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What kind of gas mileage do you get?

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slider2732:
I'm English, lived in America for 2 years. Cars and gas have been an interest. Swap £4+ per gallon and 35+ mpg, for $3.50 (less than half cost at 2:1 exchange rate) and 25 mpg.
Threw everyone when the UK went to cost per litre, as no doubt intended. We knew where we were up to with gallons, same with lbs and ounces. Everyone I know of still works out the gallon price. Many people consider -5C as cold and 85F as very warm - two different temperature scales !
 
I was surprised at the PT Cruiser too. Do the UK ones have a different engine ? cos I can't imagine how a single car would sell otherwise.


Vehicles:
(USA) 2001 Ford Escort, 32mpg
1987 GMC Sierra truck, 18mpg - unladen, highway, even with 3 arcade cabs on the back it returned the same over approx 9000 miles. Bought for $175 and sold for $650 recently. From what I read, that V8 engine was frugal.
Neither vehicles maintenance costs have been large. Home inspections for the obvious sorts much. Tyre condition, tyre pressures, oil level, water level, brake fluid level every couple of weeks and much is avoided. Also, the lack of driving around with loud 'choons' playing. If you are in sympathy with the vehicle, it cuts breakdowns. Listen to the engine, take note of especially the brake pedal pressure needed, don't do full lock turns every chance you get etc.   

Enjoyable thread to read right through. I'm very happy to see, that in America, owning more fuel efficient cars like the Fit and Prius is now not the same as walking into a gay bar with tight shorts on !
TV ads are showing some really quite acceptable hybrids and such. They don't look like Noddy cars anymore, but, they're still token gestures. One area of electric running that's given problems is with regenerative braking. The batteries not being able to charge quickly enough and use the full power of the braking force. Err...what about decent capacitors to give time for the batteries to accept the charge ?

What does irritate me though, is that BP and Shell are huge presences here - yet they don'd mention for one second that they are UK companies. Do I have things out of perspective ? BP is British Petroleum, yet their tag line is 'Beyond Petroleum'. Mind you, I didn't realise where Q8 petrol stations were from for a few years  :-[

I do believe America is changing fast...i've been surprised at the lack of wish to keep the big old powerful stuff, because it seemed manly to want to rev at traffic lights to impress any female, or own a big truck because it isn't a girly vehicle.  The USA isn't stuck in the 80's and that's something the UK in general doesn't know.
No doubt the current created recession is helping things.
In my opinion. Clinton AND Obama sharing office would bring Hillary's husbands economic skills to reduce debt and Barack's enthusiasm for equality and common sense policy. We'll be treated to 'radical' transport policies, but they would have to come along anyway. Those two people are the exact 'radical' enablers after a decidedly old style presidency.
I doubt fields of switch grass will replace ex commuter ghost towns, but am hopeful.
Money needs to come from travel fuels and America's heartland is well placed to grow riches. For UK readers, did you know America is pushing coal likes it's some kind of new fuel ?
 
Being that the diesel engine was originally intended to run on vegetable oil, that engine still has a bright future. Great series on TV recently about some eco guys travelling the USA in a green bus, in colour and cos it ran on vegetable oil. They were looking at alternative energy sources all over the country. I can imagine 3am raids on McDonalds bins in the future.

paigeoliver:
Waste oil vehicles are a joke, that stuff was already being converted to energy in the first place. When they were a novelty and there were only a few dozen of them in the country restaurant owners were a lot more willing to go along with giving a bit of it away now and then. But now there are 10s of thousands of vehicles out there with the veg oil kits installed, and they have seriously run into the problem that most chain restaurants now have rules against giving the stuff to the people and the fact that basically every restaurant around has a contract with someone who buys their waste oil for actual money.

shardian:

--- Quote from: paigeoliver on May 11, 2008, 08:53:16 pm ---Waste oil vehicles are a joke, that stuff was already being converted to energy in the first place. When they were a novelty and there were only a few dozen of them in the country restaurant owners were a lot more willing to go along with giving a bit of it away now and then. But now there are 10s of thousands of vehicles out there with the veg oil kits installed, and they have seriously run into the problem that most chain restaurants now have rules against giving the stuff to the people and the fact that basically every restaurant around has a contract with someone who buys their waste oil for actual money.

--- End quote ---

Glad I'm not the only person who realizes the fundamental problem with this fad.

patrickl:
I don't think slider was only referring to waste oil vehicles though.

slider2732:
 ;) nah, good points, but I intended to refer simply to their use of an alternative fuel. There could be some amazing technologies that haven't even been thought of, of course. The waste oil example shows how fuel could and has been obtained for nothing, the show was good for thinking about travel in different ways (with an unfortunate tendency by one host to say 'awesome' every few seconds lol).
While motoring generally factors in a fuel cost, I certainly champion ideas such as that. It's no surprise that someone started buyinmg up contracts for it though.

Whatever works best for the economy will be championed, solar, water or cow farts are no good for money generation. Ethanol is already much the same price as regular gas ! Where's the incentive ?

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