3/gallon gas comming soon

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by darthbauer

There was the upside of a lot less traffic when gas was over $4/gallon.
... but thats about it to me.

Don't forget the self-destruction of the U.S. auto industry. That was something that we'd been needing to happen for a long time. And is arguably the biggest plus we got out of the $4+ period.

-Steve

[darthbauer]

Originally Posted by sbergman27

Don't forget the self-destruction of the U.S. auto industry. That was something that we'd been needing to happen for a long time. And is arguably the biggest plus we got out of the $4+ period.

-Steve

Sure the auto industry tanked more than a bit with brands like Hummer going down but there is still going to be a need for something bigger than a Yaris for families that have multiple kids and or large breed animals for pets. I'm not saying go out and buy an H2 and never worry about space again but it would be nice if Jeep could come out with a 4 door Wrangler that got better MPG than it does now but still have a decent amount of power.

My Yaris is great for getting to and from work but a little more is needed on the weekends.

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by darthbauer

My Yaris is great for getting to and from work but a little more is needed on the weekends.

It's all about using the appropriate vehicle for the job. My Chevy Sprint (And do forgive me for going on so about that car; It's my pride and joy) gets about 220 passenger-miles per gallon on the highway with 4 people in it. But I'm a bit of a recluse, living alone, with no friends. And so I effectively get about 55 passenger-miles per gallon if you don't count my faithful traveling companion, Shadow, a terrier mix. The Sprint is about the best a recluse can do on the highway, except perhaps for the 1st generation Honda Insight, which is about as rare as the Dodo bird.

An 8 passenger GMC Savana van, which *always* traveled with a full complement of passengers, would be getting 160 passenger-miles per gallon. But if it traveled with only one occupant for even 30% of the time, it would be more efficient for those 8 people to just drive their own individual Sprints.

The problem is not the existence of SUVs. (Which we *used to* call *commercial* vehicles, and for good reason.) It's about using the appropriate vehicle for the job. And *very few* SUV owners in the US are really doing that, no matter how much they might want to tell themselves that they really need an SUV.

-Steve

P.S. I wonder why the high efficiency diesels, so common in Europe, and which are now a very well established technology, exhibiting amazing fuel economy, are being withheld from the U.S. market? Who in the world would have an interest in keeping them from being introduced here, I wonder?

[Kioshi]

Originally Posted by sbergman27

Who in the world would have an interest in keeping them from being introduced here, I wonder?

i love this statement...thats how the govt. does it...put us in the hole~

Gas has been at $3.05 since November for me, in Fremont, CA. I'm paying $3.27 for gas at Shell now...

And i agree gas should be $5 because other countries have been seeing those costs for quite a long time, just something new to us in America...and yes, it'd would change how people drive..if prices continue to stay at $5~~

[Altitude]

Originally Posted by darthbauer

Sure the auto industry tanked more than a bit with brands like Hummer going down but there is still going to be a need for something bigger than a Yaris for families that have multiple kids and or large breed animals for pets.

Bring back the station wagon. The SUV of the 70's and 80's.

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by Altitude

Bring back the station wagon. The SUV of the 70's and 80's.

Ahhh, the station wagon. A technology honed to such perfection over the decades that the engineers went stir crazy and started *inventing* problems to solve.

Should the tailgate open to the left? Or to the right? Or just swing down? Or slide down, under power, when you turn the tailgate key? Should the glass be fixed? Should it slide down into the tailgate? Or go up into the roof? Should the tailgate have glass at all?

Today, I think that most consumers would prefer to contract leprosy than to be seen in a station wagon.

Yeah, I grew up in the 60s and 70s. :-)

-Steve