Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryland
My brother said he's getting 26mpg in his 1996 Nissan with two motorcycles in the back.
I use my parents 2 wheel drive Ford Ranger to tow my Commuti-car on a trailer to car shows without much trouble at all and get 25mph while towing that 2nd car.
One thing that I've thought about doing with my parents Ford ranger is getting the front drive train from a 4 wheel drive version and making it a plug in hybrid, I figure I can fit 15-20 miles worth of lead acid batteries behind the front seats of the extended cab, so being able to start out any trip with 20 miles worth of electric range seems like it will help, driving 100 miles and you'd improve your gasoline mileage by 20% 25mpg changes to 30mpg, only going 50 miles increases it by 40%!!! around town and you don't use gasoline at all.
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interesting thoughts with the hybridization ideas. im leaning toward something a little bigger than a ranger just for utility purposes. but the same concepts could still be applied. I wonder if I could get enough decent batteries cheaply to make that idea pencil out. i'd also have to study how to do an electric drivetrain as it seems like a pretty big hassle at first thought, for how little range you get out of it. i wonder if an svo diesel conversion wouldnt be a practical option. anyone know of anything semi plug&play in terms of something like a smaller diesel and a tacoma tranny/chassis?