[DMCForum] Re: Passing Gas

["ryanpwright" <yahoo1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Likewise. I've done the research as well. Thought about buying a new
Prius instead of the DeLorean. Turns out it's cheaper to buy the
DeLorean including maintenance and paying for gas than it would be to
buy the Prius.

The savings just isn't there. One car came very close, the Honda
Insight I believe it was. Little two seater with the covered/recessed
rear wheels. Many owners are getting upwards of 80mpg with them.
That's impressive. 50mpg in a hybird Prius/Civic isn't. A stock VW
Jetta TDI gets that, and you can burn veggie oil in it.

I thought about buying a VW TDI, too, but just couldn't bring myself
to do it. They're just not fun to drive.

Rich, I understand your worrying about this. I've been there, done
that. Our cars seem to get about 20mpg which isn't bad. When gas gets
to $4+ a gallon, I'll start thinking about serious changes. Until then
it's cheaper to just keep feeding it, even at $2.20/gal...

One thing I love: Commuter Cars' Tango. http://www.commutercars.com/.
I sat in this car, it's very impressive. All that and a bag of chips.
I'm told prices should be under $20k in a few years. When they are, if
gas prices are still this high, I'll buy one immediately.

-Ryan

--- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "cruznmd" <racuti1@xxxx> wrote:
> Marc,
> 
> You're right. I read an article about hybrids that stated that due to 
> the higher base cost of the car itself, you'd need to own the thing 
> for 15 years before you actually saved any money.
> 
> I guess the point is, I'd rather pour my money into equipment rather 
> than the gas tank (and the petro companies). It would also (cough) be 
> more environmentally sound.
> 
> Dave:
> 
> What's Toyota's and Honda's trick then? How do they overcome the 
> weight/distance problem?
> 
> --- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Marc Levy <malevy_nj@xxxx> wrote:
> > Why not put a diesel in there, and make it run on
> > bio-diesel?  Make a deal with the local McDonalds to
> > collect the french fry oil, you filter it and burn
> > it.... the exhaust smells like French Fries!
> > 
> > The kit to convert the regular diesel to a run on
> > vegetable oil is a few hundred dollars, but if you add
> > in the cost of the engine conversion it can get
> > expensive.
> > 
> > Before you do any of it, consider the fact that a
> > regular engine conversion at minimum will be let say,
> > $5K.  Do you drive enough to see a $5K savings in a
> > reasonable amount of time?
> > 
> > My take on the new Hybrids is that most people wont
> > realize any savings.  You can buy a regular gasoline
> > econo-box you can get 30Mpg.  The hybrid is like
> > 50Mpg.  However, add in the additional cost of the
> > hybrid option and I would suspect it would take at
> > least 2-3 years for the average person to realize a
> > savings...  But in 2-3 years, you will need to replace
> > that humungo bank of batteries.  More $$.
> > 
> > If you can do a solution that does not require the
> > mega-batteries, that may work.  Maybe power a
> > generator with Diesel?  or a turbine engine?  The
> > problem with that is your generator will have to be
> > able to put out the maximum amperage you will ever
> > need (under acceleration).
> > 
> > BTW, if you do electric do you even need a
> > transmission??  Electric motors have linear torque so
> > why bother with a transmission?
> > 
> > Best part of all, if you do come up with something
> > cool the Oil company will buy it from you for a few
> > million dollars of hush money.. they you wont care
> > about gas prices!
> > 
> > 
> > --- cruznmd <racuti1@xxxx> wrote:
> > > I'm going to pose a possible project. It may dumb,
> > > it may not but 
> > > here it is:
> > > 
> > <SNIP>
> > 
> > 
> >       
> >             
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price.
> > http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/

---

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