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Automotive News & Views Are automobiles a major cause of global warming?
6788 messages, Last post on Nov 23, 2009 at 5:33 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: ruking1 (Jan 01, 2009 9:26 am) Anyway I could also use a little GW. I'm finding my new house gets some of that "melting arctic ice" on the inside of the sliders and some windows. Last night it was a balmy 8F when I went out at 7:30pm and ended up below 0F. I've already burned most of my 2 cords of wood that I bought, and am saving 1/4 cord in case we get an ice-storm. I just got done snow-blowing 6" last night, and I'm sure we'll have snow right into April. So with snow starting in Nov and ending in April, I don't see any signs of GW, whether natural or man-made. And neither does the rest of the nation, who have just put up with a cold and snowy Dec. |
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Prius sales have plummeted, and it's economy of ownership at current gas prices is certainly questionable..In Venice , Fl the local Toy dealer is discounting the low-end Prius to 23,676 and the low-Camry 5-spd manual to 14,495. That's a 9,181 spread, sure buys a alot of gas and maybe the Prius would pay for itself if you ran it to 150K miles.. That is if the battery pack and the all the electronic goodies are lifetime items..Slim chance of that happening... Just a little thought for the diehard Global Warming whachos...Buy a nice gas burning car and find another topic to enhance your daily life, for Mother Nature will take care of the climate, she's always there and has the situation under control.. Meanwhile, my polluting Mustang GT Bullitt and my Pontiac GPGT will continue to run happily while you worry needlessly about the planet, I ain't worrying!!!! Maybe turtles, manatees or Scrub-jays need your assistance and you could probably chit-chat on their level...
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Replying to: motorcity6 (Jan 02, 2009 6:30 am) So for example a Honda Civic (gasser) gets a range of 38-42 mpg during a everyday commute. It gets (this winter) 34 mpg in the "winter". Winter mpg (decrease- minus) is mainly caused by a winterized boutique designer blend/s of RUG. Prius for the sake of argument gets 45 mpg. So 150,000 miles/38/45= 3947 gals/3333 gals= 614 gals saved.* 1.80 =$1,105. At the time ( 04) the "social statement " premium was 12, 436 - 1,105 = $11,331  $1.80 per gal/ 6,295 gals of fuel * 38 mpg= 239,210 miles of commuting.
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Replying to: ruking1 (Jan 02, 2009 11:56 am) On the other hand, I get up to 56 MPG on my car while sitting on leather seats in air-condisioned bliss on a highway trip. I even get German roadcar handling. Lifetime fuel cost/mile is $0.05 over 100,000 miles. (Yes, I track every drop of fuel ever pumped into my tank) A Prius cannot match that on its best day.... and when those $2000 batteries need replacing, it aint worth much in resale value. My vehicle is so clean that I could sit in a closed garage with my engine idling and not die (minimal carbonMonoxide emmissions) With the right fuel, my exhaust smells like popcorn. Who can guess what kind of fuel my vehicle consumes?
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Replying to: bpeebles (Jan 04, 2009 6:37 pm)  Sounds pretty cheap. I've put in 5,829 gallons in my ten year old minivan (through 124,837 miles - haven't updated the spreadsheet with the last 5k). I just track miles and gallons though. I figure gas has cost me about .16 a mile over the decade.
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Replying to: steve_ (Jan 04, 2009 6:42 pm) Although I usually run standard Diesel fuel, I could also run biodiesel (made from vegatable-oil). There are some folks with Diesel engines that get free fuel from local resturants who are GLAD to get rid of used cooking oil. The only "drawback" I have with a diesel engine is that the durn thing is SOOOO efficent, that it does not make much heat in the winter. (very little fuel wasted as residual heat).... but I can just bundle up, turn on the heated seats, and stay warm knowing that I am getting over 650 miles per tank of fuel 
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Replying to: bpeebles (Jan 04, 2009 7:27 pm) You may be interested in What Would It Take for YOU to buy a diesel car?.
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Replying to: steve_ (Jan 04, 2009 7:38 pm) An engine that runs that clean is certainly of some interest here and has to have some effect or whether or not automobiles are a major cause of global warming, don't you think?
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Actually, I already follow most of the diesel forums. Thanks houdini1 for the support... you understood my point. One needs to measure "emmissions per mile" to get a proper picture of any vehicle emmissions. Any vehicle that uses less fuel per mile must, by definition, be putting out less emmissions. A Prius has those batteries to dispose of. Any battery is considerd hazzardus waste. (Did you see Sundays report about 100s of people dying due to lead-recycling from batterys?) Closer to the subject again... I just saw on the news that the sea-ice is covering more square miles than it has in 28 years. As an addemdum to that, it was reported that no measurable increase in average global temparture has been seen in 6 years. I just wish I had written down their sources to the above 2 bits of info.... I know some folks here like to see the source of data. I do recall that the second report was from someone in Hawaii. I know that on a recient episode of "Deadliest Catch"... the ship got unexpectly cought in ice. The skipper declared that he has not seen the ice come this far south in about 30 years. (Perhaps that somwhat confirms the 1st report I mention above.) |
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Replying to: houdini1 (Jan 05, 2009 2:41 pm)  I was just making the point that there's not just "one drawback" to diesel. Particulates are a big issue. I've seen some ice coverage news not long ago too, Bpeebles. The thickness was an issue (thinner ice won't last the summer or something like that). |
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