Democrats working on a bill to require new fuel economy standards

Who cares what a fringe candidate like Ron Paul would say? This is a very welcome development. The CAFE standards we currently have are a disgrace.

we should all write letters to the gas stations telling them to stop making gas so expensive because its really expensive and i cant drive a lot so i have to walk

baptizn_AZN wrote:

we should all write letters to the gas stations telling them to stop making gas so expensive because its really expensive and i cant drive a lot so i have to walk

that's the good thing about high gas prices. less people drive, less fumes in the air. inconvinient for your, good for the environment

inconvenient for my what?

it's about time they get rid of non-commercial use of huge tubs on the highways aka SUVs and trucks. the max speed limit of any vehicle over 3,000 pounds should be reduced to 55 MPH with a no margin, no slack federal mandate.

about time wrote:

it's about time they get rid of non-commercial use of huge tubs on the highways aka SUVs and trucks. the max speed limit of any vehicle over 3,000 pounds should be reduced to 55 MPH with a no margin, no slack federal mandate.

My Benz weighs 3500 lbs. you idiot.

Besides that my 6000 lbs. truck got 20 mpg on the last tank of fuel.

Try again.

When you consider experimental cars are over 77 miles/gallon it seems crazy not to at least be considering making a higher mpg ratio compulsory.

Hah! Compact hatches weigh over 3000 lbs now (e.g. VW GTI). How many cars are actually under 3000 lbs?

about time wrote:

it's about time they get rid of non-commercial use of huge tubs on the highways aka SUVs and trucks. the max speed limit of any vehicle over 3,000 pounds should be reduced to 55 MPH with a no margin, no slack federal mandate.

grab my nuts and LOL.

"There's plenty of oil. All we need to do is boycott the gas stations so the price comes back down. Its price gouging not a shortage. All of the oil companies should go to jail."

sorry, this is what 'normal' people say. And they aren't considered completely crazy. I call this the "Fox" effect.

its very simple to get more MPG out of your car.

First, I use premium and get another 10%- so sometimes the price is actually worth it. With some cars this works, with others not as much, but it will boost your MPG.

Second, on the highway I try to hit 65 as my limit. sometimes I'll do 70+ if I'm going down hill, but I won't be tapping the accelerator. I usually can get the car to coast amazingly well on the highway.

Thirdly, I try to avoid lights.

Finally, I remove every ounce of weight from my car that I don't need. Every ounce. I probably removed something like 20-30 pounds of unnecessary weight.

What I've found is that every EPA rating in every car I have ever driven I have utterly demolished. My Honda gets well over 40 mpg (50 when coming down from the mountains) and its only rated 34 on the highway.

My friends Ford Focus (the ugliest car in the world) I got 40, and she was astonished. I've been known to usually add 10 MPG to any car. I'm known for it practically in some circles.

If I wanted to get really crazy, I'd tear out some of the seats/redesign them. I'd take out the weighty things in the car, and replace it with lighter fiberglass/plastic materials, with exceptions to keeping the cabin cage and frame fully intact.

And if I was crazier I would throw in a Lithium battery hybrid system that turns the car off when you decelerate, and stores the braking energy for use when you accelerate.

I'm pretty sure I could turn your 25 MPG p.o.s into a 60 MPG life saver. I mean, so 3 dollar gasoline really doesn't effect me that much. 6 dollar gasoline won't really either. Its when its not there that worries me. Think about it, if the price goes up but the MPG go up as well, then they equal out. No reason to get antsy and 'tated over rising fuel prices.

I wonder what you could do with my Ford E350 12 passenger van. I just peaked at 15.2 MPG on my trip to PA for Thanksgiving.

Why do you care if someone else wastes their gas money? If you want great gas mileage, buy a car with great gas mileage. If the market for those vehicles gets stronger, the companies will make more of them.

Why use government mandates to regulate the buying preferences of other people? I think most video games are revolting, mind-rotting, time wasting extravaganzas, but I'm not pushing for Uncle Sam to force every game to be Brain Age.

There is no financial incentive for automobile companies to set a high mpg, so they will do whatever they are told. If it's possible to build a car that gets 40, 50, 60, 70mph then that is what it should be set at.

Alan

Liberati wrote:

Why do you care if someone else wastes their gas money? If you want great gas mileage, buy a car with great gas mileage. If the market for those vehicles gets stronger, the companies will make more of them.

We care because demand influences price. If a bunch of idiots want to commute to work at 12mpg in gigantic SUVs, it hurts all of us. You use more and more fuel, which drives demand higher, which drives price higher. I end up paying the same $3.15 a gallon you do, even though I drive a 35 mpg Honda.

my names says it all

thats always the argument for over-consumers. "why do you care if I want to drive a 10mpg car, i can afford it"

what those ignorant *ssholes dont know is that they arethe reason the gas companies can get away with this outrageous price-gouging that they impose on it. everyone pays the $3+ for gas, not just you

why don't people trust the market in this situation? if prices get too high, people will buy cars with higher gas mileage.

here's a pretty interesting article on the subject:

http://www.nationalcenter.org/TSR061907.html

The average MPG (or km/l as it were) of cars in Europe is almost twice what it is in the US. I know Americans are fatter and all, but something is seriously fuc\ked up here.

This goes back to the debate about the Kyoto Treaty. The "administration" wouldn't play because it didn't force third-world countries to reduce their output as much, but they're totally ignoring what environmental pigs Americans are. 5% of the world's population emitting 1/3 of it's carbon. I guess you have to be a Republican to think that's reasonable...

America is about freedom, baby. That means the freedom to drive a 2mpg SUV all over the place. We aren't socialists like you europeans.

perhaps now, 300+ years after the declaration, americans are beginning to open their eyes and realize that absolute freedom does not work.

perhaps the euros have had it right all along. sure they have freedom, but not absolute that allows morons to drive 2mpg SUVs and artificially create a higher demand for oil. Some people need to be forced to do the right thing.

Some?

that must have been a typo, i meant

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