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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
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Replying to: larsb (Jun 11, 2008 12:21 pm) Because we are now in an era where if oil goes up 1%, or supply goes down 2%, that may cause a 50% price increase which causes the economy to go down 5%, which then decrease the demand. But since no one can predict whether the price increase is 50% or 25% or 75%, no one can predict how the economy will go in this country never mind globally, and it just goes on and on. Throw in the uncertainty of the condition of fields in Mexico, the future of oil-shale, ANWR and other undrilled areas, and there's no way anyone will have a decent model. These forecasters are simply doing these forecasts because they used to, and they get paid for it. If any of these guys actually knew what they were talking about, they wouldn't be working for a paycheck at the DOE. They'd be making millions elsewhere. Similarly, I never trust a stock-pick from some "expert with a great track record" unless he himself has earned a fortune picking stocks. |
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| I have a 2002 I-4 Camry. I normally get over 30 mpg on the Interstate, going the speed limit of 70. Is there a resource that will give the mpg vs speed for this car? Short, low speed trips reduce mileage significantly. | |
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Replying to: bergyone (Jun 11, 2008 12:49 pm) |
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Replying to: dave8697 (Jun 10, 2008 7:31 pm) Okay, it's a boring afternoon at work so I crunched a few numbers and came up with an interesting result. So far this week I've traveled 119 commuter miles. I've used zero ounces of gas. However, I have used about 20 ounces of water per each 34-mile round trip. What does all this mean? Glad you asked. 20 fluid ounces equals 0.15625 gallons. Since I use around 20 ounces for every 34 miles that comes out to 217.6 miles per gallon...of water.  It looks like my commute ends up as $0.00 per round trip to work. Well, actually I do get a monthly water bill, so it's not entirely free - maybe a few cents - but I bet it beats any hybrid on the road. On top of that I just found something to do to unbore myself for a few minutes. BTW, I noticed that gas is going for $3.88/gal today as I pedaled past. |
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Replying to: gagrice (Jun 11, 2008 5:03 am) Actually 14 MPH is considered a moderate breeze and is a force 4 on the Beaufort scale. Also remember that wind turbines are usually installed well above ground level which would have higher wind speeds. |
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Replying to: bpizzuti (Jun 11, 2008 5:28 am)
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Replying to: bumpy (Jun 11, 2008 6:02 am) |
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Replying to: snakeweasel (Jun 11, 2008 1:51 pm) Because it's the Windy City.  However, it got that moniker because of the longwindedness of politicians, not because of the breeze. Windy City |
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Replying to: steve_ (Jun 10, 2008 7:54 pm) Good question. I fear the answer might not be so simple. Back in the early 1990's Quebec Hydro hatched a plan to build several massive dam/hydro projects. This would involve damming several rivers that flowed north and were pretty much useless for navigation or irrigation. To make the plan work they needed a big customer south of the border who would consume the massive amounts of clean energy. They offered New York State the power at something like 2 cents/Kwh. A bargain even then. Well, the deal was all set when a couple of native people sailed down to Albany in a canoe and complained that all this progress would disrupt their way of life. Bingo, deal cancelled. The result? NYS now pay some of the highest electricity cost in the country. The hydro project up north sits half finished. Welcome to radical enviromentalism.
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Replying to: bergyone (Jun 11, 2008 12:49 pm) I'd say the only way to really find out is to try it and see what happens. It'll vary from car to car, but most cars will probably get better mpg as you drive slower. I'm sure there's an exception or two, though. I go up to Pennsylvania a lot for car shows. If I averaged 65-75, with occasional bursts to 80, I'd probably see around 27-28 mpg. It was EPA-rated at 29 highway. Back in early October though, I took it a bit slower, more like 55-70, rarely going higher, and got around 31. This past weekend, on the trip up I was only running 58-65, with a rare jump to 70, and clocked 32.1. Also, it's not just the speed you drive at, but how fast you get there, how fast you brake, how hard you try to maintain a speed on the hills, how quickly you try to pass slower moving traffic, etc. Just to throw another example out there...I've also made that trip in a 1979 New Yorker with a fairly thirsty 360-2bbl. Running 65-75, it would get around 15.5, I'd guess. I had to take it up to Carlisle in April, when my Intrepid died. Took it fairly easy going up, and had to go REALLY slow coming back, because of brutal rains. Probably averaged 45-55, rarely getting to 60. Got about 18 mpg. IIRC, the '02 Camry 4-cyl is EPA-rated around 33-34 on the highway. If you slowed down to 55-65, let it lose a little speed on the hills, don't floor it unless absolutely necessary (like you go to pass a slower car and didn't notice that tour bus bearing down on you), etc, you might see mid-to-upper 30's, I'm guessing. |
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Automotive News & Views Are gas prices fueling your pain?
