I love gasoline!!!

[astrostu]

Finally re-found it, the USA National Gas Temperature Map. You can easily see why, when I drove from Ohio to Colorado, I drove straight through to Missouri before filling my tank last year.

 

[Senor Hound]

Finally re-found it, the USA National Gas Temperature Map. You can easily see why, when I drove from Ohio to Colorado, I drove straight through to Missouri before filling my tank last year.

I live in Missouri! I feel so much better now! But this kind of is nullified when you have to drive 350 miles per week to work and back

Missouri is the biggest tax-hating state EVER! We don't pass taxes here for anything! We have the cheapest cigarettes in America, too. But our roads suck, our health care (Medicaid) sucks, and so does our Education. The school I went to was so old it was condemned, and the people in my county STILL wouldn't pass a tax to build a new school. I don't know how they did, but they did anyway. So if you like cheap gas, come on down, but don't complain when you get sick, have no insurance, and can't get any help For the record I'm not complaining, but there's ups and downs to every story. But to the traveler, they would be better off fueling up in our fair state.

BTW, its still $3.69 where I am.

 

[Josh66]

Assuming that you work for the man, now is the time to start considering a move if you have a long commute to work.

I have always lived relatively close to my place of employment, but at times I've lived as far as 80 miles away. I would hate to make that drive with today's (or tomorrow's) gas prices.

 

[Rhys]

Assuming that you work for the man, now is the time to start considering a move if you have a long commute to work.

I have always lived relatively close to my place of employment, but at times I've lived as far as 80 miles away. I would hate to make that drive with today's (or tomorrow's) gas prices.

I did a 110 mile commute on Friday from Columbia to Charleston. It took just under half a tank of fuel. I reckon at 220 miles round trip that it probably used 11 or 12 gallons at $3.78 a gallon (I didn't have time to mess about hunting for the cheapest place).

 

[Jon0807]

my neck of the woods

 

[Alpha]

Last I heard, Craig Venter's Synthetic Genomics program was working on a bacterium that produced biofuel (presumably as a metabolite byproduct).

 

[Mullen]

Last I heard, Craig Venter's Synthetic Genomics program was working on a bacterium that produced biofuel (presumably as a metabolite byproduct).

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1433/

 

[Rhys]

I wish my Xterra could run on alternative fuels. I know diesel engines run on just about anything.

 

[mrodgers]

I love it. At work, 90% of the vehicles are 3/4-ton or larger pickup trucks and giant SUVs used as a work commuters for only one person. Then they have the nerve to complain about it costing them $100 every 3 days for gas.

Such a simple solution..... Buy a freakin CAR!!!! Sheesh, they complain about gas prices when they buy 12 mpg vehicles just to drive to work alone.

 

[Rhys]

I love it. At work, 90% of the vehicles are 3/4-ton or larger pickup trucks and giant SUVs used as a work commuters for only one person. Then they have the nerve to complain about it costing them $100 every 3 days for gas.

Such a simple solution..... Buy a freakin CAR!!!! Sheesh, they complain about gas prices when they buy 12 mpg vehicles just to drive to work alone.

What I don't get is why my 2wd Xterra does 19mpg and my sister-in-law's Honda SUV gets 35mpg with full-time 4wd!

 

[mrodgers]

Rhys, the difference is, Honda does not have a true SUV. Their's is considered Crossover SUVs. I assume you are talking about a Honda CR-V vs. your XTerra. Specs for the Honda are 26 mpg highway compared to 20 mpg for your XTerra.

Your XTerra is on a truck based frame vs the Honda Accord based unibody of the CR-V. You are also comparing your 261 HP 4.0 L V-6 against the Honda's 166 HP 4-cyl.

You're comparing apples to oranges here.

My question is why does the magazines rave about the little death box cars such as the Honda Fit and the Toyota Yaris getting 33 and 35 mpg when that is what I was getting for gas mileage back when I first started driving with my car that was from the mid 80's? Cars like these should be getting 70-100 mpg by now with all the advanced efficiency improvements in the last 20 years.

 

[schumionbike]

Rhys, the difference is, Honda does not have a true SUV. Their's is considered Crossover SUVs. I assume you are talking about a Honda CR-V vs. your XTerra. Specs for the Honda are 26 mpg highway compared to 20 mpg for your XTerra.

Your XTerra is on a truck based frame vs the Honda Accord based unibody of the CR-V. You are also comparing your 261 HP 4.0 L V-6 against the Honda's 166 HP 4-cyl.

You're comparing apples to oranges here.

My question is why does the magazines rave about the little death box cars such as the Honda Fit and the Toyota Yaris getting 33 and 35 mpg when that is what I was getting for gas mileage back when I first started driving with my car that was from the mid 80's? Cars like these should be getting 70-100 mpg by now with all the advanced efficiency improvements in the last 20 years.

The CRV is also much lighter since it's not build for rugged off roading. 500-600 lbs go along way. As far as the Yaris, I heard they do get as much as around 40 mpg. I'm not sure which car you were referring to but the only cars that I could think of that would get that kind of mileage back in the day is some model the Honda CRX, Civic, and the Toyota Tercel, but they do have a noticeablly weaker engine. Like 80-90 hp vs 108hp current employ by Yaris. If you look at Toyota line of small cars such as the Tercel, Echo, and now Yaris, their gas mileage haven't change much but they did gain a good 30-40 hp. lol. Just my opinion.

 

[Rhys]

There was a vehicle by Dihatsu called the Charade that came out in the late 1980s. They rusted faster than anything else on the market which is why none are now on the road. Their big thing was they did 100mpg on diesel.

I too am not keen on the mobile coffins. I don't think much of anybody's chance of surviving a crash in one of the unibody designs.

My Xterra is built on a decent chassis and I'm liable not only to survive a crash but to be able to drive away from it afterwards.

It seems that we have a problem here - we either have a safe car that guzzles fuel or we have a dangerous car that sips fuel. Having seen the suicidal driving I have seen and having already been rear-ended by an idiot while I was stationary in a line of traffic (their vehicle was a write-off and the paint wasn't even scratched on mine), I'm going to have to go for the safer vehicle.

I do regret that fuel has gone up in price. It has made me think more about the necessity of each journey but it's not going to stop me and I can always raise my prices to counteract the increase in fuel costs.

 

[epatsellis]

Yeah, prices in IL are crazy, here in the "rural" end of the state, it's running $3.99 a gallon, and for those of you in metropolitan areas, be thankful, I have 2 choices for groceries, the local IGA (and prices are about 25% higher than they should be) or drive 30 miles to the nearest city that has more than 1 grocery store.

And I used to chuckle when I'd see the Amish driving their buggies by the house, bet hay hasn't gone up all that much. So much for advancing our culture. Where I live there aren't many choices jobwise and the pay just plain sucks....Gotta love Illinois, huh?

Pretty bad when you have to choose between gas or film/chemistry. (yup, one of those crazy film people...)



erie

 

[Corry]

I did a 110 mile commute on Friday from Columbia to Charleston. It took just under half a tank of fuel. I reckon at 220 miles round trip that it probably used 11 or 12 gallons at $3.78 a gallon (I didn't have time to mess about hunting for the cheapest place).

I do a 110 mile each way trip at least once a week to see my little cousin in the hospital...It takes me half a tank, as well. Around $40, cuz my car gets poor gas mileage.