$3.83 per gallon
That’s the price I pay per gallon in my area.
And I can’t even get public transit to get me to work on time, even if I leave an hour early.
That’s America’s love affair with oil for you. We can fight wars for oil in Africa and the Middle East, but I can’t get ten miles with a fucking bus pass.
You know, I used to have pride in my country…
Bohnenstange Said:
on April 18, 2008 at 9:57 am
hey we still pay less than most places in europe
lunawolf Said:
on April 18, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Yeah? No shit. You think I don’t have friends from Great Britain? Their gas is taxed. That is why it’s so high. They have an incredibly efficient infrastructure of public transportation to get people to work, reduce the number of cars on the road, and help spare the air. Not only that, but they have full coverage health care for all citizens, which even the most staunch conservatives over there wouldn’t give up for the world.
Will Rhodes Said:
on April 20, 2008 at 6:52 am
Great Britain - $11 per gallon!
lunawolf Said:
on April 20, 2008 at 9:43 am
Does it help that the cars over there get up to 70 mpg? Bush has proposed to have our cars produce a standard of 35 miles to the gallon by 2020!
Will Rhodes Said:
on April 20, 2008 at 11:14 am
The average in car in the UK is 35 mpg, Luna. Some of the really small 1 litre cars can get very high mileage true - but most don’t.
The love of a big engine is what is wrong in North America - when I was in the UK I used to drive a Saturn (Vauxhall) Astra 1.6, 16 valve injection - it was fast, powerful and you can’t even buy one in North America. The lowest you can go is a 1.8 litre.
It is the mindset that has to change as well as the performance of the car.
I blogged about it a while ago - in the NA motoring program they said that they wouldn’t buy the car because of the lack of cup-holders rather than look at the efficiency of the car, apparently Europeans stop to drink their coffee and those in NA drink it on the move - which is, after all, dangerous.
lunawolf Said:
on April 20, 2008 at 1:27 pm
So true about the US love affair with large vehicles. I supposed so many people here use them to compensate! Especially the ones that buy the F350s and throw a lift kit on it. My car could fit underneath it!
Bohnenstange Said:
on April 21, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I indeed agree with all of you on this.
I hate the fords anyways.
lunawolf Said:
on April 21, 2008 at 4:50 pm
People need to stop looking at their cars as extensions of themselves (whether accurate extensions or not! lol!) and start using them for what they were made for.
Will Rhodes Said:
on April 22, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Ford’s are bab!
Chris Said:
on April 22, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Well, the popular image of the European roadway over here is a bunch of Smart ForTwos and VW Golfs driving around. And, while sales figures pretty clearly show that Europe does like small cars much more than we do, they’ve certainly got their share of XC90s and X5s.
A UK average of 35mpg is astonishing, as their numbers will be that much higher in 2020, when the US finally stumbles up to something close to the UK’s current average.
Anyway, someone should tell these crazy American petrolheads that a Dodge Charger will lose its ass to a Lotus Exige any day… then maybe they’d wake up and see that engine size means nothing in the face of good engineering.
lunawolf Said:
on April 22, 2008 at 9:46 pm
I’m all for Smart cars. I think they are cute, and I’ve always been a sedan kind of person (my first car was a ‘91 Accord), so that’s saying a lot. Anyway, I think the problem still is our need for all things big to fill our own inadequacies.
Chris Said:
on April 23, 2008 at 8:40 am
So you’re suggesting Europe has less “inadequacies” than the United States? I could make a really funny joke about all the small cars in Asia…. but I won’t.
Bohnenstange Said:
on April 23, 2008 at 6:38 pm
asians have a lot of small cars because they’re so small that an entire family could fit in a smart car. Also there are sooo many people that they need small cars to get around on the roads, because they’re conjested with people.
lunawolf Said:
on April 23, 2008 at 8:35 pm
I hope you’re joking in the former, Mist.
Bohnenstange Said:
on April 23, 2008 at 9:37 pm
lol thought you would like that
Will Rhodes Said:
on April 24, 2008 at 6:08 pm
If you take into account that the Smart Car is a Mercedes it brings a new meaning to snobbery!
At the moment the new details of the consumption targets in Europe are secret - but from what I have read they are looking at car easily doing 50MPG by 2015. That is pretty bold I know, but cars have to do it or they don’t get made for the European market.
And Chris - you are quite correct, I would love to see a race off between some of the grunters of the US and North American market against the ‘tiny’ (so I have been told) European sports cars.
TVR’s - Aston’s - Morgan’s - Lotus. Some make you weep just looking at them.
British car makers Even though these makers are owned by other, larger companies they still use the best engineers in Europe.
Chris Said:
on April 24, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Very true, although I must say: Jaguar’s been under Ford a bit too long, and its cars have taken on a bit too much American softness.
And I winced when I read that Land Rover was sold to Tata (of India). Even after Ford, that’s a downgrade.
lunawolf Said:
on April 24, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Yeah! That’s another thing I like about them! I can own a Mercedes for under 16 grand! woohoo! (Hey, I grew up in a pinto, a GM van and a haundai, I wouldn’t care if I was called a snob for getting a Smart car).
Will Rhodes Said:
on April 25, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Tata are keeping the production and engineering all in the UK - that can only be good, and getting rid of the US ‘Designers’ can only be a good thing, too - sorry Luna - but US designers are about 5 years behind European ones.
Not all, but a significant number.
lunawolf Said:
on April 27, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Oh yeah, I know. American car companies started getting cocky in the seventies and eighties. They figured they didn’t have to do any research or change with the times because they assumed that being American made was enough to sell their cars. I think Boeing is going through a similar ordeal. Their really smarting over losing the Air Force contracts.
Will Rhodes Said:
on April 28, 2008 at 8:19 am
I watched the CNN report on it - Lou Dobbs was almost having a heart attack!
Fly by wire is advanced in Europe and the Americans are getting well in with the act - but Boeing really lost the order because, as you rightly say, they are behind the times.
Protectionism worked for the US airlines - now that open skies is here who knows what is going to happen.
Oh, and watch for propeller long-haul aircraft coming out of Europe - they use at least a 1/3 less fuel than jets - slower yes, but financially viable.
Bohnenstange Said:
on April 29, 2008 at 2:52 pm
speaking of oil I spoke to boone pickens last night and he was stating that the US alone uses about 22% of the worlds oil and were only 3% of the population here on earth. He was stating that the tightness on oil is going to get worse and he stated that by the end of the year we are going to be at 5 dollars a gallon. Seriously something needs to happen NOW instead of this later crap. Also china needs to get there act together.
lunawolf Said:
on April 29, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Oh yeah! I heard about those! It’s so nostalgic! Prop planes! <3
steve Said:
on April 30, 2008 at 7:09 am
you realize that milk is over $4/gallon and bottled water, the evian type would likely be even more than that?
lunawolf Said:
on April 30, 2008 at 7:46 pm
I’m not quite paying $4 a gallon for milk yet. California still has good Ag, so maybe that has helped keep the price down, I don’t know..
Bottled water! I love it! But not because I drink it. Someone said to me the other day that it’s amazing how much coca-cola must have spent to convince America they have a third world water supply. It’ll be tap for me, thank you very much.
Will Rhodes Said:
on May 1, 2008 at 8:15 am
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/shouldiworryabout/water.shtml
I tried to find the link where Richard Hammond tried to sell tap water as it came to the public - he couldn’t. Then he came up with the idea of bottling it in a fancy garb - and it sold like mad - he didn’t change one thing and even told the people buying it that it was just tap water.
A glass of water from the tap 0.02p (0.05c) a glass of water in his bottle garb - 0.25p (0.55c) a bottle of Evien 2.25 quid ($5).
People actually said he should market his stuff because it was better and cheaper - people are officially stupid!
lunawolf Said:
on May 1, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Lol! I agree with that last statement!
I do wonder if the eagerness to buy Hammond’s water came from the attraction to the taste or if it was his abnormally bright grin.