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what was the lowest you remember gas????

Started by Kenny C, March 07, 2010, 02:52:00 PM

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twocvbloke

Quote from: wds on January 28, 2014, 08:09:10 AMand a Honda accord.  Sad.

Nothing wrong with that, my friend in the lone star state has one of those and despite driving pretty much every day, he only fills up maybe once a month, and he's often leaving the current generation of american-made cars at the lights (bearing in mind that this is an automatic transmission, 4-cyl engined Accord versus V6 and V8 american "muscle"!!), so, with all that added up, the Accord is a much better car for your son, and will hold it's value much longer than most of today's grotboxes on offer... ;D

I'd have an Accord myself if I could drive (though the Accords we have are called the Acura TSX over there), though I'd be going for the 2.2L i-DTEC diesel powered Tourer (Estate, or Station for those across the pond) model, plenty of power, plenty of torque, plenty of MPGs and being the Tourer, plenty of room for phones in the back... :D

wds

#61
yeah, but if you don't drive much , gas mileage is irrelevant.  My very first car was a 69 camaro, all white, white vinyl top, white interior, automatic on the floor, A/C, Power steering, V8.  Actually a pretty rare car for the times.   If I had that car now it would be worth well in excess of 6 figures.  I would trade my Honda Accord for that 10 mpg car any day of the week.
Dave

twocvbloke

I'm of the nature where I like to get the most bang for my buck, 10MPG(US) versus 60 to 70MPG(Imp., about 50 US), I'm choosing the latter, it's a waste to be using so much fuel in such big engines and getting such bad mileage... :o

wds

Sometimes you have to live a little.  35 mpg in a tin can, or 10 mpg in a car that can rip the tires off the rims.  An extra tank of gas is equal to a meal out?  I admit if I was driving cross county, I would opt for the tin can.  I guess I'm trapped in the 60's - 70's era of hot cars.  I sure do miss those days. 
Dave

twocvbloke

I'd rather live on the road than live in a petrol station, that's the problem with big engined, low-efficiency cars (regardless of the country of origin), and why there was such a huge problem with the fuel shortages in the 70s over there, they had to consume so much fuel just to idle, and then getting them moving took even more, it's just a big waste...

Todays high end cars like a McLaren MP4-12C, they can do as you say, tear the tyres from the rims and give you the thrill of a fast, powerful car, but not use so much fuel just to sit there puttputting at the lights, of course you'd have to pay a premium for the car, but, it's refinement over the crudeness, now don't get me wrong I do like classic cars, but, american ones, they don't have any appeal for me beyond their looks, they're too inefficient and just too, well, redneck...

poplar1

At the equivalent of $10 per imperial gallon ($8 US gallon) in UK, perhaps mileage is relatively more important than safety. Recent tests where new small cars, such as the Honda Fit, hit an object with the corner of the front bumper, rather than head on, have shown almost all the mini-cars are unsafe, even if they "meet" US Gov't standards.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

wds

Interesting.  wonder why it's $8 gal. in the UK, and $3.25 in the US?
Dave

twocvbloke

Quote from: poplar1 on January 28, 2014, 09:36:13 AM
At the equivalent of $10 per imperial gallon ($8 US gallon) in UK, perhaps mileage is relatively more important than safety. Recent tests where new small cars, such as the Honda Fit, hit an object with the corner of the front bumper, rather than head on, have shown almost all the mini-cars are unsafe, even if they "meet" US Gov't standards.

You have to remember that not all the cars on the roads here in the UK are "mini cars", and people who own the Honda Fit (which is called the Honda Jazz here) are usually owned by older folk in their 70s and 80s, so they never drive more than 23mph, and if they do crash, it's usually when reversing... :)

A lot of the cars on our roads are average sized cars, looking out my window I can see an Audi A4, a VW Golf, a couple of Vauxhall Zafiras, a Peugeot 206, a Ford Fiesta, an MG ZT (Rover 75 with an MG badge), a Daewoo Matiz and a few Ford Transit vans, all of which (aside from the Daewoo perhaps) are usually high-scoring vehicles, so, safety is standard, unless you choose a little car which has about as much get up and go as an out of balance washing machine... ;D

But yes, we do tend to consider the efficiency more than just raw power, unless it's Jeremy Clarkson, but he's an idiot anyway, we do have plenty to choose from though, all of which have plenty of power under the bonnet, often a lot more in BHPs than what's on offer across the pond (torque's a different matter and is only useful if you're towing heavy loads, which most people aren't), and from much smaller engines too, we just happen to be more sensible with what we pick, plus huge engined cars bring in bigger insurance and tax costs, so, there's that aswell, there is a niche market for american cars here, but, it's generally only for enthusiasts, who have too much money to spare... ???

twocvbloke

Quote from: wds on January 28, 2014, 10:00:36 AM
Interesting.  wonder why it's $8 gal. in the UK, and $3.25 in the US?

Same reason you guys did that Boston Tea party thing, taxes, the actual cost of the fuel is probably the same as the US, but the government slap about 4 layers of tax on it to bump up the cost... :)

wds

#69
here in Ohio, we pay 46¢ state including 18¢ federal.  Which is about 45¢ too much.
Dave

twocvbloke

Here it's fuel duty at about 32%, VAT at 20%, and of course they tax the oil imports from abroad, and tax the refineries, which they don't publish the percentages, and of course the pump operators charge 5p a litre, so something that starts out at 48p/Litre from the refineries becomes £1.38p/Litre at the pump... :-\

Last year when I bought some fuel for my mower, it was £7.02 to fill a 5L can (though I did get just over 5L in there so probably about 1.3 US Gallons), all for a lawnmower, I wish they'd sell agricultural petrol, cos that's too steep to run a 148cc engined mower.... ::)

AE_Collector

#71
Quote from: JorgeAmely on January 27, 2014, 11:14:47 PM
I remember 29 cents for a gallon in Puerto Rico when I was growing up. Back then, gas was reddish in color.

Were they American or Imperial Gallons in PR then Jorge?

Quote from: wds on January 28, 2014, 09:09:17 AM
Sometimes you have to live a little.  35 mpg in a tin can, or 10 mpg in a car that can rip the tires off the rims.  An extra tank of gas is equal to a meal out?  I admit if I was driving cross county, I would opt for the tin can.  I guess I'm trapped in the 60's - 70's era of hot cars.  I sure do miss those days. 

That Camaro on the road south (south west I guess) to where your Avatar Picture was taken....Hmmm...Where do I sign up...I'M IN!

Terry

Mr. Bones

    15-25¢/gal,, when I went and got lawn mower gas, prior to 1972. Saw it get down 14-15-16-17-18¢/gallon when on vacation with my folks, during the gas wars. Most usually, as we went west from MO, ie.: Kansas/Colorado/Nebraska/Wyoming, the cheapest on the Interstate was at Stuckey's... pretty decent grub, too.

     Was 50¢ ±/gal. for ol-skool, leaded, purple-tinted Premium (AKA as Ethyl) circa '76-'80, when I started to drive('76, at least legally), and had high-compression vehicles with an octane addiction. None nearly so cool as mentioned above!  ;D Mostly SS Chebbies.... I distinctly do remember seeing many of the 'cooler' cars getting smaller in my rearview mirrors, though. ;D

     It would definitely stain the inside of your carbs reddish-purple; easy to tell if somebody ran Ethyl, or regular, as a rule...

Best regards
Sláinte!
   Mr. Bones
      Rubricollis Ferus

wds

#73
My second car was a Red 10 mpg 68 camaro.  Nice 327 v8.  Shortly after I bought it I pulled the motor, put it on the picnic table, stripped it down to the crank shaft and rebuilt it.  First time I had ever pulled a motor, and wasn't sure what I was doing.  The next weekend I threw 3 of my buddies in the car and drove to Homestead Florida (from Ohio) to meet another buddy who was in the air force.  Spring Break.  And then on down to Key West.  About half way to Florida the throw out bearing locked up and I had to drive the rest of the way there with no clutch.  I repaired it on Base down there, and had a blast the rest of the trip.  Of course Homestead was wiped off the map a few years later, but boy did we have fun.  I don't remember how much gas was back then, surely less than a $1, but split 4 ways it wasn't bad.  Looking back at my lack of experience rebuilding motors I'm surprised the car made it out of Ohio. 
Dave

old_stuff_hound

Quote from: wds on January 28, 2014, 01:38:35 PM
here in Ohio, we pay 46¢ state including 18¢ federal.  Which is about 45¢ too much.

I don't know how it is in Ohio but in NC the gas tax helps fund the roads. No gas tax, potholes don't get filled. Gotta pay to play!