Av8,

I do drive to work most days (sometimes I cycle back) my daily commute is cira 100km a day (62 miles) so between that and going to my mustang (14km round trip) I think I do circa 1100-1200 miles a month. My DD 99' Escort station 1.6 (feel the power all 90bhp of it) does about 32mpg(us) So I do alot less miles than you but that costs me $340 on your mileage it would be $2000 in my car plus I have road tax which is $50 a month.At your mileage I would be driving a diesel!! I think american cars are going to start to become more european as gas increases as in a big american car which is driven largely by one person all you doing is carrying extra weight. So I expect smaller cars size with smaller engines and growth of diesel cars.

Somebody mentioned gas from goal earlier the south africans did this in 80's alot as they could not get oil but have a lot of coal.

 

My old DD died recently,the worst possible time to die. It averaged 50mpg and I could get into the 60's pretty easily. No one believes me, but my record was 78mpg. Car cost me 700$ back in 04

 

I fill up my 07 Ranger once a week with about 14 gallons, It costs me $25more than it would at $2 a gallon, thats $1300 somethin a year, when you look at it that way, for me it was easy to save $25 extra a week. For a family of 4 with 2 cars thats like 1 night out at a restaurant and your saving close to $50 if you stay at home and eat. Were stil lucky here I payed $3.63 today.

But its not speculators or weak dollar, its supply and demand. But we are fortunate in the fact that the market does correct, maybe not until next jan. when we get a new president, but ever since we have moved our currency away from hard assets aka the gold standard we have had an economy driven by bubbles. This to alot of economists I have seen looks like a big time commodities bubble, but they say that were at the end of what has been a 4 year bubble, kind of the its darkest right before dawn time. With a new president getting ready to take office, the situation in Iraq most likely changing once this happens, reworking of trade agreements, all this stuff should lead to another down turn in prices.

We all know that alternative energy is going to have to come from privitized sources, and there looks to be some promising stuff on the horizon. Fords new Direct Injection V8's look extremely promising, with direct injection(fuel is injected into the combustion chamber not the intake path) these engines can run rediculously lean because they are about 10-15% more volumetically efficient, which means the f-150 will be making over 30 hiway mpg's most likely. So I think in the next 12-18 months we will start to see some real signs of progress, and I fully expect an alternative energy boom in full progress by 2012, we are seeing the beginnings of it. I saw on the history channel that solar panels have gotten so efficient, a 60sq mi. solar facility in the desert could power every building, home, factory in the US (with reserve power). But the thing about change is that someone else is always affected, and unfortunately those who would be affected have G-dub by the *****, but none the less, the next 8 months is going to get pretty bad, maybe an extra .50 cents a gallon before the bubble finally bursts.

 

If they can do it, why can't the big 3? Something is wrong with this picture.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=109981

 

what was it thatyou were driving?

 

And I was able to find a photo of baddog671's 78 mpg DD when it was still new and shiny.

[IMG]local://upfiles/82474/050FE0B1B1F84CD3B320AEDEA307F955.jpg[/IMG]

 

I'm with Evil here.
I have a friend who works for Chevron as an accountant. It's like working for Google at their "campus" in San Ramon. They work 4 day weeks, have two hour lunches, gyms, paid lunches, nearly two months of paid time off, annual raises that are at least 10% and the list goes on... Also a gas card that gets her something like $.40 off every gallon of gas she buys at Chevron stations.

She has told me in confidence that she believes the federal government needs to regulate the industry because the profits are so obscene. This is coming from a Chevron employee. The people that defend big oil as simply enjoying the benefits of capitalism do not have a clue what they are talking about. It's about a lot more than gas prices... It is about people like AV84FUN & American families across the country living paycheck to paycheck, on the edge of poverty and it's about small business owners who struggle to pay the bills, the overhead, the insurance.... and ultimately the ones who suffer... these families who pay more for less as a result. Incomes stay flat, Inflation rises rapidly, the buying power of the dollar falls... the cycle continues.

As for ME, I have been slammed here for being "Liberal" but the reality is that a Conservative mindset would be MUCH more beneficial to ME personally. I don't think most people here realize that. My liberal beliefs are not some radical extremes, but they are what people and families here need to live in a safe, healthy environment and have access to decent healthcare and education. As for me, I am in the top tax bracket. I enjoy ample affordable public transportation, I have no trouble paying my bills and until gas prices hit $10/gallon, I will not have any trouble cruising in my Mustang for no good reason but a good time... I can afford to pay more tax, I can afford to give to charity. And I do.

Yeah sure, I like paying taxes as much as the next guy. But people are people and life in America is not cheap. It is for the benefit of the community as a whole if we do not allow poverty to destroy the lower class. We can't lift everyone to their feet but we can help provide most people the tools to help them do so.

That is what people who hate on me because I am liberal do not see, appreciate or understand... The liberal philosophies I subscribe to benefit the MAJORITY of the people in my community who are struggling to eek out a living. They don't benefit me directly, but indirectly they do. And they will benefit the future generations of my community.

How do you make it work in a sliding economy where only 12% of the population can afford a median priced house? And even though in my city, prices have slipped from $685k to $540k in just over a year, $540k will buy a 2 bedroom fixer in a cheap part of the Bay Area. The annual household income needs to be $170k to afford this median priced home and our median income is only $56-$97k depending on the area. What is minimum wage? $9-10/hour?? I don't even know, but how do you survive on those pennies?? How are you ever going to rise above the poverty line and give your kids a shot at the "American Dream" if you can't feed them a decent meal, you gotta work 2-3 jobs, you gotta send them to ghetto schools with no money for sports or the arts?? It's a reality. It's probably too strong of a statement to say that the government doesn't care about the lower class, but without liberal policies, they do get left behind. That is why the liberal mindset is so prevalent here in Northern CA... The lower class is liberal because they need it. The upper & middle class is liberal because they are looking out for the benefit of the majority of the population...which is lower/lower middle class due to the cost of living. We are trying to maintain a reasonably high quality of life for everyone so we are willing to pay more for the greater good of the community. And with this greater financial freedom, it helps kids to succeed, streets to be more peaceful, the economy to prosper, and the community to work better across social, political, economic, and cultural lines. And with this, we are willing to give people the freedom to live their own choice of lifestyle, practice the religion of their choice and pay for the social services & programs to help them get on their feet and make a better life for themselves.

So next time you think, "damned liberals"... ask yourself why you think like that.
Because it will always be easy to hate what you don't understand.

I never think "damned conservatives"... because I understand where you're coming from. All I ask is that you try to see where I'm coming from.
Cheers.

 

I'll say it....Damn liberals! The reason we are in this position is too much "help". Should I just sign my paycheck over now and you can give me an allowance? I'm tired of my taxes going up constantly because we want to support those that can't (won't). I'll tell you what, I'll give you my paycheck and you pay my mortgage, fill my tank, feed me, give me free medical care....what will this do to the economy? So, no, I cannot see how your way of thinking is better for the majority..only for those too lazy to get off their asses.

For the rest of you..how long are we going to take this and what are we going to do about it? If we would tell the tree huggers where to go and do our own drilling, the price of oil and everything related to it (including solar panels) would come back to reality and we would all have a better quality of life. Ok, I'm done with my rant.

 

Jim, I told you not to tell, now EVERYONE is going to be buying those things!!!

It was a 95GeoMetro, 1L 3cylinder w/ 5speed. EPA's around 40mpg (and thats what most people get), but I had some minor mods done to it and a perfected driving habit. I know people that can get well over 100mpg in 1 of those things...

 

i hate that comparison. yes europe pays more then us but look at the exchange rate. if it jumps $1 here it goes up the far less then that there due to the rates.

either way theres no reason why wein the US should be paying this much for gas. each quarter they post record profits in the BILLIONS ...