Speaking of the price of gas

[intergraph19]

Well seeing as the gauge on the truck doesn't work and I have to go by milage, I'll skip that suggestion.  I don't want to cut it that close.  ^_^

[Lloyd Danforth]

The gas prices are getting pretty bad, but I get about 30mpg in the little truck I drive, so I'm happy.

The Three Ton Picture Window I drive gets 10 mpg, so, if you see my face, you know it cost me a pile of bucks.
For the central NH stuff, I drive to Keene and come the rest of the way with one of the generous people there. Still a $60.00 ordeal.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Well seeing as the gauge on the truck doesn't work and I have to go by milage, I'll skip that suggestion.  I don't want to cut it that close.  ^_^

Thats Kool, as I was suggesting it to Aries

[Russell Kanning]

Hey, speaking of...

When you plan your route, why not announce it? There might be people who can give you a place to crash, a shower, a meal, even a few bucks for gas. I would, if you were passing through the Texarkana area on I-30.

Kevin

That is a great idea .... I guess we could talk about it in another thread.

[KBCraig]

2.899 here - but that's for 92 octane gas, which gives me ~70 miles to the gallon on my Helix. On "standard" gas, I only get 59 mpg

I want to try premium gas once and see if I get better than average mileage.

I can squeeze 300 miles out of my Taurus' 12ish gallon tank, but I think I could get even more if I filled up at half tank, since the gas burns much more quickly at the end. It's rated at 17MPG, but I have adjusted my driving habits a little and I am getting better mileage.

Here's how gasoline works: the lowest octane rating is the most volatile, and contains the most potential energy. Yep: higher octane premium actually contains less energy. Octane boosters reduce volatility and slow combustion rates.

Why? Reducing volatility makes your engine less susceptible to pre-detonation, or knocking, meaning the spark can be advanced, creating more power or more efficiency (not both at the same time).

On an old-fashioned car without electronics, if it's properly tuned for low-octane gas, using premium will actually result in lower performance. On modern cars with computers and sensors, it will adjust itself for maximum efficiency on whatever gas you're burning, but you have to run at least one full tank before there will be any change. Even then, change might not be noticeable. The gains have to offset the lower energy potential, so it's a trade-off.

It's worth noting that any increased efficiency comes because the engine is producing more power, but if you take advantage of that power, you won't see an increase in mileage.

Like Lloyd said, you don't burn the last half of your tank more quickly. You just burn what your gauge says is the last half, more quickly.  Our van is the same way: first half of the tank, 200 miles easy. Last half, 100-125 miles. It's actually more efficient when the tank is a quarter full, because that's 200 pounds less gas we're hauling around, but the gauge isn't calibrated right.

Kevin

[aries]

Stiles fuel in Littleton has it for $2.849 right now, I bought premium at $2.969. Better mileage.

[dead_hobbit]

2.899 here - but that's for 92 octane gas, which gives me ~70 miles to the gallon on my Helix. On "standard" gas, I only get 59 mpg

I want to try premium gas once and see if I get better than average mileage.

I can squeeze 300 miles out of my Taurus' 12ish gallon tank, but I think I could get even more if I filled up at half tank, since the gas burns much more quickly at the end. It's rated at 17MPG, but I have adjusted my driving habits a little and I am getting better mileage.

Maybe a higher octane will justify the cost. I can afford a tank of it, and I'll do the math to see if the extra $2.40 or so per fill-up is worth it.

At least from what I've noticed (and I'm no expert in these things, to say the least), the more powerful you have of an engine the less of an increase you'll get. You get the best gains in less powerful engines (like mine).

[Pat K]

Kevin saved me from haveing to write out the explanation, he is correct also, if your car needs high octane it is probably a high compreesion engine, it would nock in the old days with out the high oct. today the computer and sensers will adjust but the car wont perform as well.

If your car does not call for high oct. don't use it, your just wasting money.

[KBCraig]

Color-coded map for gas prices across the country:

http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx

[Lloyd Danforth]

Stiles fuel in Littleton has it for $2.849 right now, I bought premium at $2.969. Better mileage.

[Pat McCotter]

Who is profiting on oil?
Gas company gets $0.07-0.09/gallon gasoline
(As of 1/13/05 from API):
Fed gets $0.184/gal gasoline
NH gets $0.18/gal gasoline + $0.001/gal (oil pollution control fund) + $0.015/gal (UST cleanup fund) + $0.01/gal (AST and bulk storage fund) + $0.02/gal (oil and bulk fuel oil storage)

[Tunga]

"I don't wanna pickel,
I just ride on my motor cickel.
And I don't wanna die,
I just wanna ride on my motor sigh....cle."
-Arlo Guthrie.

"Thats why you'll believe me
when I tell you
that I've got a product here that will wash your car
while your driving it home to work." - Firesign Theater
"Don't crush that dwarf, hand me the plyers."

[9thmoon]

O, how I miss that Honda Insight my ex-boyfriend totalled... 900 miles on 9 gallons!  Thinking of buying another one when I get to NH. 

[9thmoon]

900 miles on 9 gallons!

Were you driving downhill at the time?

Kind of.  I drove from Seattle to Missoula - over two mountain ranges.  Hooray for regenerative braking! 
Oh, ha.  I just looked at the map.  That's not 900 miles.  It was more like 550.  But it took me nine hours.  That's where the other nine was... 

[Zork]

900 miles on 9 gallons!

Were you driving downhill at the time?

I did that once.  Driving from Mount Alto to Gettysburg, half an hour drive down hill.  I got out to the main road at about 11 at night when there was no traffic, got up to 60mph, and just shut off the engine and coasted half way there before I slowed down to 45 and had to start the engine again.  But usually, I get about 30-31 mpg in mostly city driving in my 91 Camry.  The rate it's going, I'll probably be paying about $2.95 when I fill up Friday (for the cheap gas station!)