| Author | Message | ||
     Jimidan |
Blake sez: "Dolphins, the intelligent swimming mammalian kind, might just have the best sociological philosophy. I could be wrong. No clothes, no stuff of any kind, no home, no doctors, no insurance, no problem. They live, in the grocery store and all the produce is as fresh as it gets. Only real drawback is that they have to put up with us." ...and they have lots and lots of recreational sex! jimidan | ||
| Lowflyer |
They also poop in their own bathwater. | ||
| Buellbozo |
Re; Dolphins... SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR THE FISH!!! Blake's right... The only reason we can't talk to them is that they don't want to...  } | ||
| Midknyte |
If all cars were smaller and lighter then PL wouldn't be an issue. But in America when that 6000lbs SUV hits you -- you'll sure wish that your were also in a larger car. I didn't realize that Semis, Busses, & trains had been phased out... | ||
| Ryker77 |
True, but most of the time those huge items don't cause wrecks. But when they do-- your done no matter what your in. Lowflyer, I agree with your last posting. But it should be edited people should be replaced with Americans. It the American mindset and not all people. I've been to about 9 different countries and I noticed they drive small cars, ride little scooters, or just walk. Take a look at the scraping scooter thread at the size of the cars. We Americans think we have a right to alot of things. Which is why most countries dislike us. But deep down they wish they were us. | ||
| Lowflyer |
You are correct. That is one of the reasons why in Europe, they have no problem driving such tiny, flimsy little cars. If they had the tort law we do, with their gas prices, nobody would drive at all over there. On the tort law subject, but to give some more perspective, I rode on a carnival ride in Germany on which people were falling all over each other with some getting hurt while everyone was laughing spilling beer on each other and having a great time. I thought at that time and to this day that such a ride would last about 10 minutes in the states before the owner, operator, manufacturer, and innocent bystanders all ended up on the •••••• end of a lawsuit by someone that got the wind knocked out of them on the ride. I wish I had a video or some pics as it was one of the craziest things I have ever seen. | ||
| Skyguy |
I went canyoning in the French and Swiss Alps, Serious get hurt kind of stuff. No waiver form, No name. I raced 50mph Go- Carts in Chamonis, No waiver no license. I flew off of every high peak we could find for six weeks in two trips. No waiver, No name. Here in the States......... Waiver, Form. and worse than that? The potental for some jerk to try to sue you. For his own mistake. I got lucky teaching people to fly paragliders, Most do not. Freedom is wonderful. It is also something that people are told they are........... If they don't know anything else they are usually happy. Skyguy (a fan of freedom)........... And reformed asshat. | ||
| Swampy |
Econo boxes! I believe thats what you have in Europe, great gas mileage though. I worked on an Opal project 20+ years ago, the first question I asked was "Why aren't they selling them here?" And the answer was "Because people won't buy them" Anyways, 3 or more years later it was sold as the Pontiac Lemans, designed in Germany, built in Korea, and sold here(Not too many)(We Build Excitement! remember the Fiero? It was originally designed as an economy class commuter vehicle) The sporty version of the Opel that was in European production already, never saw the light of day here. That vewrsion would have been the only one to interest me as it still was a practical vehicle, somewhat roomy and economical. The thought I had was that if I was to drive a smaller car today(I drive a Jeep Liberty(Forced upon me by my middleaged wife going through HER midlife crisis), I would want one with great handling and braking capabilities so I could drive on the sidewalk in an effort to escape the behemoth SUVs being operated by the innatentive cellphone yacking MILF. EPA mileage figures would have to be decent also, so since I have seen a few M plated Saturn Sky around, and at a reported EPA estimate of 20/28 for the manual transmission version, and the opportunity to be welcomed in to the Saturn family, that is the car I would like to get(After of course, I win the Michigan State Lottery) Or maybe a Pontiac Solstice in my girlfriends favorite color! | ||
| Brucelee |
Price of course, drives most behaviour. I can assure you that if we for the last several decades, our gas tax drove the price of a gallon to Europeon heights, you would see tons of little Boxes driving around here and not an SUV in sight. The problem with the tax "solution" to dampening demand is that it also dampens supply. Who is going to drill for new oil if the demand is artificially kept low by taxes? I love Economics. | ||
| Road_thing |
"Who is going to drill for new oil if the demand is artificially kept low by taxes?" I will! rt ...it's what I do... | ||
| Lowflyer |
We Build Excitement! It should have been "We Build Excrement!"  | ||
| Oldog |
remember the Fiero? It was originally designed as an economy class commuter vehicle that was a cool concept, I wanted one of those, took a ride, plunked money down, etc banky said NO! I got lucky, a friend told me later that the cars were prone to all sorts of electrical problems, too bad it was a cool little ride A little under powered, steel cage frame and a "plastic body" daaymnmmmm that sounds awfuly familiar...  KINDA LIKE AN X1 ....... | ||
| Rex |
I already saw a price near this in california this weekend..whew....rex | ||
| Bill00 |
 Fiero's are fun cars. Mine looks like this one, but has a 3.4L V6. | ||
| Chasespeed |
Yeah they are funlittle things... You can stuff a cadillac northstar in them too...the northstar uses the same bellhousing and fly wheel as teh gm 60* V6.. yeah, done one... Chase | ||
| Sparky |
I just swapped out the race ECM for the stocker in my XB9R to see if I can eek out more mpg's. One thing I noticed right away is at low engine speeds, the throttle response is crisper and driveability is smoother -- no more roughness below 3 grand. For a commuter bike, those are nice attributes. I'll check back in with a mileage report in a couple of months. Sparky | ||
| Jimidan |
To waste is human... jimidan | ||
| Skyguy |
Just paid $3.05 for premeium............. $4.00 is going to happen. | ||
| Lowflyer |
I just paid $2.46 for premium. | ||
| Captpete |
They also poop in their own It's we humans who pee in the As one who has been fortunate to have shared their home for ten or twelve years of my life, and I mean that literally, not shared it occasionally for ten years, it makes me want to believe in reincarnation and hope that I make it up the ladder some time in the future to join them full time. (I’ll take the thirty-knot poop over grunting into a pot any day.)  The ultimate life of peace, harmony, and fun. Oh, yeah… and sex | ||
| Ryker77 |
Just installed 0.681 5th gear in my TDI. I get 400 less rpms while in 5th gear. Nets a 5% increase in MPG. 90mph is 2800rpm 75mph is 2300rmp Should go from 43mpg to 46mpg. And if fuel goes above 3.50 then I'll use VAG rated 506.01 oil. It's an German oil made by all oil makers (not snake oil) that meets VW, Audi, Seat standards to get rated at 506.01. It also nets a 5% increase. That should put me near 50mpg without having to drive slow. If needed the car could net 55-60mpg. Just have to retrain my foot. | ||
| Brucelee |
Ryker That is so cool. I love the whole diesel technology and how it can be developed. I just found out that large trains use a two stroke diesel technology with turbos or superchargers. I wonder if that tech will ever hit the highways? On another front, Hawaii just announced they are repealing their price controls on gas. Seems it didn't work and consumers actually paid more. Wonder if the state is going to reimburse the consumer for ITS blunder? Fat chance! | ||
| Ryker77 |
"I just found out that large trains use a two stroke diesel technology with turbos or superchargers. I wonder if that tech will ever hit the highways?" Two strokes make killer power. But are very noisy, more pollutants, would never meet EPA rules. They make some two strokes diesel powerplants that are BOTH super and turbo charged. | ||
| Captpete |
"I just found out that large trains use a two stroke diesel technology with turbos or superchargers. "Detroit Diesels," built by GM, (aka "GM's & "Jimmys") have been around for years. They powered all those landing crafts that took so many soldiers to an early death during WW2. Like the man said, they are noisy, and if you’ve got one in the engine room of your fishing boat, it’ll keep your bilge full of oil. They leak like sieves, and I hate the damned things. But they’ll keep on running when they’re half-dead, and you can get parts for ‘em anyplace. And they are all two-strokes. And they all have blowers, although they only boost to atmospheric pressure, and single or multiple turbos are an option. Remember that line from ‘Six Days on the Road?”: “I got my Jimmy wound up and she’s running like never before.” I don’t know much about trucks, but that leads me to believe they use two-strokes also. I do know that the new electronic fuel metering used in four-strokes for marine applications has produced engines that are significantly more fuel efficient, and would assume that means they produce fewer harmful emissions as well. As far as turbos go, and this is boats again, the obvious emission problem is during an upward power change, waiting for the turbo to catch up with the engine. Lotsa black smoke (un-burnt fuel). I don’t know if that’s bad for the environment, but it sure looks nasty. And road vehicles go through a lot more power changes than we do. My $.02 worth. Aren't so many polluters in my group, but I burned 300+ gallons a day for years. (Now I'm down to 50 a day w/ my little, tired, old, oli-leakin' GM two-stroke. I'm doin' better.)  | ||
| Brucelee |
BTW- Hawaii just dropped their price controls on gas. Seems they figured out that the avg consumer was paying MORE for gas since the controls went in than what they would have paid w/o. NO refund to the consumer however. WHO is the bad guy here? | ||
| Lowflyer |
"WHO is the bad guy here?" Whoever it is, I bet his name starts with "Big."  | ||
| Trojan |
We run our Buell XB race bike on Sunoco GT Plus 109 Octane unleaded fuel. In the UK that costs us GBP3.38 (US$5.92 approx) per LITRE, which works out at a staggering US$12.80 per US Gallon. I wish our fuel would be US$3.50 by summer  | ||
| Chasespeed |
Hey, Capt Pete....GM diesels are converted gas engines(the 6.2 and 6.5 liter anyway)... And, some firetrucks still have the detoit V6 turbo/super charged motor... You wanna talk fuel comsumption though..for everyone.. Take 4 caterpiller 3618s, run them at about 1050 rpms(redline for that engine)... Anyone wanna take a guess at the burnrate on THAT? FWIW, When I rode from Virginia to Mass the other day, I at one point, got 160 miles, outta 2.2 gallons...to ME, thats the best mileage I have seen my X1 get... Chase | ||
| Crusty |
Trojan; there are 3.8 liters in one gallon. At $5.92 per liter, you're paying $22.496 per gallon for that race fuel. That IS staggering. I haven't priced Race gas lately, but I think it costs roughly double the price of Premium pump gas. At least, it did up to a year ago. I sure am glad I don't have to pay your gas bill. | ||
| Captpete |
Hey, Capt Pete....GM diesels are converted gas engines(the 6.2 and 6.5 liter anyway)... Different line developed a few years ago during the gas crunch for light trucks & cars, I think. 4-strokes, too, I’m pretty sure. My point was that two-stroke, blown & turbo’d diesels have been around forever. GM has built a ga-zillion of ‘em in nearly that many configurations. They are available in single-cylinder displacement sizes of 53, 71 (most popular), 92, 110 (discontinued), etc., cubes. Inline configs of 2,3,4, & 6 cylinders, and V configs of 6,8,12, & 16 cylinders. Probably more than you wanted to hear about. Cat 3618? I’m only familiar w/ the 34 series, 3408, and 3412 specifically, which can produce between 360 hp to over 600. 3618? Half again as many holes, and I’m sure a whole lot bigger. You know it’s suckin’ some juice. But what’s important is how much power per unit of fuel that they are producing. Chasing the same thing: better “milage.” But you’re right on with your choice. The sooner I can get that “alpine green” thing out of my engine room and replace it with bright yellow… “If it isn’t a Cat, it must be a Dog.” |
