It's not what you drive...it's how you drive it!

[Frank Lee]

Depends on your goal.

If saving fuel is the true #1 goal then you will select the most economical vehicle that has the capacity to meet your hauling needs AND you will operate and mod it for max fe AND you will seek to not even use that as much as possible, by walking, biking, trip combining, whatever it takes.

What you won't do is waste time and effort trying to make a sow into a sipper.

If you're just into the challenge of modding, that will work on anything. It's better than nothing anyway.

If you're into the bottom line moneywise, what you choose to do all depends on what your starting point is, how resourceful you are, and what you find.

Having said that, I believe it is possible for any and everyone that wants to, to have and afford to have a vehicle that does what they need and gets 30 mpg +; even if it means adding another vehicle to their fleet.

[mcrews]

“Mcrews, I agree with you: the challenge isn't simply what is the best FE I can get, but what is the best FE I can get with what I have. Who really rises to the challenge? The driver who buys an economy car, or the driver who improves the efficiency of a luxury car/ sports car / muscle car / truck? Personally, I'm much more impressed by a driver who manages 25 mpg out of car rated for 18mpg than I am with a bandwagon greenie who gets 30 mpg in a car rated as such. The same type of narrow-minded thinking you are deriding here is rampant in the performance drivers' groups as well - just apply it to racing rather than FE. I commend your quest to improve mileage while enjoying your drive as you do. I don't think it is impossible to serve more than one master, so to speak.”
Mifunego,
KUDOS!!! Very well said.
And that is exactly my point on the larger scale of life. I read an article in Sports Illustrated several yrs ago about a high school football player who had lost his hand in a power saw accident. He was a starting wide receiver prior to the accident. He wasn’t kicked off the team because “all football players have to have two hands”. And while he did not start he still had several key catches his senior yr. That kid is my HERO.
I had a 66 mustang with a 200ci straight six when I was in college. It was also baby blue. In the 70’s if your mustang didn’t have a 289 V8 you were considered a sissy car. I discovered that Ofenhouser (sp) made a 3 one barrel carbs adaptor. That and some headers made for a real surprise when I turned it on! Also new found respect.

“Depends on your goal.

If saving fuel is the true #1 goal then you will select the most economical vehicle that has the capacity to meet your hauling needs AND you will operate and mod it for max fe AND you will seek to not even use that as much as possible, by walking, biking, trip combining, whatever it takes.

What you won't do is waste time and effort trying to make a sow into a sipper.

If you're just into the challenge of modding, that will work on anything. It's better than nothing anyway.

If you're into the bottom line moneywise, what you choose to do all depends on what your starting point is, how resourceful you are, and what you find.

Having said that, I believe it is possible for any and everyone that wants to, to have and afford to have a vehicle that does what they need and gets 30 mpg +; even if it means adding another vehicle to their fleet”

Frank Lee,
Agreed. I have a nice bike that I use not only to get exercise but also to go the 1.7 miles to the post office (it’s always a nice day in Northern CA) instead of driving.
I drive to see my clients and I office out of my home (instead of being an ‘ugly American’ and having a big wasteful office that I would hardly use). I carry a bag in my car with an HP OfficeJet J3680 copier/fax/scanner/printer. I also have a small netbook. That way when I am at the client’s home I don’t have to leave the house to make copies of documents (like an ugly American who works for big oil might do). I also purchased a scanner last yr and am 90% paperless in the home office (I hate to see spotted owls homeless ).
And speaking of examples and children, my 22yr old daughter who is in college and works full time, rides a bike to college even though she owns a 2007 KIA Sportage EX. I have no idea where she got the idea of riding a bike…… ..oh wait, I used to take her to preschool on the child seat that I had mounted on my bike 16 yrs ago. (before I had a big oil chushy job).
You know, the bad part about being a self-employed American is that you have nothing to fallback on if you don’t make it. So you look outside of the box to save money and be efficient.
Amazing how the underlying motives and thoughts tend to rear their ugly head so quickly.

[Frank Lee]

What? Seems like I've been rained on 58 out of the last 60 days.

[mcrews]

well I know.....we try to ignore the first 90 days of the year.......
Some years, Sacramento has more rainfall than Seatle until around Easter. Then it just stops!

[blueflame]

[mcrews]

nice self-portrait........but he's american .......oh yeah and an ACTOR.

Guess NZ doesn't have any internationally famous icons of their own.

But if that's the best you can do.......


shame really.
I answer all your issues and the best you can do is repeat that you are a bigot and have a very narrow view of America and the world.

[blueflame]

Its not my best, and I don't need to say anything, when you do it all...

Bully in a big car? Feuding silver back gorilla driving a dinosaur? Hyper aggressive older guy driving a fuel sucking pig trying to get onside and feel his inner greeny.....

All I did was suggest a low emission small car would be a more suitable vehicle considering our motivations here on ecomodder.......................

And Starchy Bunkerhill goes into name calling, divisive mob garnering behaviour, trigger happy, psycho mode.......

Being prone to irrational displays of anger if someone questions your vehicle of choice, does show a worrying degree of anger....

I have tried to exit this confrontation with humour and an even draw for both parties, or even a win/win, but it appears you wish to keep taking this further, and capitalize of your victory(cough). Grow up and get a life. Time is precious, and wasting it here with you like this, is like your FSP car. Consuming more than is necessary and aggressively defending your psychological vehicle.

At least everyone in the playground got to watch a fight today, Mr Gorilla?

[mcrews]

Maybe you can find some nzs who will agree to post positve commentsd in support of your narrow-minded attitude........

tired of waiting.

when two other posts agree with my posts they are silently disagreeing with yours.

So to make some petty small-minded nzer happy, I should sell my car? So someone who only sees the 0-60 times will go out and drive it fast. Thus getting worse mileage?? while I buy some eco box to make you happy?

Your little 'I hate America because' tirade is indicative of petty jealousy that comes from little or no involvement in actually being a productive force in the world economy. You just want to shut down the forces that actually drive the world economy.

"All I did was suggest a low emission small car would be a more suitable vehicle considering ....."
classic passive /aggressive behavior. No all you did was whine and moan about America. Then you crawled away claiming you were being bullied.

Surely, some nzer has a similar forum you could join......upps....guess not.

You state that I don't set an example for my children????
come on, back it up.

When the day is done and this thread is re-read, the two other posters will have validated who the bully was.

maybe if you got more than one tv channel, you'd have a broader view of life.

[blueflame]

Like I said, I dont need to say anything....you keep digging yourself deeper, like a FSP trying to get traction in soft sand(so poetic)

Spreading false comments about myself (I hate the USA, I have crawled away, etc etc) shows your divisive bully nature, and inherent lack of honesty and character. Shame on you sir.

The one thing I agree with, is selling the fuel sucking pig. My car uses only 1/3 the fuel of your car... imagine if world oil demand more than halved, isnt that a really good thing?

The only abhorrent thing I find about America right now (apart from gun laws, predatory foreign policy and American beer)is the living in the past older males driving FSP's, publicly congratulating themselves for getting 23mpg, when most motorists in Europe and Australasia get twice the economy without trying. Duh. You could appear as an oil company employee acting as an apologist of sorts, smoothing over the global impact of a large vehicle choice.

The question for myself is whether to leave an insidious influence appear as a benign force, or to highlight it for the common good.

**** it, I'm done here, you win

[Mifunego]

Hmm, this does all make me wonder though, what are our motivations here on ecomodder? The concept that I (perhaps mistakenly?) intuited from the name "ecomodder" would be modders (folks who modify) vehicles for reasons of economy (assumedly fuel economy). I think that modders are those who enjoy taking an active part in customizing vehicles for reasons of appearance, higher performance, or in this case, better fuel economy. I mean, right at the top of the page it says: "Wrench smart. Drive smarter. Save fuel." I interpret that as, "Mod your vehicle to use less fuel. Drive your vehicle in a way to use less fuel. These are ways your vehicle can use less fuel." I don't see, "Buy a Prius" as part of the philosophy. If that's all it took, this would be a pretty boring website.

I may be wrong though.