Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Just talked to my brother and he heard on the news that gas could be as high as $2.50/gallon this summer in this area. That's for the cheap 87 octane too. WoW! If that's the case i might just skip the rest of my upgrade plans and say screw it. Our government spends money on wasteful things and gives it away like it grows on trees but can't spend it on useful things like aternative fuel research.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

High gas prices just makes it easier to run race gas all the time!

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Unless in turn the race gas ups in cost too, which wouldn't surprise me.

My upgrade path will stay the same, since it's pretty mild, and only a shot in the dark right now anyway. Chances are I'll just bike more often when it's a somewhat close destination.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Time to buy an electric car.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

My plans of weight reduction should only improve my gas milage. Plus my car still gets way better gas milage then my truck even with mods.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

No.. Its only money, and a fast car is still cheaper than going nuts.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Time to just run race gas or tune the standalone to run 16.5:1 A/Fs under cruise.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Time for a scooter haha or maybe a nice cheap bike.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

How about this to save your gas...
www.greasecar.com

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

why would gas hinder anything unless your mods are 10 bux?

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

When you really think about it gas is damn cheap per gallon for what it does. Take a bottle of evian water at around 16oz. they cost around 1.25 or so. We get a whole gallon of gas for less than 2 bux now.

When you really think about other surrounding costs like water pop food. Gas in quantity is cheap. Cheaper than a gallon of milk.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

I think I will convert over to propane, it has a octane value of 104. and its 25% -30% cheaper than gas.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

You guys all have points. I don't drink but just look at what people will spend on a bottle of beer at a bar. On the weekends it's $2.50/bottle here. But anyway, i think the government is gonna have to do something soon or the economy is gonna shut down in certain areas. Luckily, i only drive a 1/2 mile to work but it still affects other things like products we buy.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

in europe, it's 5 bux a gallon. so suck it up :)

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

May be true but is the Euro dollar a 1:1 ratio with the American dollar?

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

1 US dollar is worth about 3/4th of a Euro, but that doesn't have anything to do with what he said. A US Dollar is worth 100+ Japanese Yen, but that doesn't mean you can get more for your US Dollar over there, it's just a conversion factor. The cost of gas in Europe will vary from country to country though, since the reason it costs so much more is due to the taxes that each individual country imposes. They tax gasoline over there like we tax cigarettes here, to try to discourage the overuse of it.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

See what the guy with the black beetle wrote:

I am having a blast running on Vegetable oil. A friend lately remarked that he was jealous that more girls wanted to see my car than his, a 40K BMW M coupe. It is a sexy little machine, and so smart. By the time I back out of my parking space I can switch to grease...as long as it still isnt solid in the tank or anything. I am averaging around 240 miles per gallon of diesel, mainly because of the very short start up time.



Hahaha 240miles per gallon!!! Fuck that shit. I'm going to order up a couple of those 55 gallon drums of C16 for the summer.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

the extra $10-20 per month won't blow my budget, because I don't even have a motor now!

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

$2.50/gal in minnesota more then likely it will be around $3-4/gal in cali. dammit. Time to run uncle bens.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

I agree with Peter. Gas is a relatively small part of everyday expenses. I maybe go through 1 tank of gas per week. I think it is funny that people waste their time driving around to find a cheaper station. Lets say you find a station which is 10 cents cheaper (yeah right). That would save you a whole dollar!!! Woooohoooo! Gas costs are minimal to most people so I hate ir when I see/hear people complain about it. Every year you hear the saying "Gas is going to get ___ high this summer." Honestly, I don't give a shit. Gas prices are inelastic just like the prices at my work (Ace Hardware). You do not buy anything because it is cheap, you buy it because you need it.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

All these statements are true but lets say that the rise in gas prices costs you an extra $200/ year, then when you buy food it just got higher because transportation got higher, so let's say that cost an extra $150/year, Heat during the winter months, well now that just got higher because crude went up per barrel, so that's maybe an extra $100+/year, don't forget about other utilities like electric, that went up because they need more money to fund fuel for their utility/maintainence trucks.... The list goes on and on.

Now comes the anniversary date at work and it's review time.... you just find out that your raise is only gonna get you an extra $200(example), per year. What's that mean, means were slowly going broke. Price of gas doesn't just affect your drive to work and back.

You're all right though, it's something we can't do shit about. We need gas no matter what their shit price is. When gas goes up high like it is, it doesn't mean we use lesser of it so somebody out there is lining their pockets really nicely.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

You'd consume 25%-30% more propane to achieve the same level of energy gasoline has, so the price difference would be minimal.And I'd think the price to convert would be pretty hefty as well.

In reality, unless your building a engine/fuel system from scratch, alcohols are the only cost effective alternative to gas.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

We have a methanol plant about 15 minutes from me. We'd put alot more farmers back into business if we produced more methanol here and figured out a way to use it efficiently.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Do you mean ethanol? Methanol is made from wood.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Oops you're right, ethanol. I think it takes alot of water to produce it though. So it's no freebie. There is still resources to make it.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

The supply of propane to the engine is controlled by a regulator or vapourizer which converts the liquid propane to a gaseous form. The gas is then fed to an air, fuel mixer located close to the intake manifold where it is metered and mixed with filtered air before being drawn into the combustion chambers. As the fuel, air mixture is completely gaseous, the cold start problems associated with liquid fuel are eliminated.

On a per unit of weight basis, liquid propane contains about five percent more energy than gasoline; however, the density is 30% less. The net result is that a litre of propane (lighter) contains about 28% less energy than a litre of gasoline. Propane has an octane rating of 110 and all propane sold in Canada is classified HD 5, (less than 5% other gases, such as butane & methane).

With propane, a greater quantity is required to travel the same distance. But because of its gaseous form, your engine runs more efficiently which helps offset the extra propane consumed. The fact that propane is introduced to the combustion chamber as a vapour, a vehicle may actually run better on propane than on gasoline in low-speed, light-throttle conditions, especially when cold.

The greatest environmental benefit comes from reduced evaporative losses, including those which occur during refueling. This is because the propane fuel system is effectively sealed. As well, the inherent tendency to form ground-level ozone is half that of gasoline and propane does not contain lead or sulfur which contribute to acid rain.

Engines using propane can last two to three times longer than a gasoline engine.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

So then what all is required to convert over to a propane fueled system?

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

So what caused vehicles to stray away from propane? Back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's I know a number of tractors and trucks used to be equipped to run on propane.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

LP has possibilities, but the prices of that have been going up drastically too. I don't think it will be a viable option any time soon.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

With gas going up, hopefully there will be less of the gas monster SUVs on the road. It will also mean you will be able to buy a used one cheaper, you know, to be able to tow your DSM with.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Well you work at Bixby, design a car that will run on corn. And I am not talking about E85 either. I am talking about whole corn that you buy in a bag. You know the kind that fucking mouse put everywhere in our garage?:D

CRAIG

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

First, you get a bunch of hamsters(JDM hamsters only).Then, you get a big hamster wheel that fits under the hood.....

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Thats where them damn mice came from. Our motors, why didn't I think of that. I bet all the DSM's that are here have the motors packed with corn.:D

CRAIG

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

I am hoping they can make hydrogen economical to produce as our next energy source for cars.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Hydrogen has its good an bad points. The emissions from actual combustion are great. The problem is with storage in the vehicle, transport to service stations, and a viable means to seperate the hydrogen. They are starting to get the storage in the vehicle figured out, but there is still a ways to go.

The other thing is the logistics of switching all of the stations over to hydrogen. That would be a massive effort. There would have to be a lot of hydrogen plants around, because they don't think the current pipeline system will work with hydrogen.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Yeah, it will take a lot of work in the begining but I never see us running out like we will with gas in 35 years. The resource is very plentifull.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

Goto this link. Click on the listen button. Gas could be as high as $3/gallon by summer.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=1897385

Gas back up to over $49.00/barrell today already.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

How crazy. However, europe has prices like this anyway. I dont think it will make it any harder to mod my car, just harder to afford driving it.

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

It's hard to compare the U.S. to other countries unless you compare everything apples-to-apples. Is everything over in Europe in similar price brackets as things here in the states?

Re: Are summer gas prices gonna hamper your upgrade plans this summer?
 

The thing with the european countries is that they don't include road taxes in with income tax like we do. Most of them tax gas a lot, which makes sense. If you use the roads more, you are going to use more gas, and pay for the roads more because you use them more. In the US we like to get everybody to pay for everything, so it doesn't work that way here.