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Old 12-04-2007, 08:43 AM   #2 (permalink)
MetroMPG
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,513

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 52.71 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 60.16 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Peakster View Post
Why is living without an oil-consuming automobile become such a difficult experience for a modern city dweller?
A big reason is because of our "modern cities" (North American) are designed for vehicles, not people. The resulting scale is wrong for people who want to walk / bicycle.

Suburban sprawl... big box retail districts... urban planners typically make decisions that accomodate the car first, human beings second.

I live in a very small city, yet even here this is happening.

A real example: in the past few years, this city set up its "big box" district (*Mart, *Depot etc.). They demolished & rebuilt (widened, straightened) a highway overpass to get traffic into the "power center". In doing so, they neglected to rebuild the sidewalk (!) on the new bridge, so the only safe way to get to these stores was by car!

Some objection was made by local residents. The city retrofitted a sidewalk at great extra cost. A foolish mistake, and utterly symbolic of the problem.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peakster View Post
With prices like these, driving any automobile, whether big or small is truly a luxury experience. Yet I still see SUVs roaming the streets and there appears to be even more vehicular traffic on the road, more than ever.
Unfortunately, "luxury" is a relative term. There will still be people driving solo-occupant SUV's to work when gas is $3 a litre.
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Project MPGiata! Mods for getting 50+ MPG from a 1990 Miata
Honda mods: Ecomodding my $800 Honda Fit 5-speed beater
Mitsu mods: 70 MPG in my ecomodded, dirt cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage.
Ecodriving test: Manual vs. automatic transmission MPG showdown



EcoModder
has launched a forum for the efficient new Mitsubishi Mirage
www.MetroMPG.com - fuel efficiency info for Geo Metro owners
www.ForkenSwift.com - electric car conversion on a beer budget
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