# I love gasoline!!!



## Stacey (May 23, 2008)

*sarcasm*....gas went up again here in Central IL to $4.09...That's a 20 cent jump in less than a week! Ugh! I totally hate this! I know we're still cheaper than in other parts of the country but still....this really stinks! It's gonna cost like 80 bucks to fill up my tank!  No fun! 

Just had to vent! 

Thanks for "listening"!


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## JimmyO (May 23, 2008)

Gee, makes me not exited to get my license in a few years 

Whats the price of diesel there? Its like $4.45 here, which is really bad for us because my dad owns a pool company and all his vehicles are diesel :thumbdown:


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## Corry (May 23, 2008)

It's $4.09 there?  

I'm only 20 miles from you, and it's still $3.98 here!  At least it was this morning! 

I can't wait til I move to the city and ditch the car!


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## maytay20 (May 23, 2008)

Well were I am it is $3.99 but in the upper part of MI it is $4.20


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## JohnMF (May 23, 2008)

it can cost around £60-70 to fill up your tank in parts of the UK (i think that's roughtly around $130) and our cars are generally smaller. It's been pricey over here for years


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## Corry (May 23, 2008)

JohnMF said:


> it can cost around £60-70 to fill up your tank in parts of the UK (i think that's roughtly around $130) and our cars are generally smaller. It's been pricey over here for years



Yeah, I remember learning that on this very forum, a couple of years ago when we (the US) were complaining about prices being around $2 a gallon.  

I remember saying that I couldn't imagine paying what you guys did for gasoline, but...well...it's becoming a reality now!


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## Chris of Arabia (May 23, 2008)

I'm in the UK at the moment and have passed petrol stations selling at £1.13 a litre - that's the equivalent of $10.17 a gallon - sure you don't want to fill up where you are?


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## Corry (May 23, 2008)

Chris of Arabia said:


> I'm in the UK at the moment and have passed petrol stations selling at £1.13 a litre - that's the equivalent of $10.17 a gallon - sure you don't want to fill up where you are?



:shock: :stun:


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## matt-l (May 23, 2008)

JimmyO said:


> Gee, makes me not exited to get my license in a few years



same
i laugh now, but when i get my permit this summer, i wont be laughing


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## KevinDks (May 23, 2008)

Chris of Arabia said:


> I'm in the UK at the moment and have passed petrol stations selling at £1.13 a litre - that's the equivalent of $10.17 a gallon - sure you don't want to fill up where you are?



Isn't that the dollar price per Imperial (4.55 litre) gallon, or have I got my sums wrong? A US (3.78 litre) gallon would be $8.41 at today's exchange rate. 

That almost seems reasonable - my car runs on diesel, which round here (in a rural area) is £1.29 a litre, or £5.87 an Imperial gallon, $9.61 a US gallon. Mind you, I get 55 miles per Imperial gallon.

Kevin


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## Chris of Arabia (May 23, 2008)

You spotted the flaw in my argument. Yes I did convert to Imperial, not the US version.


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## maytay20 (May 23, 2008)

KevinDks said:


> Isn't that the dollar price per Imperial (4.55 litre) gallon, or have I got my sums wrong? A US (3.78 litre) gallon would be $8.41 at today's exchange rate.
> 
> That almost seems reasonable - my car runs on diesel, which round here (in a rural area) is £1.29 a litre, or £5.87 an Imperial gallon, $9.61 a US gallon. Mind you, I get 55 miles per Imperial gallon.
> 
> Kevin


Wow :raisedbrow::taped sh:


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## KevinDks (May 23, 2008)

maytay20 said:


> Wow :raisedbrow::taped sh:



You can say that again. And it's only going to get worse - I've seen predictions that the average for petrol will go as high as £1.50 a litre, so I dread to think what diesel might be.


Chris, out of idle curiosity, what's the price of a litre in Saudi (assuming that's where you work)?

Kevin


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## ferny (May 23, 2008)

Where the hell are you buying your petrol? You're looking at £1.18 here, not £1.13!


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## greatestfix (May 23, 2008)

I have an gas guzzling ford Expedition and it takes $100 to fill up.  I miss the good old days when gas was $1.09 now its $3.89. :x


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## nicfargo (May 23, 2008)

It's insane where prices have gone in just the past 7 years.  When I was in high school gas was right around $1.00 a gallon.  I had trouble filling my car back then at times.  Since minimum wage has barely gone up since then, I don't understand how kids can fill up when it's $4.00 a gallon.  It boggles my mind.  The US hasn't created a new refinery in 3 decades...this all could have been avoided if the government wasn't in bed with big oil this whole time.  Now, big oil decided it doesn't need to play nice anymore and we're getting screwed.  We should have been done using oil years ago.  Henry Ford didn't think we'd still be using Oil today, he'd probably roll in his grave.  There are so many decent alternatives but every time one comes up and we should switch to it the government just says "it's really hard".  I don't care if implementing a new fuel system is hard...it's something we have to do.


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## Chris of Arabia (May 23, 2008)

That's what it was earlier today up near us in Lancashire. It was £1.14 when Anne-Marie went to fill up.

Petrol in Saudi is fixed at 60 halalas (100 to the Riyal, 3.75 Riyals to the Dollar) a litre. That makes petrol 60 cents a US gallon, or £0.73 an Imperial gallon.


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## astrostu (May 23, 2008)

It was $3.649/gal at Costco here last weekend.  This is why I fill my 15-gal tank about 1x per month and ride the bus to/from campus during the week (though I'm looking into getting a bike).


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## Jon0807 (May 23, 2008)

Gas here is about $3.95 to over $4.  I just fueled up my big rig yesterday at $4.99 a gallon.  I put 84 gallons in so thats about $420 and it'll last me about 2 days.  I know long haul drivers spend over $1k every 3 days or so on diesel alone.  You wonder why everything you're buying is going up?  Fuel prices are affecting everything.  And now American Airlines is wanting to charge you $15 to check in your FIRST piece of luggage.  I really don't see this getting better any time soon


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## Heck (May 23, 2008)

Too bad I still sit in traffic every day lol. Gas prices make everything go up but gas will go down I think but everything will stay at the same prices lol.


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## Rhys (May 23, 2008)

I paid $3.79 a gallon and filled up with $66 worth.

My SUV does 19mpg.

Actually, although the price increase is dramatic - only 3 years ago unleaded was $2.65 and in January $2.95, it's not as horrible as it could be.

I'm somewhat surprised people haven't really started trying to produce alcohol replacement fuel etc. I'm sure it would work out cheaper. Here in the southern US it's hot enough that brewing alcohol doesn't need special preparation although distillation would. 

Interestingly, vegetable oil which works well in diesel engines as fuel is horribly expensive in the US.


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## Josh66 (May 23, 2008)

I just filled up, it cost $68 @$3.799/Gallon.  I had 1/2 a tank before I filled it.  This was the first time in months that I could actually afford to top it off.  (My tank holds about 40 gallons.)

This tank ought to last about a month, assuming I only drive to work and back.


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## Stacey (May 23, 2008)

It's crazy how differing gas prices are all over the states...Even in Peoria (which is about 45 minutes to an hour drive for me), gas prices are different all over the city. It's funny though, one of the bigger intersections in Peoria..there are 2 gas stations caddy corner from each other...and one is always 5-10 cents cheaper than the other and everyone always goes to the more expensive one! (Road Ranger is always cheaper and BP is always more expensive and the gas is the same!) Even here where I am where I work is 10-20 cents more than where I live! (and it's only like 15 miles away!)...I just find it all crazy! We so need to start drilling in Alaska! This is so frustrating! Especially people on a fixed income, and people who work on minimum wage and don't live and work in the same town...it's hard to make it work anymore!


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## Corry (May 23, 2008)

What is the difference between a US gallon and an imperial gallon?


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## Phranquey (May 23, 2008)

Sometimes I have a hard time comprehending how people complain about the price of a resource that has to be found, drilled, tapped, extracted, shipped, refined, shipped again....$4.00 a gallon.

Yet I have never heard anyone say a word about going into a gas station and paying $1.29 for a 16oz bottle of water....which equals $10.32 a gallon......for WATER.


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## Josh66 (May 23, 2008)

Corry said:


> What is the difference between a US gallon and an imperial gallon?


A US Gallon is 3.785 liters, an Imperial Gallon (UK Gallon) is 4.546 liters.


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## Rhys (May 23, 2008)

I keep seeing all the con tricks being advertised now. I saw one the other day - some gizmo that was supposed to turn water into fuel for $79.95. Some people will believe anything!


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## Senor Hound (May 23, 2008)

I wouldn't mind paying that much for gasoline if a) I had a short (kilometer-wise) commute, and b) if there was adequate mass transit.  Where I am, my commute is 70 miles (112 kilometres) a day, and the nearest subway is 300 miles (480 kilometres) away.  We complain about these sorts of gas prices because our country was designed around cheap gasoline.  No other country in the world has its two largest cities 3000 miles away from each other.

I wanna move to the Netherlands where I can bicycle around all day.  If I tried to bike to work as it is now, It'd take me 3 hours each way!


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## nealjpage (May 23, 2008)

nicfargo said:


> It's insane where prices have gone in just the past 7 years.  When I was in high school gas was right around $1.00 a gallon.  I had trouble filling my car back then at times.  Since minimum wage has barely gone up since then, I don't understand how kids can fill up when it's $4.00 a gallon.  It boggles my mind.  The US hasn't created a new refinery in 3 decades...this all could have been avoided if the government wasn't in bed with big oil this whole time.  Now, big oil decided it doesn't need to play nice anymore and we're getting screwed.  We should have been done using oil years ago.  Henry Ford didn't think we'd still be using Oil today, he'd probably roll in his grave.  There are so many decent alternatives but every time one comes up and we should switch to it the government just says "it's really hard".  I don't care if implementing a new fuel system is hard...it's something we have to do.



I miss the days of the Casey's and Kum & Go gas wars!  I remember the summer after i graduated high school (1997) paying 92 cents a gallon because the stations were trying to drive down prices in the name of competition.  Gas in Nebraska was still cheap when I was in college.  Oh well.  Things change.

These days I live across the street from my office, so I hardly ever drive.


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## Corry (May 23, 2008)

O|||||||O said:


> A US Gallon is 3.785 liters, an Imperial Gallon (UK Gallon) is 4.546 liters.



Thanks! I'd have looked it up myself, but I'm typing from my phone and that's too much work!


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## Stacey (May 23, 2008)

Rhys said:


> I keep seeing all the con tricks being advertised now. I saw one the other day - some gizmo that was supposed to turn water into fuel for $79.95. Some people will believe anything!


 
That's CRAZY! But the sad thing is, is that someone out there will believe this and spend money on that! Although, wouldn't it be nice if that were true though? And if it were true, to be able to use on EVERY car, not just certain ones?


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## Josh66 (May 23, 2008)

Senor Hound said:


> I wouldn't mind paying that much for gasoline if a) I had a short (kilometer-wise) commute, and b) if there was adequate mass transit.[...]


My drive to work is about 5 miles.  There is no mass transit at all in the town I live in, not even buses.  If gas gets as high as I've been hearing ($10/gal in 2-3 years) a lot of people around here (with much longer commutes than mine) will be pretty screwed.


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## JohnMF (May 23, 2008)

Rhys said:


> I keep seeing all the con tricks being advertised now. I saw one the other day - some gizmo that was supposed to turn water into fuel for $79.95. Some people will believe anything!



hmmm... some sort of steam-based engine? it'll never work i tells ya!


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## dklod (May 23, 2008)

nealjpage said:


> I miss the days of the Casey's and Kum & Go gas wars! I remember the summer after i graduated high school (1997) paying 92 cents a gallon because the stations were trying to drive down prices in the name of competition. Gas in Nebraska was still cheap when I was in college. Oh well. Things change.
> 
> These days I live across the street from my office, so I hardly ever drive.


 
I lived in Dallas for a short while back in 98-99 and I remember it being 90c a gallon ($10 to fill up our new Camaro). I then live in Tulsa from early 2000 til 2003 and it was about 1.15 on average. I was there just a few months ago and it was about 3.10 I think. From memory here in australia the price was about 70-80c/ltr in the late 90's. So our prices have doubled since then but in the US its gone up 4 fold in the same period. I really dont understand how fuel pricing works or how the price per barrel can double in a short period. At the end of the day, I dont really care because regardless of how much it costs, we all need it and there is not a god damn thing we can do about except to fill up at the end of the pricing cycle before it goes up.


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## astrostu (May 23, 2008)

Phranquey said:


> et I have never heard anyone say a word about going into a gas station and paying $1.29 for a 16oz bottle of water....which equals $10.32 a gallon......for WATER.



Oh, I do.   But that's a topic for a different thread. 




O|||||||O said:


> My drive to work is about 5 miles.  There is no mass transit at all in the town I live in, not even buses.  If gas gets as high as I've been hearing ($10/gal in 2-3 years) a lot of people around here (with much longer commutes than mine) will be pretty screwed.



5-miles is biking distance!


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## Rhys (May 23, 2008)

astrostu said:


> Oh, I do.   But that's a topic for a different thread.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Lol. I like cycling but I sure as hell wouldn't ride on the roads - not with the drivers I've seen!


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## Phazan (May 23, 2008)

Sugar ethonal :thumbup:

(not to be confused with CORN ethonal)

...If only we could grow lots of sugar here...


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## schumionbike (May 23, 2008)

I feel up last night, $3.68 a gallon (U.S).  Fill up 16.5 gallon on an 18.5 gallon tanks, that was painful.  I hoping to get 400 to maybe 500 miles on it. It's a 2.2 liter Camry that I just got yesterday.  Maybe I need to remove all the carpet or something to save some weight and gas.  That and I just learn that since I don't drive very far anyway, might as well put in less gas. They do weight like 6.3 lbs a gallon.


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## Josh66 (May 24, 2008)

astrostu said:


> 5-miles is biking distance!


It might come to that too.  lol.
Traffic isn't bad around here, so I think it's doable - I just don't have a bike.


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## Mullen (May 24, 2008)

I filled my truck up last night with some of that cheap $3.69 gas... 

I did pay a little less than $6 for a quart of oil the other day, that's nearly $24 a gallon.


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## astrostu (May 24, 2008)

Was just at Costco today.  Regular was $3.749 and Super was $4.009.  Regular at the regular stations was $3.899.  Yowzah.

As for the whole bike thing, I'm actually doing a "do as I say, not as I do," ... I don't actually have a bike. :lmao: BUT, I am actively looking for one at the moment, and asking around for advice on what exactly to look when looking for a bike.


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## Foques (May 24, 2008)

my skyline came in "right on time"... 

I'm trading in my 32mpg scion tC on monday, and getting a supercharged skyline GT350..... yay for 14mpg


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## Josh66 (May 24, 2008)

$12 for a gallon of gas is &#8220;inevitable.&#8221;


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## JIP (May 24, 2008)

Well I think it is just the perfect response to all the white flight.  Everyone bought an SUV and moved as far away from the inner-city and mass transit as they possibly could.  When everyone was buying SUV's I picked me up a nice VW Golf.  It is a good thing we kept the oil man in the white house for 8 years though since gas prices were a little too stagnant during his predecessor's terms.


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## Rhys (May 24, 2008)

I have an SUV and don't really see what the fuss is all about. I don't do that many miles. Of those miles I do, 50% are at least tax deductable.


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## astrostu (May 24, 2008)

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.


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## Senor Hound (May 24, 2008)

astrostu said:


> 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.


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## Josh66 (May 25, 2008)

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.


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## Rhys (May 25, 2008)

O|||||||O said:


> 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).


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## Jon0807 (May 25, 2008)

my neck of the woods


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## Alpha (May 25, 2008)

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


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## Mullen (May 25, 2008)

Alpha said:


> 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/


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## Rhys (May 25, 2008)

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


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## mrodgers (May 26, 2008)

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.


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## Rhys (May 26, 2008)

mrodgers said:


> 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!


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## mrodgers (May 26, 2008)

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.


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## schumionbike (May 26, 2008)

mrodgers said:


> 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.
> 
> ...


 
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.


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## Rhys (May 26, 2008)

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.


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## epatsellis (May 26, 2008)

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


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## Corry (May 26, 2008)

Rhys said:


> 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.


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## Corry (May 26, 2008)

epatsellis said:


> 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?
> 
> ...



Where in Illinois are you from, if I may ask?


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## Rhys (May 26, 2008)

epatsellis said:


> 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?
> 
> ...



I read that the Amish had accepted solar-powered phone boxes and that they were accepting solar-powered lighting. I wonder whether the Amish might not be quietly chuckling when the oil runs out (which is predicted for about 25 years time).

If photography were acceptable in an Amish community then it would be interesting to go to join them.


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## epatsellis (May 26, 2008)

Corry said:


> Where in Illinois are you from, if I may ask?



Sullivan, about halfway between Mattoon and Decatur. or as I prefer to refer to it, either "middle of f'in nowhere" or "the armpit of the universe" depending on my mood.



erie


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## Corry (May 26, 2008)

epatsellis said:


> Sullivan, about halfway between Mattoon and Decatur. or as I prefer to refer to it, either "middle of f'in nowhere" or "the armpit of the universe" depending on my mood.
> 
> 
> 
> erie


.

  That can't be!  Decatur is really freaking far from me, (I'm a little north of Bloomington) but the both 'middle of f'in' nowhere' AND 'the armpit of the universe' and right outside my door!


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## epatsellis (May 26, 2008)

little north, like El Paso? or farther? 

Perhaps you've been here?












(shot in Varna, IL)

erie


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## Corry (May 26, 2008)

Further than El Paso.  And I have family in Varna! Well, family of family.  

I'm in a tiny hamlet called Wenona.


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## Michaelaw (May 26, 2008)

Don't get me started on gas prices! Where the hell is that Escher guy when you need him....I'd get him to re-design my world so everywhere I go it's downhill!


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## schumionbike (May 28, 2008)

Just out of curiosity, what grade of gasoline are you guys in Europe getting?  It might explain the difference in prices a little bit.  In the U.S, it's 87, 89, and 93 is the usual option.  Sometimes you'll get 94 or 91.


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## jlykins (May 28, 2008)

Ok here is the solution that I use. First I am an engineer for Pitney Bowes, which requires me to drive quite a bit for work. They give us .55 for every mile that we log. Now I own a ford F250, which gets in the neighborhood of 15-19 mpg. With diesel at 4.65 a gallon right now, you'd think that I would go broke, BUT I make my own for about .40 a gallon!  Here is a link to the site that sells the unit to do it: http://www.homebiodieselkits.com/  Basically what you have to do is go to a local restraunt that has deep fryers. They have large containers behind their buildings that are used to store grease untill it can be removed by a removal company. This costs the restraunt money, so they will let you have as much of it as you want. The bio-diesel unit (along with some common houshold ingredients) will convert your old nasty grease into diesel you can run in your truck/car. There is NO modification to your vehicle except if you live in extremely cold climates, and even then all you have to do is add a fuel tank warmer so that the diesel doesn't gel up while sitting overnight.  The main downsides to this are, 1: you have to go pump nasty used fryer grease out of the containers. 2: you have to have a garage to put the unit in to convert the diesel. 3: you smell like a fench fry heading down the road.  Other than that you come out ahead. The unit that I have linked to is the most user friendly version that is out there. I have seen people on the internet that have made their own units out of old hot water heaters and 55gallon drums... At 4.65 a gallon (price on my way to work this morning) it would take you about 20 fill ups to recoup the price difference of the unit, and then the rest is money in your pocket...    Just an option for you all. High fuel prices, I don't care, I make my own...


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## KevinDks (May 28, 2008)

schumionbike said:


> Just out of curiosity, what grade of gasoline are you guys in Europe getting?  It might explain the difference in prices a little bit.  In the U.S, it's 87, 89, and 93 is the usual option.  Sometimes you'll get 94 or 91.



My friend Mr Google tells me that ordinary unleaded petrol in the UK is usually 95 octane. Chances are anyone who has quoted UK petrol prices was talking about that rather than what is sold as Super Unleaded, which is 98 octane.

My car is a 2.2 litre diesel which gives me 55 miles per gallon, and even with the much higher cost of diesel (due to higher taxation because of the additional pollution) it still makes more sense than a petrol car. Around 40% of all new cars sold in the UK are diesel engined, and given the price of fuel it's easy to understand why.

Edit: the octane value may have something to do with the price difference, but I expect it is mostly due to taxation. I have just read that 81% of the price we pay here is tax, but I think that may be wrong. In any case, it's a lot...

Kevin


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## cesard08 (Jun 18, 2008)

around $4.50 in Bay Area California


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