Dependence on foreign oil & car choices

[krusty the klown]

Would you choose a more fuel efficient vehicle to reduce the dependence on foreign oil? Do you think that fuel taxes should be raised to encourage the use of more fuel efficient vehicles? Should fuel efficient vehicles be legislated into place? Should tax concessions be given to alternative fuels (like biodiesel)? Is the implementation of legislation regarding improving fuel efficiency an affront to personal freedom and choice? Is all this 'fuel efficiency' speak just Liberal nonsense?

[Chooco]

there are a few issues here:
-if you raise the tax on imported oil it will encourage fuel efficiency but stiffs those who NEED a gas guzzler, you can't haul a trailor camping with a Chevy Sprint.
-there are ways of developing more fuel efficient cars but it includes cars to run a lot hotter and at higher RPM with like a twin turbo. the would break down a LOT faster.

just buy a smaller/lighter car to get better gas milage.

[krusty the klown]

Well, if you want a gasser, then there's not a lot you can do to improve fuel efficiency of larger vehicles without using exotic and mostly untested technology. However, you don't need to guzzle gas

http://www.greendieseltechnology.com/news106_horne.html

Anyone who thinks diesels have not improved enourmously in the power, refinement and cleanliness departments, obviously hasn't driven a new one

Underpowered? http://www.vw.com/aac/technology/tech_engine.html

One major factor holding back the development of diesels in the States is the quality of the diesel fuel over there. The stuff's often junk and no matter how good your engine design is, it's a case of GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). The engines need supplying with ultra low sulphur (ULSD), high Cetane fuel (cetane is to diesel as octane is to gasoline). The fuel manufacturers claim this will cost them a lot of money, but it's a chicken-and-egg situation. In Europe, around 30% of vehicles are diesel, so there's plenty of demand for the fuel & the fuel manufacturers make plenty of money!

There's a drawback... running biodiesel made from recycled fryer oil could make anyone following you feel hungry!!! Yer exhaust could smell of french fries

http://industryclick.com/Microsites/...26&pageid=1126

[Chooco]

all i know is that diesel engines don't have spark plugs

i wonder if this truck runs on a diesel engine.....

ROF

[skuz]

I agree to have more efficient cars, but not with less power than I already have and certainly not smaller. I don't really feel safe in a Suzuki Swift or Honda Civic, I prefer cars a bit bigger, Corolla, Sunfire...

I don't want fuel taxes to go up, my project car is under way and I'd like to be able to afford driving it once in a while.

[Warthog]

The current 'fuel efficient' gas/electric cars are way to underpowered to be fun or even just to carry 4 people and luggage....they are only small commuter cars (point A to point B).

Now...in an ideal world, I could get a car that doesn't run on gas (or is a hybrid) that has the same power as 'normal' cars but gets 60-70mpg. I'd be all for that of course

I'd rather reduce dependency on foreign oil...I don't know how that's possible?

Warthog

[caddmannq]

I'd buy an electric fuel cell or hybrid car for my daily commuting, which is not too demanding. It's sort of silly to drive my 200 HP car for this measly 7 miles, and we won't even talk about the 250HP or 300 HP cars I own. Those are strictly for Sunday trips & long highway tours.

BTW, if I did buy an electric, I probably wouldn't sell any of the others.

The only diesel vehicle I'd consider is the Dodge/Cummins turbo-diesel truck, but frankly I don't care for pickups much.

Also: I didn't vote, as the poll says nothing of electric cars. Yet, IMHO, they are still too pricey for what you get...I'll wait for production to ramp up first

[Warthog]

I'll wait for production to ramp up

*awaits the 70's-ish oil crisis*

Then the demand will go up, making production go up and prices cheaper. Within a year, the big auto makers would have hybrids going.

[Chooco]

electric cars would kick ass if they didn't have a governor on them.

electricity = theoretically infinite torque

once we get nuclear fusion mastered we can start making electricity efficiently to power these electric ferraris hehe