How to deal with high Gas prices?

[biglatka]

Picture of gas lines in Guangdong province in China.

 

[noodlesfusion]

Re: Re: Re: Here's how I deal

I have a Miata (yea its a go-cart but fun as hell to take the turns in) that I cruise back and forth to work 3/4 times a week to cut down on the gas costs.

It is weird going back the 4Runner but my wallet is happy...

funny thing i havent driven the 4runner in 2 weeks and it actually felt good not to shift gears and just kick back...i guess you need a lil of both...

My bike has saved me a ton of money in gas. Even when you're hard on the throttle the gas mileage is WAAAY better than any SUV and most cars.

edit: Although I guess my gas savings are taken back by the Porsche. Oh well, both are fun!

yup yup 40 miles to the gallon is good stuff and you get a rush from splittin lanes.. crazy thing torque from any car or truck is nothing compared to the pull from a bike... crazy thing is i still save money if i add up my bike payments and gas compared to the 4runners gas by itself for the month.. weird huh?

 

[mikel]

A funny thing I noticed is that when one gas station is selling gas at perhaps 3-5 cents/gallon less than the competition there is a line of cars at that station, while down the road you can pull right in and fill up with no wait at an extra cost of maybe 60 cents-$1.00/tank and saving 15 minutes or more. That is a bargain to me.

Noticed that too - newly renovated gas station on a corner with 2 other gas stations was selling for $0.05/gallon less than the other 2. Couldn't get in that parking lot.

People don't realize they're burning up that 5 cents/gallon saving while sitting idling in line. Better to pay the extra 5 cents/gallon and save the resulting gas/time

 

[4Runna]

Re: Here's how I deal

Every day in the summer, rain or shine

reminds me of dumb & dumber - "I get 75 mpg on this hog" "just go man"

 

[vandert]

4Runna

Ahhh, warm, then there all stuck together from the pee freezing.

Priceless, priceless.

When I was stationed in Colorado with the rapid weather changes I got stuck riding my GSX-R home in the snow, it was 75 degree's when I went into work, 12 hours later it was 28 and snowing, wasn't sticking yet was my saving grace.

Just reminds me because they were riding to aspen.

T

 

[BenSD]

I've been doing a bit of an experiment for my past two fill ups. Last time I was locking in 65MPH in the CC while on the freeway. I averaged about 18MPG. This time I locked in 60MPH on the freeeway. I averaged about 20MPG. This is based on my own calculations at the time of filling up.

 

[AlexJet]

I've been doing a bit of an experiment for my past two fill ups. Last time I was locking in 65MPH in the CC while on the freeway. I averaged about 18MPG. This time I locked in 60MPH on the freeeway. I averaged about 20MPG. This is based on my own calculations at the time of filling up.

Theoretically, gas consumption depend from 2 major factors: engine and aerodynamics. First, coefficient rising with rising rpm. Second, rising according to the traveling speed. Gradient (how fast it rising) is different before 55mph most important is engine coefficient, but at the speed of 55mph they becoming equal and at higher speed consumption most depend on aerodynamics. This means that it doesn't make a big difference in consumption when traveling at 35 or 45 mph, it's depend on engine and how you accelerating/decelerating. At highway speeds it's very important how fast you driving. I can nearly double traveling distance if I'll drop speed from 95mph to 55mph.

 

[Offroader]

I've found the best fuel economy between 45-50mph.
After that, you start losing efficiency due to the poor 4Runner aerodynamics.

I guess a brick is not designed to go too fast.

 

[AlexJet]

I've found the best fuel economy between 45-50mph.
After that, you start losing efficiency due to the poor 4Runner aerodynamics.

I guess a brick is not designed to go too fast.

4Runner is not a brick, look at G-Wagen ...
I agree with you, best fuel efficiency is at 50 mph.

 

[4Runna]

i drive 2 hrs 10 min daily for work - 40 miles highway rest city, i get 20.7 mpg

cruise control at 74

i agree windows open friggs it up, so does heavy alternator load like stereo or a/c pumping

55 mpg is sweet spot, when i was commuting on one of those roads i was getting 24-26 mpg

 

[kdx2000]

Tell the oil company executives how you really feel! Drop them an e-mail, call their corporate phone numbers, call your congressman/congresswoman, call your governor. These scum bags are laughing all the way to the bank while we are getting raped! There is no shortage! This is all a ruse. Does anyone remember in the early 90's about a supposed energy shortage? Well the company at the center was Enron, that is right. Where is Enron now? I'm telling everyone that we the American people are getting SCREWED plain and simple!

 

[4Runna]

ya, without even being taken out to dinner or a movie first

i'm no slut

 

[Thai]

4Runner is not a brick, look at G-Wagen ...

Shit, try getting 11-12 mpg in city and 14.5 on highway...any wind and it drops like a rock!

 

[JB.]

Tell the oil company executives how you really feel! Drop them an e-mail, call their corporate phone numbers, call your congressman/congresswoman, call your governor. These scum bags are laughing all the way to the bank while we are getting raped! There is no shortage! This is all a ruse. Does anyone remember in the early 90's about a supposed energy shortage? Well the company at the center was Enron, that is right. Where is Enron now? I'm telling everyone that we the American people are getting SCREWED plain and simple!

Now, I don't wish to ruin the pleasure one feels working up a little righteous indignation, but oil companies publish their financial results every quarter just like any other public company. Every three months info comes out in astonishing detail regarding costs, profits, etc. Anyone can look at this information.

On the other hand, learning about business can be a little boring compared to a good conspiracy theory.

 

[Jim_Chow]

Yeah, I get my best fuel economy around 50-55mph, too. The engine is turning just fast enough for 5th gear, yet wind resistance is still minimal. Once you get going at a constant speed, it takes very little horsepower to maintain that speed. Most of the gas goes to overcoming wind resistance and just plain feeding all those cylinders. So w/ 4.7 liters, you still will burn quite a bit of fuel even if you were driving in a vacuum on flat ground. After all, displacement is still about twice that of a 4 cylinder engine. The only way to improve economy while still being able to drive 65-70mph is to either improve aerodynamics (can't really for a SUV...4th gen has less drag than any of the previous 4runners) and/or reduce fuel burn from engine displacement (i.e., smaller engine).