Ouchie on gas prices lately

[Kat Kanning]

Jane showed me this, and Evan sent it:



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[polyanarch]

ROTFLMAO!

Good one Kat.

[Kat Kanning]

Down to 3.09 in Keene now.

[margomaps]

Prices vary widely here in suburban Baltimore.  I have to put premium in my car, and it ranges from $3.17 at a Texaco to $3.99 (!!!) at a BP, with the average being about $3.49.

[polyanarch]

You have to put premium in your car?

Wow, that sucks.  If I had a car that had to burn premium I'd park it.  I'd park anything that doesn't get at least 30MPG.  Hell, I've parked my Camry except for runs that I need to haul anything that I cant haul on my cycle.  The cycle gets 50mpg.  I've got soft saddlebags, a tank bag and a nice bungee net.  I can haul a lot of stuff on it. 

If I had to drive a car that needed premium gas I'd be seriously thinking of pulling the heads off and stuffing another gasket in there to lower the compression so it didn't need the premium anymore.  I know a few people who have rodded old muscle cars running some serious compression that need the premium stuff but most domestics and imports made in the last 25 years run just fine on low-octate without detonating.

-Jim

[Pat McCotter]

B20 biodiesel is 2.79 in Loudon.
Diesel is 2.99 in Concord

[KBCraig]

No modern car actually requires premium fuel. The computer will automatically retard the timing when knocking is detected.

You won't get good performance without premium, but that's okay.

Kevin

[margomaps]

You have to put premium in your car?

Wow, that sucks.  If I had a car that had to burn premium I'd park it.  I'd park anything that doesn't get at least 30MPG.  Hell, I've parked my Camry except for runs that I need to haul anything that I cant haul on my cycle.  The cycle gets 50mpg.  I've got soft saddlebags, a tank bag and a nice bungee net.  I can haul a lot of stuff on it. 

If I had to drive a car that needed premium gas I'd be seriously thinking of pulling the heads off and stuffing another gasket in there to lower the compression so it didn't need the premium anymore.  I know a few people who have rodded old muscle cars running some serious compression that need the premium stuff but most domestics and imports made in the last 25 years run just fine on low-octate without detonating.

Yup, it wants premium due to the high compression.  I could conceivably get by with mid-grade, but I prefer to buy the good stuff.  I knew my car required premium when I bought it, and I bought it anyway.    It gets around 30 mpg on the highway, btw, which is mostly where I drive it.

I'm honestly not that concerned with my fuel costs at this point.  I drive less than 6,500 miles a year, so the cost-delta between regular and premium is only around $60/year.  Not worth performing under-hood surgery or suffering reduced performance for that kind of money IMO.

[margomaps]

Margo, what part Baltimore do you live in?

I'm 10 minutes southeast of the city in a suburb called Elkridge.  Are you familiar with the area?

[margomaps]

You won't get good performance without premium, but that's okay.

Sure, unless you bought the car to enjoy the performance!   

[polyanarch]

I'm all for performance.  I almost bought a Camaro back in '93 with the full-on race suspension and High-output race engine.  It had a high compression ratio that required premium fuel (93 octane if I recall correctly)

I decided against it.  I like fast cars but I also like drivable ones too.  I ended up buying a dodge neon.  Yeah, it didn't last me but 7 years and then it pooped on me and I was only driving it as a commuter in the winter when I couldn't take the cycle.  The head gasket blew at 109K and it was so wore out in other ways that repariing it wasn't cost-effective.  I sold it for $300. 

Now, when I want performance I don't jump in my Camry.  I take out my VFR800 and twist the throttle.  I can run any pump gas through it.  I can't tell the difference between 87,89, or 93 octane.  The electronic fuel injection is designed to get the most out of the gas but the compression is mild enough (11.6:1) to allow anything to burn so there is very little power difference.  I'm turning about 100hp at 10000 RPM and 55.9ft.lbs. of torque at 8500.

For a vehicle that weighs well under 500lbs wet that sure is enough performance for me.  Plus it gets about 40-50MPG depending on how hard you twist the throttle.  Not too shabby.  That Camero sound pretty expensive, hard on gas and slow in comparison :-D

[margomaps]

I'm all for performance.  I almost bought a Camaro back in '93 with the full-on race suspension and High-output race engine.  It had a high compression ratio that required premium fuel (93 octane if I recall correctly)

I decided against it.  I like fast cars but I also like drivable ones too.  I ended up buying a dodge neon.  Yeah, it didn't last me but 7 years and then it pooped on me and I was only driving it as a commuter in the winter when I couldn't take the cycle.  The head gasket blew at 109K and it was so wore out in other ways that repariing it wasn't cost-effective.  I sold it for $300. 

Now, when I want performance I don't jump in my Camry.  I take out my VFR800 and twist the throttle.  I can run any pump gas through it.  I can't tell the difference between 87,89, or 93 octane.  The electronic fuel injection is designed to get the most out of the gas but the compression is mild enough (11.6:1) to allow anything to burn so there is very little power difference.  I'm turning about 100hp at 10000 RPM and 55.9ft.lbs. of torque at 8500.

For a vehicle that weighs well under 500lbs wet that sure is enough performance for me.  Plus it gets about 40-50MPG depending on how hard you twist the throttle.  Not too shabby.  That Camero sound pretty expensive, hard on gas and slow in comparison :-D

I'm not interested in all-out straight-line performance which something akin to a Camaro would offer.  I drive a 6-spd Miata w/ less than 150 hp.  I'm definitely in the performance-by-less-weight camp, and I value handling over acceleration.  My dream car is a Lotus  Elise.  That said, the engine in my Miata is just enough to motivate the car sufficiently for my tastes, and I don't think I'd be happy with its performance were the timing retarded due to lower octane fuel, for example.  Oh, and Miatas are known for excellent reliability, so I hope to own this car for at least 10 more years.

I have to admit though, I'd reeeaally like a fast bike similar to the one you have.  Only thing is, everytime I drive something like that, then every car I drive feels very slow and clumsy henceforth.   

[polyanarch]

I have to admit though, I'd reeeaally like a fast bike similar to the one you have.  Only thing is, everytime I drive something like that, then every car I drive feels very slow and clumsy henceforth.   

I know exactly what you mean.  To get anything near the type of performance that I get with a 7-year old motorcycle that I paid $1000 for (crashed) in an automobile would cost me over $50,000 and probably twice that really.  Just the insurance, fuel and tires for the first couple of months would exceed the costs I've put into my bike for the past couple of years. 

What's the trade-off?  It's substantially more dangerous to ride a cycle than an easy car.  The amount of dedication and self-control needed to survive while riding a cycle in traffic is much greater than that needed for a 4-wheeled vehicle -even a super-high performance one. 

So, I drive a Camry now.  It really is nice on the highway...gets almost 40MPG if I drive the speed limit.  I'll be doing a lot of commutes from Chicago to Nashua in the next few months and years.  I'll need it.  I can't imagine the drudgery of riding a cycle on the interstate for 18-20 hours...

The camry is neat, clean, effecient and smooth.  But it isn't a sporty car. 

The world is all about choice and paying for your choices.  I love that.  I think you enjoy your car or you would have replaced it.  It is worth the extra $60 to you.  I love it!

-Jim

[KBCraig]

I also value handling over straight-line acceleration (although both are ideal). In high school, I had an unlikely sports car: a Plymouth (Mitsubishi) Champ hatchback, with 3 valves per cylinder and an eight speed manual (four speed with two ranges, "performance" and "economy")

This was 1980-81, when small cars were automatically suspect. Dad's feelings about cars were similar to mine. When a lady at the grocery store asked him "how does it ride?", he answered, "great!".

Her definition of a great ride would be a Lazy Boy with wheels, but our definition meant you could run over a dime and tell if it was heads or tails.    And man, could that thing handle corners in the Ouachitas and Ozarks!

Alas, it died an untimely death. I was hard into a sharp right one night when I saw the glow of oncoming headlights. Even as my rational brain was screaming "NO!", my instinct took over and I lifted my right foot completely off the throttle. Trailing throttle oversteer smacked me upside the head, and the car went up the inside bank, airborn, landed on the left rear corner, did another rotation and landed on the right rear corner, then landed on all four wheels. I was safely belted, but my seat back broke, so I wound up in the back seat. I'm glad it wasn't folded down, or I'd have probably gone out the back hatch along with my speakers. I wound up with a knot on my forehead and a sore knee.

I really need to find a replacement for the car I learned to drive: Dad's '64 Dodge Dart two-door, which his father bought just a couple of months before his sudden death. Slant Six, typewriter transmission. 

My high school ride is being restored here by my nephew, Cobry. That page is actually a couple of years old, and will be updated when he graduates from WyoTech and finishes the project. I have a '66 Chevy 1/2 ton in the back yard with which I hope to do something similar; my ex-wife's grandfather bought it new, and it only has 64,000 miles on it. It will be cool for my 14yo son to drive his great-grandfather's truck, which was also owned by his grandfather and uncle.

Unfortunately, unlike my nephew, my parents don't own Street & Performance. I don't even get the brother-in-law discount.

Kevin

[mvpel]

I've noticed that there sure are a lot of communists on the NewHampshireGasPrices.com message boards.  Seems like every other day there's a thread screaming for price controls and government takeovers of refineries.