If the high gas prices are all Bush and Cheney's fault, what is happening elsewhere to them? I suppose the dribble going into the strategic reserve is running up prices all over the world.
How high do gas prices have to get?
- Thread starter ryansride2017
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Well, I take the motorcycle more often because it gets 45 mpg instead of the Z28's 25 mpg, but then again you don't exactly have to break my balls to get me out on the motorcycle anyway.
Cheers, 3MP
Cheers, 3MP
I set typically set my cruise at 67 or 68 (speed limit here is 70). I may pass 1 car on my 40 mile one way trip into work ONCE per week, everyone else is speeding (and I don't mean by a mile or two over). What I'm getting at is: the majority of people speed on the freeway, and the majority of people complain about how much it costs for fuel for their vehicles
Am I the only one who doesn't understand this?
Am I the only one who doesn't understand this?
Even if it gets to $10 a gallon I won't drive an economy car. I hate cars, and small engines.
My Cherokee does get pretty good mileage though...about 18 around town and 25 highway, and I don't drive like a grandma! I'm in LA right now and across the street they're selling it for $2.65.
I think I share your understanding as well as the lack thereof at the same time. I think it's widely known that the "55 law" was made almost entirely to do with lowering dependance on foreign oil. Safety was an added-on myth. This I was told from a former minister of highways. So if you really want people to slow down and drive safe, one way is to jack up gas prices. How many people are going to drive at 55? I would if I were running on fumes, or after I turn 70 I suppose. The gov does all sorts of things We The People do not like, but we'll kick them out of office if gasoline exceeds half of what it is in Europe.
Who pays the trillions that it takes to secure Iraq and 'add stability to the region' and pressure OPEC nations? The same sheep that pat government on the back for at least keeping gas prices low.
Not much of it makes sense (plus I'm posting at 5 am, so I might not either
While I'm drooling political sarcasm, instead of the proposal for a new sub-forum called "Bush Sucks" has anyone taken a vote on calling it "Bring back Clinton!" instead??
Well, all this talk about oil is tiring me out, so...
Regards
Rob
Sarcasm, cynicism, and politics aside: Surely there is recent research showing fuel consumption at 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 mph. Surely someone on this forum could access and post it. Surely some organization, gov or not, is trying to publicize it to the masses.
Back to the analogy of what if you were running on fumes and had to get as far as possible; would you drive at 30? I doubt it. MY gut feeling is that cars do better at 40 than at 30, but not better at 70 than 60. I also suspect this has changed from a decade or two ago.
Just thought I'd make an effort at getting the chatter back to something resembling a scientific debate that has something to do with oil & gas research.
BTW: Any difference between a recent 'instant gas mileage computer' and a 15 year old vacuum guage?
THANKS!
Rob-the-oil-nut
Back to the analogy of what if you were running on fumes and had to get as far as possible; would you drive at 30? I doubt it. MY gut feeling is that cars do better at 40 than at 30, but not better at 70 than 60. I also suspect this has changed from a decade or two ago.
Just thought I'd make an effort at getting the chatter back to something resembling a scientific debate that has something to do with oil & gas research.
BTW: Any difference between a recent 'instant gas mileage computer' and a 15 year old vacuum guage?
THANKS!
Rob-the-oil-nut
Brings up a good point. Actually I've been trying to drive 55-60 on my way to and from work (10 mile stretch of highway) So far my last tank of gas was 16.8 miles per gallon. I usually only get 13.8 to 15 miles per gallon. So I would say slowing down significantly reduces gas usage.
Maybe we should bring back the 55 mph??
The figures I have seen are older, but suggested most cars get the best mileage around 40-50. If you are driving a big brick with a high numerical final drive ratio, I bet the lower side would give the best mileage. Small, aerodynamic, and low ratio might push it up higher. If you know where your engine produces it peak torque, hold it there in your highest gear.
good God..... my pickup would be doing about 120 at it's torque peak. (88 K2500, 350 TBI, 700R4, 3.73 rear, 3600RPM tq peak.
-Bret
Even with gas prices around $2 a gallon my time is worth way more than the cost of gas. Gas would have to get VERY expensive indeed for me to drop from 80 mph to 60 mph because of the amount of time lost from it.
Just on my daily commute alone we are talking about a 1 hour time saving per tank of gas. So the cost of gas would have to exceed the cost of my billable hours for it to make more financial sense to slow down.
For now, time is more expensive than fuel.
Cheers, 3MP
Just on my daily commute alone we are talking about a 1 hour time saving per tank of gas. So the cost of gas would have to exceed the cost of my billable hours for it to make more financial sense to slow down.
For now, time is more expensive than fuel.
Cheers, 3MP
Gas prices have gone up in Europe in the last yrs but nowhere close in the scale we have seen in the US. I blame Bush for not opening up the strategic reserves like Clinton did few yrs ago. Bush even buys more oil and expands the reserves. Correct if I am wrong but is that making the oil companies richer and us poorer? All this talk about Iraqi oil production levels being higher than when saddam was in power is all BS. Russia exports more oil to US now than it did back then, the OPEC US exports have pretty much stayed the same even if their prices went up, we get it cheaper from Russia. And now we have another supplier, Libya, who already started exporting natural gas to us. We are getting ripped off by the oil companies , period. I find it strange how the Exxon gas station down the street used to charge outrageous prices and after a Wawa convenience store opened with lower prices, the Exxon station matched them immediately. If that's not stealing my money what is ? The oil companies should have never been allowed to merge
The price of a barrel of crude oil is near an all time high. That says it all about the price of gasoline. It's a commodity, only a cartel of the producers can corner the market, not an oil company.
Of course the increase looks larger in the USA percentage wise. Our fuel is not taxed at the same rates as in Europe.
I was just reading the other day that the taxes on fuel in the UK are greater than what we currently pay for fuel in most places state side.
So if the fuel portion of fuel goes up the same amount, but the tax bite is larger in European fuels, then the percentage increase will "look" smaller in Europe.
Some numbers for example.
Lets say that fuel was $1.50/gallon in the US and $0.40/gallon is tax. In the UK, fuel is $4.00/gallon and $2.50 is tax.
Fuel goes up $0.50/gallon.
So now fuel is $2.00/gallon in the US and $4.50/gallon in the UK.
Percentage increase in the US is a 33% increase in the price of fuel. In the UK the percentage increase is 12.5%
So did the UK have a smaller increase in the price of fuel or not?
Depends on if you look at the percentage increase or the real price/gallon increase.
I'm not saying these are the real numbers, but I am pointing out how figures can be bent to support a particular POV.
Seems like a lot to us because it is a relatively large increase. To the driver in the UK, the cost increase/gallon is the same, but it is a relatively smaller jump in the price of fuel.
TB
the bottom line is we have to look at the bigger picture. The higher gas prices might be an inconvience but higher energy prices drive inflation up. In a year we will end up with bigger deficit, higher inflation, higher interest rates but not with a stronger economy. Add another $100 billion that Bush( or whoever) will ask for Iraq after the election. Things don't look so rosy...
High gas prices leads to better conservation in the future.Some see it as a blessing in disguise.
High gas prices also lead to the cost of all goods increasing substantially, sparking a recession.
Cheers, 3MP
Cheers, 3MP
On one hand I agree and share that hope. On the other hand, most people speed, speed to red lights and hammer the brakes, and other things that cost money and gas. But they appear to be too, ummm, 'erstwhile' (so much nicer than other words) to think that relates to TCO or even short-term (monthly) car costs like mileage or how OFTEN they have to fill up. They just don't seem to get it.
3 MP's input about saving an hour per commute (page 1) is a great point. My hating all speeders prior to knowing why, would be a bit 'wrong' of me. He also makes a great point in that similarly, if you rush to a place you hear of that's selling for 10 cents a gallon cheaper ('gas war') and have to wait in line 1/2 hour, what did you really accomplish?
I'm sorry but I think bringing back "55" will NOT work. Gov. would be better to have stiffer fines for speeding (over 75 for instance), and that would mean more road cops (though that would take away police resources for the new reality of post 9-11 and in light of the whole Middle East thing)
Another idea is to halt 90% of road repairs on hiways with limits over 65, so that people will notice the bumps and drive slower (Guess what? I'm saying that tongue-in-cheek)
Gas guzzler tax already looks steep and punitive to me, but then again I'm in Canada and can't fully relate.
Another (also somewhat tongue-in-cheek) suggestion is that at over-passes on freeways, you have good-technology cameras and speed detectors and give out 1000 speeding tickets per day until morale improves. Hahahaha. Winnipeg has "red light cameras" like that in about a dozen intersections. Last winter, in one month, the gov. trashed 7000 tickets so they could focus on the 11000 worst offenders that month. (Something like that) In a Canadian winter month in which you REALLY have no business doing the limit as though it was summer, when the pavement is covered in ice. Let alone speeding and running a red on an intersection where the presense of photo-radar is posted.
In short, I have no quick, easy, or simple solutions. So I'll digress by thanking the font of bitterness behind me today. He hit the horn because I didn't speed up enough to get to the bumper of the guy in front of me. The light was red. His jesticulations were NOT in keeping with him groovin' to the radio, either. He was all alone and not in the direction of a hospital, so unless he had too much coffee (not so much the caffeine but the liquid needs to leave at some point) I dunno. Oh, there was what appeared to be a hazmat spill and it clogged traffic. So it WAS clogged and slow.
But as for me, I will not rush on my way to a red light.
...or even a 'stale' green that I know will be red by the time I get there, even if I had a Z06 and knew there were no cops around.
Oops; at some point I got pedantic and condescending in my posting. Sorry. But at least I try not to be aggressive, bullying, inflammatory, provoking of anger, etc. when I drive.
Now if only the guy behind me could see, I am not out to provoke anger in him / her.
Again, I admit, I have no easy or simple solutions, but I will suggest that even "grampa" doing 20 under the limit probably has a fully valid reason for doing what he's doing. When *I* think 'enough is enough!' and pass him, I'm usually just 30 seconds ahead of him at the next red light anyway.
FWIW
Rob
[ April 24, 2004, 02:38 AM: Message edited by: rob-the-oil-nut ]
We are currently sending refined crude (diesel0 from Calif. and the gulf. That takes up some of our refining capacity and causes a shortage of refined products. It is not the price of crude that is determining our retail pump prices. It is the oil companies causing the shortage.
http://www.opisnet.com/fleetfueling/headlines.htm
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