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Automotive News & Views Are gas prices fueling your pain? 
10042 messages, Last post on Jul 12, 2008 at 3:07 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
I topped off my Intrepid with 87 octane. It's up to $3.359 per gallon now. The previous time I had filled up, the pump seemed to have shut off prematurely, because there's no way it would only take 3.8 gallons to fill that car up after driving 121 miles, in mostly local travel! So this time, it all evened out, and I figure I'm averaging about 19.1 mpg.  I guess all things considered, that's not TOO bad, considering my short commute. With just 3.5 miles to travel, the car probably spends most of that trip warming up, and doesn't get to full operating temperature until I'm at my destination and about to turn it off. As the weather continues to get warmer, hopefully that figure will improve. And in a couple weeks, I'll be driving it up to PA when I go for the Spring Carlisle, so I'll be curious to see what kind of economy it gets on that trip. |
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I'm really curious to see the next round of Pickup redesigns subsequent to $4 gas. They will certainly have to be lighter and smaller than these monsters they now produce. We will be seeing diesel powerplants and I think multiple unibody pickups. Just my .02. Meantime,I drive my car carefully,less,and plan and link all errands. Plan is to make my car last till I can get a more efficient diesel.
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Replying to: lemko (Apr 11, 2008 4:53 am) Tell us what you're going to do with that $0.80 you saved! You must really get excited when a new bank offers a duffle-bag for opening an account. Or you find someone has left a coupon on the store shelf. 
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Replying to: kernick (Apr 11, 2008 8:06 am)
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Replying to: lemko (Apr 11, 2008 8:13 am) One of my roommates worked as a waiter for about a year and a half, and would throw his change into a big plastic container. And any other change that happened to end up lying around the house would end up in there. Last fall, I started going through that container and rolling coins up. It ended up coming out to something like $120! I dunno if I can get excited anymore over saving 80 cents, but it does add up. |
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Replying to: blufz1 (Apr 11, 2008 6:58 am) Well as long as they don't lose the capability to haul and tow heavy loads. Ford has new F150 coming and smaller, lighter, and less powerful it's not. Those who don't own/want trucks don't understand why people want them. Look at current sales levels. Small trucks don't sell as well as big trucks or get much better fuel economy. I saw a v6 Ford Ranger in a dealer the other day and its fuel economy rating was barely better than a v8 Expedition. A smaller, lighter, unibody truck will not SAFELY tow my 6000 lb camper along with hauling associated gear and my family. A current 1/2 truck/ SUV is a minimum. So my Suburban gets 13-16 mpg as a daily driver. It's paid for and costs me $330/mo in gas. Not a big deal when you consider a sedan getting twice the mileage would only save me at most $150/mo. Not enough to justify a 3rd more fuel efficient vehicle or make me give up the camper or boat. I could see a new class of truck under the 1/2 ton class that offers some utility and fuel economy. But the heavy duty trucks aren't going anywhere anytime soon as long enough people demand them. Still a lot of people needing/wanting the capabilities of a truck.
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Replying to: dieselone (Apr 11, 2008 8:28 am)
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Replying to: bumpy (Apr 11, 2008 9:06 am) True. Current trucks are way more capable. But as these trucks have gotten bigger and heavier, so have things they tow. The avg. boat today is a lot bigger than 20 years ago. Same with many travel trailers. Some of these fifth wheels getting pulled around are over 15000lbs. No way you'd tow these huge RVs with a 1 ton truck from the late 70's or early 80's.
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Replying to: dieselone (Apr 11, 2008 9:31 am) Funny thing though, my stepdad made a comment awhile back that would seem to be contrary. In 2002, they bought an F-150 with the 4.6 V-8, and sold me the '85 Silverado with the 5.0 V-8, which I still have. My stepdad says that the F-150 isn't half the truck the Silverado was when it came to towing or load-carrying. Is that just because it's a Furd? 
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Replying to: dieselone (Apr 11, 2008 8:28 am) The curious thing about the $550 figure is that would be reaching the point where the monthly gas payment was as much as the BRAND NEW truck payment. Yikes. I think that would make a lot of people think twice about what they really need their trucks for, and whether it could perhaps be relegated to "third car" duty.
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