can get another perspective to think from. I really do appreciate your comments, it has given me alot to think about.

As a direct result of some of your comments, I walked the .5 mile down to my favorite coffee shop to get my mocha today. You guys are right, most Americans have forsook the walk/bike option and get in their cars no matter where they go. As I was walking to the coffee shop, I'm thinking to myself how lazy I have become since I normally drive. It only took me 10 minutes to walk down. I also took a few minutes to look my truck over today, it doesn't seem all that big to me, but I guess it is.

-Mike
 
#62
way back there I did some faulty math. I realized I forgot to convert the currencys about a day later. My bad.

But in europe, they dont drive as much as north america, mostly because they have a centralized city structure, where as ours is de-centralized, and even the corner store can be a good 40 min walk round trip.
 
#63
MJ5150 said:
I also took a few minutes to look my truck over today, it doesn't seem all that big to me, but I guess it is.

-Mike
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For perspective, how many cylinders has the engine?

I ask because when I switched from a 6 cylinder car (3,800cc) to a 4 cylinder car (1,400cc) and found it used amost half as much fuel as the V6 to cover the same distance.

A lot of cars here are 4cyl. 6's are well represented too, but you hardly ever see 8's or bigger.
 
#64
Petebass said:
For perspective, how many cylinders has the engine?
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It is an eight cylinder, 460ci motor. It is the largest that Ford makes for my model of truck. It is also a king cab long bed. It's a 4x4 with a lift on it and big tires. So yeah, it's quite large. But having had it for so long and all, it just doesn't seem that big to me anymore.

-Mike
 
#65
Petebass said:
I'm very lucky. This time last year I was living 50km (31 miles) from work. Add gigs and all my other running around and I was having to fill the car every 3 days. First I bought a smaller car, then I moved closer to work - and now a tank of fuel lasts almost 2 weeks.
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That's great! I wish I could say that. I live 60+ miles from work. With no gigs and no other running around, a tank of fuel lasts me 2 DAYS....if I follow some of the tips above. Less if I drive too fast, which I usually do.

Thankfully, after 20 years of driving the same long route to work, I have finally found somebody to carpool with. Quite advantageous, given the current state of gasoline affairs ($2.739 - $2.819 locally). Since I've budgeted for it, I'm putting back the money I save on gas towards a smaller car. About the time I should have enough for a decent down payment, my wife's van pays off.


dcr
 
#66
There's some talk in the media about converting cars to run on LPG gas. The conversion costs AUS$2,000, but the price difference at the pump if phenomenal. Petrol if now $1.40 per litre, while LPG is $0.40 per litre.

They say on average it will take about 2 years to get your $2,000 back, provided fuel prices stay the same. Everything after that is pure savings.

It's tempting.........
 
#67
before katrina, i was looking at 2.65ish a gallon... then it went to 3.80... now it's down to 3.29 (as of two days ago).

i live about five miles from where i go to school... i'd seriously think about biking to school if the road was safe to cycle on... but i'm terrified of driving on it most of the time. The town has a decent bus system- unfortunately, i live 1.7 miles from the nearest stop (along the same crazy, crazy road) and the schedule for that stop is terrible!

fortunately, my 13 year old honda accord is VERY VERY paid off, low in insurance (it's a sedan!) and I still get over 30mpg on the highway. around town i get around 23mpg, would be higher, but the hills here are killers.
 
#68
Petebass said:
There's some talk in the media about converting cars to run on LPG gas. The conversion costs AUS$2,000, but the price difference at the pump if phenomenal. Petrol if now $1.40 per litre, while LPG is $0.40 per litre.

They say on average it will take about 2 years to get your $2,000 back, provided fuel prices stay the same. Everything after that is pure savings.

It's tempting.........
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Did they mention what the milage per liter difference is? I've often wondered if there is a difference between these 2 fuels. A lot of our utility vehicles here (the guys that drive the telephone and power companies repair trucks) have been converted to LPG, so I'm sure there is some data out there to say that (for example...) if you get 8 miles to the Liter of Gasoline you may get 6, or you may get 12 on LPG. That would play a factor in the time to recoup costs. One concern tho is that LPG is still an oil product, as is natural gas, so both of them will likely be heading upwards also, just not as fast as gasoline because the comodities market isn't hitting them as heavily.
 
#69
LajoieT said:
Did they mention what the milage per liter difference is? ........... One concern tho is that LPG is still an oil product, as is natural gas, so both of them will likely be heading upwards also, just not as fast as gasoline because the comodities market isn't hitting them as heavily.
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Nope, no mention of the mileage difference. I assumed they took that into account when they calculated the 2year break-even point. They did however mention a slight drop in horsepower. I'd have to research it more thoroughly if I was going to go ahead with it.

It would be nice if the oil companies didn't own all the designs for cars that run on renewable fuels.
 
#73
MJ5150 said:
It is an eight cylinder, 460ci motor. It is the largest that Ford makes for my model of truck. It is also a king cab long bed. It's a 4x4 with a lift on it and big tires. So yeah, it's quite large. But having had it for so long and all, it just doesn't seem that big to me anymore.

-Mike
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Holy.........

Yep, that's what I was talking about... BIG CARS!

Well this is understandable though, the car culture is just so different in the US. You have a long tradition of muscle cars and such.... we don't :)

I heartly recommend that you visit Europe, the size of the cars would probably shock you :) Tiny little deathtraps!

Oh and also, many roads in the core of old cities in Europe are really small, two F350 Fords would most certainly not be able to drive past each other at all.
 
#79
Vorago said:
Diesel is more expensive than Unleaded? Here it's the other way around.
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Diesel is more expensive here too, but diesel cars seems t get a lot more miles out of a tank.

Fuel here is continuing to increase in price. The oil companies are being accused of profitering and expliotation. The unions have issued a counterstrike by saying that if fuel prices dont drop immediately, they will push for across the board wages rises. The Govt dosn't want inflation and will more than likely step in. This could get ugly.
 

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