Want cake and eat it too

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by dem45133

Why is it greedy?

It's greedy because you apparently expect everyone in the oil industry to work for your benefit, at far less than the market rates, in order to provide you with cheap fuel - which you then proceed to waste because you can't be bothered to enlarge your comfort zone or change your attitudes.

For a reality check, it's not "our" oil: it belongs to whoever pays for the drilling rights, invests the money (often ranging into multiple millions) to drill the wells, pumps the oil out, and refines it into useful products. It's their property, and they're perfectly entitled to sell it on the open market, for whatever price buyers are willing to pay.

And FWIW, I'm fairly close to your age, and had a fairly similar childhood and young adulthood, yet I have no problems with small cars - my first non-clunker was an Austin-Healey Sprite; I currently drive a '00 Honda Insight, which at $8500 cost more than twice as much as any other vehicle I've ever owned. For hauling stuff, I drive an '88 Toyota pickup ($2800, IIRC), which is quite capable of hauling loads of hay & feed out to my friends' ranch where my horse stays. It'll also pull a 2-horse trailer, or a bed & trailer loaded with firewood, perhaps not at 70 mph up a long 6% grade, but well enough for what I need - and averages about 27 mpg doing all that.

Now I won't argue about your need for a heavy truck for your occasional heavy hauling, but surely you don't haul that size load on your commute every day. You can find small, fuel-efficient cars (or motorcycles) fairly cheap. If you're really interested in saving a significant amount of gas on your commute, that is your only real alternative (other than possible telecommuting or moving). I'm sorry to tell you this, but it's all down to physics, and physics just doesn't care about what you or I want.

[SentraSE-R]

Originally Posted by mcrews

darrell,
dang, you didnt strike me as an old guy!!

I'm not old, Mark. Old guys drive Infinitis .

Like James, I didn't fall for the brainwashing that Dave still suffers from. I found little appeal in a 400 cu. in. Buick V-8 that only got 12 mpg and still took 12 seconds to go to 60 mph.

[johnunit]

I know you said "don't try and convince you of small cars" and all that;

But my summer car is a 2ton 351W powered land yacht, so I think I can speak as someone who sees the appeal in a bigger vehicle.


Some food for thought:
You mention your long-term experiences with smaller cars being a Horizon (K-car) and an 80s Mazda. I don't think it's a stretch to say those are ****boxes compared to any modern economy car, in terms of NVH, handling, safety, etc. Get in even a 10 year old compact car for a test drive and I think you'll be VERY surprised how much better they are than your old K car in crosswinds, ride, etc. Plus they've got a billion airbags and other safety features something like your wife's Bronco (and I'd love to have a 351 bronco) doesn't. Something like an 8 year old Civic or Focus or Corolla will be FASTER than just about anything V8 powered and not named "Camaro" "Firebird" "Corvette" or "Mustang" from the mid 70s to early 90s, too. This includes my own cherished 351W powered Crown Victoria. It sounds meaner, but nearly any "rice rocket" beyond a slush box base-model will hand it it's lunch at a stoplight. I'm not saying go and buy yourself a Metro, but I'd bet money on you being pleasantly surprised all around by something like a first gen focus, 02ish Corolla, etc. If that's too small even a Taurus, Malibu, etc. will be a huge improvement in economy and a far cry from the K-car you understandably maligned.



Personally, I think that your expectations for battery range are unrealistic. 118 miles MIGHT be doable on a straight road on pure electric with some smart engineering, but 118 miles towing, or up steep hills, that'd be significantly better than the claims of any even working prototype electric vehicle of any size.


Speaking as an owner of the car that sort of set the template for hybrids, I've basically accepted that the hybrid concept in general is better suited for stop-and-go and shorter trips than long distance runs. For running around downtown Toronto a hybrid is unbeatable. When I wanna blast down the 401 (busiest and, at one point, widest highway in the world) for 3 hours there are better, or at least equal, choices.


A hybrid of some sort may be a good idea for you on days where you WON'T be towing/hauling, but I have a lot of trouble imagining a system you'd ever make your money back on if we're talking a 1 ton truck with cargo.

[MetroMPG]

This thread makes me feel the need to talk about walking 5 miles to and from school both ways up hill in the winter.

It's obviously not going to be about fuel economy mods.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

This thread makes me feel the need to talk about walking 5 miles to and from school both ways up hill in the winter.

Darn! I only had to do two miles - but the snow did get pretty deep :-)

It's obviously not going to be about fuel economy mods.

How can it, when there are really no effective mods that the OP will accept? As far as I can see, within his constraints the only thing that could possibly give him a significant improvement would be to strip most of the body off his pickup, and cover it with a full teardrop aeroshell. Even then, he'd have to use serious ingenuity to retain use of the pickup bed.

Getting into the realm of the probably impractical, he could build or buy a Stirling engine, hook it to an efficient generator and maybe $100K worth of lithium batteries, and have a hybrid that'd do what he wants. But like the Marine's Humvee replacement, it ain't gonna be cheap.

[Frank Lee]

Still don't know why flying around in an oversized, overweight tank is considered "cake".

[MetroMPG]

Did I mention those were CANADIAN winters?

And school was in an igloo.

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Did I mention those were CANADIAN winters?

And school was in an igloo.

and the 'hot lunch' special included popsicles!

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Did I mention those were CANADIAN winters?

And school was in an igloo.

And you stopped to play with the neighborhood polar bears on the way home :-)

[skyking]

Welcome Dave, from another Dodge cummins powered truck owner.
If you bumper pull those trailers, you could get a ~20% improvement with an aeroshell and other aero mods in that truck. Even if you gooseneck or 5th wheel, the shell should come off easily.