ROFL here's a good one

[ShadeTreeMech]

I was reading around in the Maxima forum and came across something that I thought ya'll would also find funny.
Quoted from Maxima.org
Quote:
Originally Posted by SlkMax
"I was wondering what are upgrades that we can do better our gas mileage?

Does intake help? "

You want to modify the car to get better gas mileage? Good luck. I'm sure someone here has an effective, cheap way to do better than Nissan and their hundreds of thousands of dollars spent employeeing engineers and technical experts to do things like research and development to maximize the efficiency of their vehicles in light of stricter fleet fuel regulations tougher competitors in the market.

I almost laughed my butt off at the irony of those words. I wonder if this is a common misperception in the general public?

Wonder if they would freak that I coud get the mileage I get with nearly no mods, other than a partial hot air intake

[orange4boy]

Dittoheads suck.. but that is funny, if you like black humour.

The oil companies seem have the populace trained like a bunch of parrots.

But if you read it without the sarcasm he/she/it is right. I bet it's his rational mind trying to be heard from deep within his trained monkey brain.

You want some real hilarity? Post your results. It'll be a troll feeding frenzy!

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by ShadeTreeMech

I wonder if this is a common misperception in the general public?

Yes, it is. Two examples: My Dad-in-law, who wouldn't believe that I could (or should) do anything to the car to reduce its FC. "The engineers at the factory know the car better than you do." He is still getting used to mods I added last year.
My Grandma, who would not only not believe me (what do I know?), but also not believe the mechanic from the car dealer where she bought her car. "I've been driving cars since before he was born." This was when I reminded her that the both the mechanic, and the car's instruction booklet suggested that the engine be kept in the 2000-2500rpm range, while she claimed that all her life she's stayed above 2500rpm, as was told to do in driver's ed 45 years ago, and that's never caused anything bad to happen.

[Fr3AkAzOiD]

When I told my Dad about how I was getting 40+ mpg when I first started eco driving he didn't believe I was doing it without doing something that was going to destroy the car.

With the reaction I got from him about that I don't even want to tell him that I'm regularly getting 50 mpg tanks now or that over the past 2 days I've traveled 112 miles using less then 2 gallons of gas.

[bombloader]

You know why guys respond like that? Because 90% of "cheap, effective" ways to get better gas mileage are scams sold by con artists. No wonder people are skeptical.

[Rokeby]

If my limited experience is indicative, in the last decade we lost some pretty
good high MPG drivers, even though they didn't have particularly efficient
cars to work with...

Those that learned to drive during and just after the Great depression...

Like my now a decade gone Old Man.

He knew about aero drag, and explained the value of a Kamm back to us
way back in the '60s. When he retired to South Central Maine, he practiced
"roller coasting," P&G (between 20 and 30 MPH), shut off the ignition at stop
lights, and rolled in neutral with the engine off whenever my Mum wasn't
with him. He put on ~20K miles a year driving around the town as 3rd, 2nd
and 1st Selectman, assessing property, checking on the snow removal
contractors, and delivering the Mail part time, etc.

As he got older, he more frequently used the sand/gravel shoulders
as tell-tales, with the bushes smacking the pax side to tell him he was well
clear of the center of the "rud." What with the slow going and on-and-offing
of the engine it was maddening/exhilarating/worrisome to drive with him.

"Dad! Watch out for that mail box!"

"Don't you worry. It hasn't moved much since I came this way, oh last
month or so."

Still, I miss him a lot. I'd give my Prius to ride with him in one of his
clapped out Ford/Chevy/Mercury/whatever wagons again just one more
time...

[brucepick]

Rokeby - what a great post about your Old Man. Loved reading it.

[NiHaoMike]

Originally Posted by bombloader

You know why guys respond like that? Because 90% of "cheap, effective" ways to get better gas mileage are scams sold by con artists. No wonder people are skeptical.

Someone should start marketing some aero mod kits. Then they'll realize that one particular kind of mod actually does work...

[user removed]

Pop told me he considered it an accomplishment to land his B17 after a long mission with 100 gallons more fuel than anyone else. Of course, when people are trying to shoot you out of the sky a few gallons of fuel can be the difference between the right and wrong sides of the English Channel.

regards
Mech

[rbrowning]

"I wonder if this is a common misperception in the general public?" - Unfortunately, yes it is the general idea. Several reasons for it.

First there have been too many get rich quick schemes that sold a bunch of junk that didn't work. That gave anyone that tries a bad reputation to overcome.

Second they do not realize that a car design is a series of compromises and trade-offs. They are never a perfect solution, just reasonably good for what the company thought they could get you to buy and make them the most money.

Third the biggest factor effecting MPG is the nut behind the wheel. If they put the blame on the car company then they don't have to take the blame for driving while not thinking about it.

Fourth most of them are too lazy to even keep good records. Lets face it, someone has to keep very diligent records under very tight controls to be able to see a 4-5% difference made by an aeromod as opposed to the random statistical noise due to weather, passenger load, construction season, gas brands, varied driving routes etc. To ask someone to do A-B-A testing is a bit much, unless he happens to be one of those loony folks that hanks out a sites like this.