MPG a couple of decades later

Originally posted by Maxmars
reply to post by Furbs

 

Nice!

.... I thought they didn't have that much range....

They don't. I did have to stop to have it recharged, which took a while each time ( 6 to 8 hours). However, the money that I didn't spend on gas went directly into local economy when I stopped to eat and adventure in many towns that have been overlooked by me on many previous trips.

I personally think MPG is the past, but I have been known to be wrong in the past.

Originally posted by Fitch303
I understand what your getting at but you have to realize the first list were nearly micro cars which offer little/no options, very much your bread and butter cars. The new list are full sized cars with many options which are much heavier. Not exactly apples vs apples

www.smartusa.com...
38 MPG highway

I think those older cars had more options and heavier than those nonSmart cars.

How do you like them Apples. Sorry couldn't resist

reply to post by network dude


Actually it only gets 38 MPG highway
www.smartusa.com...

I rather the old Honda CRX HF that got better gas millage and more room.

reply to post by captaintyinknots


All I care about is MY MPG not the government. The gov't takes my money no matter what and I have no say. If tomorrow the gov't starts running those vehicles on water I doubt they will decrease the amount of money they take from me.

I have a Chevy 1998 conversion van that gets 17.5 and thats just great. I'm 3 miles from work so all the money I saved not buying a $40k 40 mpg box I can hit the beaches 2-3 times a year and skip a few motels along the way. The last one had an HHO setup that got 27 mpg but i don't drive that far till fall so I'll upgrade before I head south

Ill add one more thing being from the northeast, Yes the leaf, smart car, prius, or any other plug in/hybrid are great....in the spring and summer. What if you live in high mountains, where it snows i would rather have my 17 mpg explorer vs a front wheel drive hybrid. It all boils down to costumer demand as well, you wont see some construction worker driving a mini cooper, they will drive a ford, chevy pickup that runs diesel.

IMO when it comes to MPG hybrids are more marketing hype than anything.

Threads like this remind how far we as a nation have slid down the slope. I am sure the "conservative" crowd will be chiming in shortly to prove the only thing conservative about them is the adjective they choose to be a robot under. I had one of those Hondas as my first new car. I think it was an 87 DX hatchback, the first ones that didn't look funny. well over 40 mpg. A guy I worked with had a new CRX and I could never beat him in a race, he got over 50 mpg.

I also bought a Chevy Sprint my second new car, I never bothered to check the mpg because it was extreme. It had a1 liter 3 cyl engine, man was that thing fun light to light. I hit a parked car (no I was not drinking). I totaled my sprint, broke the Oldsmobiles tail light. I did walk away, barely askew.

My buddies in the know told me then that the mileage would be going up, not to some crazy bull crap pie in the sky amount, but significantly. They said as computers advanced, coupled with fuel injection the mpgs would be in the 70 ranged for sedans. Not too mention anyone who knew anything, knew they were running full scale hydrogen testing on busses in Canada, so it seemed only a matter of time.

Flash forward to the future.......2012, The last new vehicle I bought was a minivan, it barely clears 20 mpg with a fuel injected computer controlled v6. I am so proud of our manufacturing prowess, let me tell you.....look how far we have come, in just my lifetime, makes my chest swell with pride, sarcasm off...

At the time of his election I loved Clinton, but he raised the gas tax to pay down the debt, hmm then what happened? Mpg went down, prices went up. The more gallons you sell the more tax you collect. Now it is a built in expense so they must keep the gross gallon sales up. That system eemed to work ok until the greed mongers came to town.

It is easy for me to see why we never get anywhere on alternatives. As they say, there is no money in it.

Originally posted by interupt42
reply to post by captaintyinknots

 

All I care about is MY MPG not the government. The gov't takes my money no matter what and I have no say. If tomorrow the gov't starts running those vehicles on water I doubt they will decrease the amount of money they take from me.

Ahh, but you SHOULD care. Afterall, THEIR over-consumption is what has lead to OUR high prices at the pump.

Originally posted by captaintyinknots

Originally posted by interupt42
reply to post by captaintyinknots

 

All I care about is MY MPG not the government. The gov't takes my money no matter what and I have no say. If tomorrow the gov't starts running those vehicles on water I doubt they will decrease the amount of money they take from me.

Ahh, but you SHOULD care. Afterall, THEIR over-consumption is what has lead to OUR high prices at the pump.

IMO I think its an energy monopoly on a commodity that everyone needs that has led the world to High Prices. We have a huge demand for it , they know it , they fully control it and they are the only game in town, hence they can charge what the market bears which is just about any amount. The only reason its not $10 dollars a gallon in the US is because they are using Machiavellian tactics to make sure that we don't revolt. However, it will become $10 bucks a gallon slowly but surely.

Unfortunately, if those hybrids actually worked and we all drove one that got at least 500 mpg+ most wouldn't be able to afford the gas. You can sure as heck bet that the price will go up to accommodate the decrease in demand. Therefore IMO its not really the demand that is driving it, its the monopoly that is driving the gas prices up. Today they use peak oil to drive the gas prices up, but I wonder what excuse they will use when the demand of gas drastically goes down?

Originally posted by interupt42

Originally posted by captaintyinknots

Originally posted by interupt42
reply to post by captaintyinknots

 

All I care about is MY MPG not the government. The gov't takes my money no matter what and I have no say. If tomorrow the gov't starts running those vehicles on water I doubt they will decrease the amount of money they take from me.

Ahh, but you SHOULD care. Afterall, THEIR over-consumption is what has lead to OUR high prices at the pump.

IMO I think its an energy monopoly on a commodity that everyone needs that has led the world to High Prices. We have a huge demand for it , they know it , they fully control it and they are the only game in town, hence they can charge what the market bears which is just about any amount. The only reason its not $10 dollars a gallon in the US is because they are using Machiavellian tactics to make sure that we don't revolt. However, it will become $10 bucks a gallon slowly but surely.

Unfortunately, if those hybrids actually worked and we all drove one that got at least 500 mpg+ most wouldn't be able to afford the gas. You can sure as heck bet that the price will go up to accommodate the decrease in demand. Therefore IMO its not really the demand that is driving it, its the monopoly that is driving the gas prices up. Today they use peak oil to drive the gas prices up, but I wonder what excuse they will use when the demand of gas drastically goes down?

They aren't the only game in town.

Go electric, heck you could even get a wood gas truck.

reply to post by Furbs


You might be right that they aren't the only game in town, but we don't have the infrastructure in place to support the masses as viable solution.

I have a boat and a travel trailer, I don't think an electric vehicle can pull either one. Although, I have a diesel excursion that I have been toying in converting to biodiesel , since I have a restaurant connection and can get the oil for free.