Cheap Gasoline

[brettsomers]

See this link. Just too funny.

Yahoo News: Latest and Breaking News, Headlines, Live Updates, and More

The latest news and headlines from Yahoo News. Get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos.

news.yahoo.com

 

[whirlcool]

WWJD......

 

[sudsmaster]

WWJD?

He'd probably drive a Prius...

 

[polkanut]

Minocqua, WI is roughly 76 miles north of Wausau. Why do I miss out on the good stuff?

 

[jasonl]

What would Jason do?

Not go there because my car's a Diesel.

 

[hydralique]

I'm curious Jason . . .

What are you paying for diesel these days? I was pretty chuffed to get a tank at 3.45 on Friday, which is a lot better than the 3.59 I paid for the previous tank. I've seen more than a few stations up around 3.69-3.75 lately, but I think it is dropping somewhat.

 

[jasonl]

Well, I bought the Beetle TDI when diesel was cheaper. It still makes 50mpg but yeah, the Diesel is getting up there now.

My options are:

Keep the car and pay over $3/gallon. It's paid for so no car note on an almost new and good car.
Get a Prius, Expensive but get 60+ mpg on gasoline
Honda Civic coupe (cheaper) and get 40mpg
Honda Fit (even cheaper) and get about 40 as well.

I hypermile so I know how to squeeze out a little bit more mpg out of any car. No I don't slow poke and hold up traffic but I take it easy and don't drive aggressively.

If I were to get a new car. Definitely Honda Civic Coupe. They're so beautiful and so comfortable. Next would be a Fit. Smaller and cute but doesn't ride as well. If money were no object, definitely a Prius or Honda civic Hybrid.

 

[jasonl]

Diesel is about $3.25 last time I filled up (I only need to do it once every 2 or 3 weeks)

 

[sudsmaster]

As new cars go, the Prius is not all that expensive. And they've gone down in price I undersand (dealers aren't charging such an added premium for them any more). I think they list for around $23,000. However, I understand that some car reviewers prefer the Honda Civic Hybrid. I like Hondas but I'd probably prefer the utility of the Prius five door hatchback design over the Civic sedan style. The Honda also doesn't get quite as good mileage in town (no regenerative braking), but it's still up there.

Still, I could get a Dodge Charger six cylinder for the price of a Prius. And a Hemi-equipped RT model for a few thousand more. Not that I'm gonna buy anything at this point. If I did, it would probably be a base standard size pickup truck.

 

[hydralique]

Jason, I don't get nearly 50mpg in my Golf, but then I drive mostly in heavy stop and go traffic. In bad conditons I get maybe 33-35 mpg. I've seen 45-48 on the highway but I rarely ever get to drive for long periods of time without a traffic jam. Mostly if I go out of town it's to spend a weekend with friends in Morro Bay. That's 200 mostly highway miles each way, but on the return trip Sunday afternoon the 101 always, always backs up and stops dead in Santa Barbara. So I spend an hour in first gear doing what should be a 20 minute drive, and any mileage measurement goes to hell.

Also, my car is slightly modded to run more boost. It really helps on those metered uphill freeway ramps, but of course there is a mileage hit. Still, it gets better mileage than most anything else I could drive, short of a hybrid, and it's mine so I'm keeping it in spite of its many foibles and the complete lack of VW dealers who know anything about a diesel car.

If I get another vehicle in the near future it will be a motorcyle. I've never been interested in them, but the ability to use the car pool lane and to lane split would be a huge help in keeping appointments.

 

[sudsmaster]

Ever since my Neon started spewing large amounts of oil, and refused to go into reverse when cold, I've been driving my 300M.

In the city - all stop and go - I get about 15 mpg, or less, depending on how aggressive I drive. On the highway, I can get it up to 30 mpg by sticking to 60 mph and coasting as much as possible for slowing traffic or off-ramps. In a commuting mix of highway and city, it generally gets around 20 mpg. Fortunately I live about 2 miles from work, so while I get lousy in-city mileage, it's not a lot of miles and I don't have to fill it up that often. On the highway, I've gotten used to cars passing me left and sometimes on the right, lol. I've learned a lot from the mpg display the car has - including the hit that A/C takes on mileage (it's worth one or two mpg). I try to schedule my longer journeys (like for shopping) for times when traffic will be light and I can maintain a steady speed most of the way.

With the Neon, I generally got around 25 mpg in combined highway/city driving.