What's Behind your Motivation to get High MPG?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by IamIan

Astrophysicist don't just use redshifts alone ... but the other methods used , also have the same kinds of alternatives described above as well...

Yes, any claim that redshifts have been misinterpreted as measures of distance also has to explain why e.g. Cephid variables, Type 1a supernovae, and all the other "standard candles" agree pretty well with them.

[freebeard]

I need to be taking rust off a 4-into-one extractor; but for now—here's a discussion that goes on for three pages I haven't read:

Redshift theory is a myth | Sciforums

And an interesting backgrounder that I will want to get back to later:

Big Bang...Bogus: Concerning the Morphology of Galactic Evolution

I'll check back here for others thoughts.

[Bicycle Bob]

I like the open-ended field for engineering. There is no minimum fuel for a round trip. I'm also appalled at land vehicles which carry less than 50% payload, so I'd rather start fresh, or modify a velomobile than work on a car. I've saved Appliance White from the rust heap to pass on, but Stealth RV is only being finished because it makes such a large, secure shelter, and for hauling duties.

[freebeard]

My VW panel van weighted about a ton and had a 3/4 ton rated axle. OTOH the Clark Cortez motorhome weighed 7Klb and had a payload of 800lb.

I'm leaning away from electrifying my old Beetle. If I get the MGR mounted, I might sell it on to someone else to do the inverter/controller, batteries, CAN bus, instrumentation, heater..... The list goes on and on.

I'd rather get a 230MPGe Arcimoto and do the front-wheel pants and boat tail.

[ALS]

Me it all started on my trips to Florida and fuel stops. The old Volvo turbo wagon would only see about 24 miles per gallon on the highway at 65 mpg so that meant three stops each way. I wanted to cut out one of the stops so at first I looked at a bigger fuel tank. Since I had a wagon instead of the sedan swapping out the sixty liter for an eighty liter wouldn't work. The only other option was to make the wagon more fuel efficient.

Looked at the car and said what to do, what to do.

Pulled the automatic transmission with the non locking torque converter and the rear end. Replaced it with a four speed with an electric overdrive and went from the original 4.11 gear ratio to a 3.31 gear ratio. Due to the factory Cd of .39, I lowered it with an after market kit and removed the roof rack for better aero numbers. Then I swapped out the original 15 inch wheels for 16 inch wheels. Looked at the numbers and saw less rotations per mile with the 205/55/16 over the OEM 195/60/15's.

Due to the performance mods on the car which included a SAAB (APC) boost control system I installed a what I would call an Eco rocker switch to limit the boost. Off, she made 160 HP with waste gate limited 7.5 psi of boost. Flip the switch on she would make around 200 hp with 12.5 psi of boost.

Running to Florida I increased the fuel mileage to between thirty to thirty one miles per gallon at 65 mph after the mods, which meant two stops instead of three for gas.

When it was time for a new car, the old Volvo had 370K miles, and I was sick and tired of paying taxes to the idiots in Pennsylvania and Washington. Especially when all they do is fund a lot of non highway projects through the highway fund and then cry that we don't have enough money to fix the roads and bridges.

I made the decision that what ever I bought had to get at least twice what the Volvo did in fuel mileage and so that is how I ended up with my Prius. If you had told me I'd be owning a Hybrid in 2007 I would have laughed in your face. After reading a lot of forums and seeing what people were getting in fuel mileage and the great reliability owners of these cars were seeing it was a no brainer.

I now use 40% of the gas that the Volvo did, so it has been a big win in saving averaging around 25 gallons a month. Which means keeping about $200 in annual fuel taxes in my wallet and out of the Governments greedy mitts.

[AlexanderB]

Mostly to save money, in a lesser way its also a side effect of my desire to drive a lightweight nimble vehicle (I love small, well-handling cars, I'd also consider a motorcycle, but I need a car for the cargo capacity), which are often better on fuel than heavy vehicles, especially in busy traffic like here.

I would rant about the taxation of vehicles and fuel over here, but I don't think this is the topic for that. I'm kinda glad for the recent price drop on fuel, its back to the level of 13 years ago. (When the trucking industry protested, diesel going past €1/L ($5.60/gallon with the exchange rate back then).

I actually sold my (sporty, driven with a lead foot) solid 30 MPG car when pump gas here spiked to €2/L 4 years ago. (almost $11 a gallon back then.)

The big downside for me is that its now even harder to justify switching to electric, battery write-off is a real killer on the cost-per-mile equation. Still working on getting an EV. Its also a lot of hoops to jump through to get DIY EV stuff road legal here though, another pet peeve of mine. :/ I might open a topic to rant some more.

[freebeard]

ALS --

11 ==>21 gallons. Normally, only the right-hand can is filled, to offset the driver weight.

[ALS]

I have a 97 Volvo 960 that I use for my long trips. I did some undercarriage aero work that helped out by about two mpg. It has a 21.3 gallon tank so range isn't a problem to Fl. Just to make sure and save the most I throw in four Eagle five gallon safety cans. I top off the spares in South Carolina and when I hit Naples I pretty much have a full tank of cheap gas for the week. On the way home I'll only fill two since I only use the car on the highway and no need to have a full tank sitting for six months or so over the winter.

I would love to see straight gas again she would easily pull 29.50-29.75 on the highway at 65 mph. With this garbage E10 I'm lucky to see 27 mpg on the same trip and speed limited to 65 mph max. Toss in AC and the running the 70 mph speed limit more like 25 mpg. Keep telling me ethanol only affects gas mileage by 3%








The old Volvo Turbo wagon

[freebeard]

Ask for 'clear premium'. I can fill up two places around here, one is 10 miles away and the other is 5 miles way. Last fill-up at the one was $4.29 and at the other $3.80 per gallon. So it really doesn't save money, it just runs a lot better.

[JohnAh]

I do it just for the evil laughs, the schadenfreude against the BMW-strebers who always has to be first to the next traffic light! -They are as quick on the throttle as they are total losers at planning their driving so I often get the final laugh when I just pass them smoothly, again and again. The fuel I save is instead burned by them.

No, honestly, I love the game of continously improving my skills. I perform "burn & glide" (P&G, B&C) and "driving without brakes" to such degree that my 40 year old Saab with stock engine gives me 56 mpg (slightly above 4 litres per 100 km). I love to se how the practical skills match engine and combustion theories. The hunt for BSFC bull's eye!

The right for bragging is a nice bonus and I just love to be a complete ecodriving geek. I don't se how my little contribution can help the growing enviroment problems, world economy or politics, but showing other people what actually can be done quite easily can definitely be a good start!