Labor Day Travel and Gas

[QT Luong]

Interesting to hear your opinion on the gas prices in Europe that are approching $ 2 a litre ( times 3,8 to get the gallon price in Europe

Yes, but Europeans have the option of driving small diesel cars that get more than 60 MPG. In America,
advertising pressures and self-esteem issues leave us with NO choice but to drive a SUV.

Speaking of car choices, Galen Rowell, despite all his environmental stances and his tiny cameras (he thought that a Nikon F4 was too big) drove a Suburban, while Joe Holmes, a well respected LF photographer .
seems very pleased with his Prius.

[GPS]

QT, do you get your self esteem from driving an SUV? Do you drive an SUV because of advertising pressures? Good news for you - there is a choice for you. It's called - a psychiatrist.

[ronald lamarsh]

Luckily I drive a "company" car/van. They buy the gas, tires et al, all I do is pay them $110/mo and pony up the benefit(figured on my lease cost,fuel etc) at the end of the year in extra taxes, which tend to be paltry when compared to the actual operating cost of a vehicle. end result...........I am more worried about gas availability than price. Out here on the left coast we haven't has any problems yet. Happy shoooting
I can't wait to retire so I can get a deisel and convert it veggie oil too or maybe that 81 corolla station wagon and convert it to pure ethyl alcohol.

[Steve Clark]

Europe has another option that we generally don`t have here, mass transit that works and will actually get you somewhere...

[Brian C. Miller]

We used to have a mass transit system that worked and actually got you somewhere, but, documented in a book, a group of oil companies, tire companies, and auto companies systematically destroyed it. The companies involved were fined $500, and the individuals involved were fined $1. The book was reviewed in the Oregonian, early 1990's.

One of the things you have to look at is that different countries have different needs. We had the Chevrolet Apache, produced in the 1950's, and it was like a stretched Suburban. Great way to get a crew into the boonies. The Suburban has fantastic traction, great for getting to difficult places. I suspect that it originally was made as a cross between a van and a station wagon, thus the name, but then it got adopted by industry.

The current Honda Insight gets 66mpg highway.

[Donald Qualls]

Some of us are limited to large vehicles, not by the choices available, but by the funds. I drive a fifteen year old minivan with over 200,000 miles because it's paid for and still starts every time I turn the key (which wasn't the case with the other vehicle, same age and half the miles, I bought about the same time, about 7 years ago). I get 14 mpg around town, and seldom get on the freeway now that I no longer have a 40+ mile (one way) commute; with a little care, I might be able to get six weeks on a 22 gallon tank (but six weeks from now, it might cost $90 to fill up).

Replacing this vehicle with a more efficient one is simply impossible -- there'd be no way to make the payments; it would have to pay me to be driven to cost less than buying gas for this old hog. And I can haul (literally) half a ton of stuff if I pull the seats out and pack carefully. The only solution available to me is to drive as little as possible, and hope this is a short-term situation.

Oh, yeah, mass transit. I used to really hate the Seattle/King County Metro bus system -- until I moved here, and found out that there isn't anything I recognize as public transit. There's a bus route a block from my house, but as nearly as I can determine, they run four or six buses past here per *day*. Heaven help you if you need to go somewhere another time, or need to get from here into the next town (the borders touch, though the centers are some 10+ miles apart).

And I can't run mine on old frier oil...

[J.L. Kennedy]

gps: I think it is fairly obvious that QT made his "self-esteem" and "advertising pressure" comments in jest.

[John_4185]

QT made a good point: The US does not allow certain cars, such as the VW Lupo, to be imported, and I am not sure exactly why. That's got to change.

[Michael Kadillak]

Purchasing data facilitate executives in the automobile industry to formulate high profitability business models emphasizing bigger is better over more efficient alternatives.

Another thing I have read is that the that the US has mandated much stricter emmission standards that limit diesel sales in certain auto classes. The fear of being able to see black smoke coming out of 10's of millions of vehicles on our roadways is visually unacceptable to the general public. In a similar vein, California has regulated over 13 different formulations of gasoline that has forced prices through the roof. No wonder they always have the highest price fuels. Here is a statistic to ponder -

When the last domestic refinery was built in the US in 1976, we had 291 facilities operating to provide this country with a wide range of refined products from propane and motor oils to gasolines. With consumption increasing since 1976 we now have 149 refineries attempting to sequester our insatiable thirst for these products.

The big auto makers will finally have their ballons busted in this new market. What we need is clean fuel efficient diesel technology and the consumers will force the marketplace to provide it to them one way or another.

Our complete lack of an energy strategy has allowed the US to have the highest natural gas costs in the world. Gasoline is not there yet but is re-establishing personal spending allocations as we speak and will be a huge drag on the economy. Painful as it is, I believe it is a good thing in the long run. We as a nation squander far to many natural resources IMHO.

Cheers!

[Brian C. Miller]

The reason that the small diesel cars are not in the US is because the auto companies don't import them. In fact, the EPA has far laxer restrictions on diesel than gasoline cars. I remember a story about a small two-seater sold in the UK which got about 70mpg with diesel, and the car company had brought half a dozen state-side for test driving. Maybe with gas prices from $3-$4 per gallon, the car companies and the EPA will get some on the fast track for import sales.