prices vs posts here...
 

Is it me or is this place like a ghost town because of sub $2 gas?

Things have slowed down, but sure enough you know the price of fuel will go back up... ;)

-Jay

it creeped up 20 cents here but i dont really care, filled up from half with $18

Low price or not, I still hyper-mile. I love to go into a long extended glide mode when a big SUV or monster truck comes up and gets right on me. Love it. They too should be saving their money now for the worse times to come. People in my town are still buying huge huge vehicles, and flatout racing between every stop light. When will it change?

Me too, probably not quite as diligent, but I still do it. 2 tanks ago, I filled up when the light came on, and it was $16 and change!

The motivation certainly is less with gas down around $1.79 or so.

But I'm still hypermiling. I love the challenge. Would be fun even if gas were under a dollar a gallon. Getting more mpg is just as much of a challenge as getting there faster - but it's a lot safer and for me more interesting. I mean, how much faster can you actually get to work or the mall by using performance driving techniques?? But you CAN actually get there on less fuel by hypermiling.

The only way to get or keep the price down is to reduce demand. Burn less of it. If we increase consumption due to cheap gas, that consumption increases the demand and the price will go back up again.

Actually, I think it's "Holiday Season" vs. posts.
Pretty much anyone who doesn't live in a cave is busier than usual this time of year.

Drove the Insight through the huge storm Thursday from Williamsburg to Va Tech and back.

Worst drive of my life, tractor trailers going 35 on the Interstate in the left lane with flashers on.

I filled the car up for $9.06 after 374 miles. $1.38 per gallon.

I had been averaging close to 60 on the highway, but on this trip the weather was so bad the mileage dropped to 52 on the way back.

Had hoped to cover all 540 miles on a single tank, but it would have been too close with the weather.

Couldn't stop because I had a sleet-hail storm closing in from the west.

regards
gary

it still ruins the planet even when cheap!
hopefully people will still conserve fuel, and think.

I've been thin on the ground for other reasons.

Although as pointed out, however cheap it is, it's plundering a scarce resource and releasing trapped carbon, but...

I'd figure it's an ideal time for doing test runs, get a lot of miles in testing aero mods, driving techniques etc etc. It might be viewed by an eco-nazi as short term environmental murder, but I regard it as investment in knocking down long term consumption. Then when prices are back where it hurts again, your wallet and the planet reaps the benefit.

I wonder if any of the moderators can tell how many total posts per month there are?? So you think that during the height of the higher prices, there was more posting. Interesting. I'll bet you are right.

Also, as to cheaper gas, I personally do not drive any different (I mean in a wasteful manner) just because it is cheaper. I don't think you should waste any resourse. That is just my opinion.

May, June, and July were about twice as much traffic as the rest of the year.

could you filter spam and HHO, then report back to us again? :D

edit: just joshin'!

LOL, that's actually a good point. Spam has been almost non-existent in the past couple months, I've had this itchy trigger finger ever since becoming a moderator and I've only been able to shoot down a few.

I've run a couple of reports, I'll post some charts once I get them cleaned up and uploaded to Photobucket.

EDIT: Here it is... I've removed the actual numerical data, but the chart gives you an idea of what was going on in the grand scheme of things. These are for Jan 01, 2008 12:00 AM until Dec 16, 2008 9:15 PM Eastern time.

The first one is new posts, and the second is new members registered.

https://www.fuelly.com/attachments/fo...b23ad62e8b.jpg

https://www.fuelly.com/attachments/fo...ca8365c1b3.jpg

I wonder if the recent OPEC production cuts will affect gas prices much in the future?
https://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081217/af_opec_meeting.html

Perhaps there will be an upswing in membership too? It'll be interesting to see if there's a consistant trend.

This might be a good time to buy a cheap economy car; prices are low since gas is cheap and the economy is down.

makes me wish i had waited to get my accent, but i didn't have much choice...needed a car to get to work! ugh.

30mpg is pretty respectable, and I bet you didn't pay as much for it as you would for another brand.

Ahh, yes I got a break today, and even took a nap. Iv been drained!
:D

My thoughts exactly, and talk them down with fuel prices.:thumbup:

Thanks! That tells the whole story!!
I would also like to add that our diligence is, at least in some small percentage, responsible for keeping the prices down! So I say we try harder. I like cheap gas, and want it to stay that way. Just my way of flipping the bird to OPEC!
:D

This forum is dead... what am I supposed to do at work now?!?!

Join a truck forum. They're pretty lively lately.

I don't want to flip OPEC the bird, I want to bury the cartel permanently. Make them compete for dollars just like we have to compete. Watch the organization disintegrate as they decide they would rather drop their prices rather than sell nothing.

In fact we could use some of their own medicine on them, selective boycotts of OPEC members who try to maintain any monoply.

If they were US corporations they would all be in jail for collusion to fix prices. If they want to act like criminals, we should respond accordingly.

I sold my VX to a friend who was driving a 12 MPG truck, because he had to be able to tow a 4 horse trailer. His mileage has increased by almost 400%, while mine has actually increased slightly.

Last local 36 mile drive today for me was 63.2 MPG. Mileage since last tank was 57.8 MPG. Thats about 2.6 cents a mile, compared to 1 cent a mile in 1968.

This community has made a difference, lots of people come here and just read and learn. The knowledge base is very comprehensive, without bias towards anything except what works.

I see people driving very differently every day. Last week on a single trip from Williamsburg to Richmond, I saw 17 people stopped and being ticketed by State Troopers. I told a trooper friend, some months ago, they needed to enforce the speed limits to make it safer for those of us who like to drive the speed limit. he told me he did not think it would ever be done.

Now with the economy in the tank, apparently the State has decided to dramtically increase its speed limit enforcement, and it seems to be slowing people down. With anything over 80 in VA being reckless (65 zone) the fine is $500. It doesn't take to many 4 point $500 tickets to make any sane person slow down.

I hope once they get everyone slowed down, then they start to enforce the tailgating and agressive driver laws, because some of these idiots around here are still following one car length at 70 MPH.

Regards
Gary

I'll look for more mileage even if gas or diesel is 50 cents. It's only reasonable as it's my money that I produce.


I think there are good techniques on this site. Some of them put on in non compliance of the law, so it is a risk. There's plenty of toutes of incredible mileage with no data to support it.

It's not in the a government's best interest for use to get good mileage. There are so many claims that it can be "willed" into existence even if the technology does not exist.

Next, if one were the inventor, governments just tax, so why even bring it to market. There's not much reward for one's work.

I keep hoping that someone will have some more shaking ideas on this forum. I do like the hydraulic hybrid though. If that goes through and is manufactured along with electric cars, one can be certain that the taxation from the government will skyrocket because of reduced consumption of fuels. Really, I think we have huge freedom from government problems.

funny you should talk about taxation. north carolina is looking at several options because of the lost tax revenue (funny how that works) from the decreased demand of gas.

one that is really out there is a 1/4th cent per mile tax to be paid at the end of each year. this is just a proposal but they want to get your odometer reading each year to compare to last years and tax you accordingly.

in the end, they are going to get there money. if it isn't in the price of a gallon of fuel, it will be somewhere.

I also hope to see the hydraulic hybrid some day. maybe there will be some even wilder ideas to come also.

Yeah, that's the next step.

I'm looking for work, and we're doing fine. I don't want to contribute to the taxes and the redistribution of wealth. I'll probably look for some cash jobs, do more through my corporation, and I'm seriously considering going off the grid for electricity...as I won't be required to pay for various programs to support others. I can do that on my own as part of my decision process.

I don't even want to be part of this contribution to a failed business in GM and Chrysler. Must be that Ford has gotten their act together somehow. Not sure how that's done, but I'm sure they still have work to do.

Ford doesn't need the loan because they had financial trouble a few years ago and took out mortgages on all their factories. They have a ton of cash but also a ton of debt. They're not in any better shape, they just mortgaged their factories for the cash instead of borrowing it from the government.

Good for them, and good for me. Their risk on their viability is theirs rather than mine, and that means that their repayment is in the hands of an actual bank that finds them viable rather than the poor, inefficient operation of the government that takes our money.

We would be paying one way or another. If GM and Chrysler were to go under there would be up to 3 million lost jobs, not just the UAW, suppliers, truck drivers, the company that makes the little clips for windshield washer fluid etc. That would be a loss of income for the governmet via payroll taxes. We are a Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealer and if we were to lose the new car end of the business we would have to cut our staff in half because of lost income from new car sales, warranty work, and parts and accessories, that equals higher unemployment and more loss of income for the government via taxes etc. The way the bailout is structured GM and Chrysler have to show a feasable plan by the end of march or repay the money. If they are unable to repay the money I'm sure the government will sieze the companies assests and factories and maybe even try to run the business themselves and then you will have what you want, failure of the company.

We're getting a little socialist now about this now too. That didn't work during the Depression except to extend it. It hasn't been anything that has made the US solid, but it has reduced our capacity to stay ahead. We're just continuing down the road equalizing with the rest of the world.

As for the "government" running a business? Right. The Tesla guy seems pretty bright, and how many cars has he put on the road. I'm sure someone like Barney Frank would do so much better.

God help us all.

The whole idea of throwing billions at a poorly managed business is still not right. If they don't find a way to build decent fuel efficient cars, they will fail anyway. There just doesn't seem to be no easy way out of this mess.

To succeed, they need to build cars that sell well, regardless of whether or not they are decent or fuel-efficient. They need to do it at a profit.

I don't think a year of high gas prices was their downfall, just the straw that broke the ailing camel's back.

True. the only reason they've dropped, is because so many aren't working anymore, or buying gas. If our economy picks up, fuel prices will go up again.

I'm sorry, but Ford and Chevy actually sell a lot more trucks than a lot of the others sell combinations of vehicles, and it's ridiculous that this is brought up as "part of their problem".

They don't have a problem with what they sell. If one doesn't like their offering, don't buy what they have. They have an overhead problem related to the cost of retirement, idle workers, and health care above and beyond anything normal. Similar to the melt down that will come to most cities, counties, states, and the federal government as wages don't keep up with the regular "cost of living" increases that plow workers, teachers, representatives, and the rest receive in the service of the "public good".

Adding a fuel efficient car that only some people will buy isn't going to even come close to the numbers of pick ups that they do actually sell. The Camry is still a long way off from the F150 and the Silverado.

The hydraulic hybrid is the future of all types of cars, even electric.

Electric cars are simply a different source of non reversible energy consumption.

Hydraulic-lectric cars are part of the plan, if your situation only requires limited range, then pure electric is fine, with hydraulic regeneration and powertrains to maximise the efficiency curve of the electric drive.

Power units can be interchangeable for city of highway situations or any combination. It's shortsighted thinking to believe any limited range pure electric vehicle is a practical solution, unless battery technology advances dramatically with ranges of 250 miles, and recharge times drop to less than an hour.

Even then battery costs are still way too high.

It's not that I am pro anything other than the simplest most robust powertrain that can be developed, with costs lower than conventional systems.

Its not the limited production high priced solution that we need. It's a simple powertrain, with regenerative capacity, that can be connected to any non reversible source of power generation.

Hydraulic hybrids can best be understood by looking at the EPA Ford Explorer prototype. The current EPA configuration is very bulky, and not practical for compact vehicles, much less even smaller vehicles. The current prototype Explorer is getting about 40 MPG combined. Future developments will make it cheaper to build and get 50 MPG easily.

Proposals are now being solicited for hydraulic hybrid Rickshaws, for high density city transportation, believe it or not.

How about a bicycle that you use as an exercise machine at home, then use the energy you saved while exercising to propel you to work the next day, up to several miles each way. I see human hydraulic electric hybrid vehicles in a very few years.

Heck they even pulse and glide motorgliders, power them up to 20 k alt and soar 80miles with no power required.

This revolution has just begun. In 50 years we will be looking back at todays cars about the same way we look at the air pollution in London in the 40's and 50's.

regards
gary

Google

"Green Car Congress"

Go to the archives for November 6, 2008 posting.

Then maybe you will believe it old man ;).

regards
gary

I've also noticed the drop off in posts since gas prices have fell. I still drop by about everyday to see if there are new posts and if there are I'll do some reading and maybe make a post otherwise I usually just pass on through.

I dunno...this thread has 38 responses so far...

As for myself, busy, nothing much to add to what has already been said, and a long "Honey do" list...