Gas $6.00 a gallon (San Antonio, Howe, Anton: neighborhood, buying, middle school)

[majormadmax]

90 MPH, actually. Electronically limited, it's on their web site.

And trust me, I ride a motorcycle, I know all about people not seeing me! But don't think your Civic or Tercell is gonna do that well against a raging F-250 Super Duty if the two collide. Physics isn't gonna be your friend in that situation!

What kills me is it isn't the size of the vehicles but the way people drive them around here! I see SUVs flying off the line at green lights and zipping by me when coming up on a red light. I have been going lighter on the skinny pedal and coasting to stoplights, and have gained a few mpg out of it. You'd figure with everyone complaining about the price per gallon, folks would be slowing down a bit.

By the way, the two best things you can do to improve mileage is to check the air in your tires and make sure your air filter is clean. A simple tune-up can make a major difference...if you haven't done one in a a while (and with many new cars this is a relatively simple task as compared to cars of old), it might be something to consider.

Cheers! M2

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

90 MPH, actually. Electronically limited, it's on their web site.

And trust me, I ride a motorcycle, I know all about people not seeing me! But don't think your Civic or Tercell is gonna do that well against a raging F-250 Super Duty if the two collide. Physics isn't gonna be your friend in that situation!

What kills me is it isn't the size of the vehicles but the way people drive them around here! I see SUVs flying off the line at green lights and zipping by me when coming up on a red light. I have been going lighter on the skinny pedal and coasting to stoplights, and have gained a few mpg out of it. You'd figure with everyone complaining about the price per gallon, folks would be slowing down a bit.

By the way, the two best things you can do to improve mileage is to check the air in your tires and make sure your air filter is clean. A simple tune-up can make a major difference...if you haven't done one in a a while (and with many new cars this is a relatively simple task as compared to cars of old), it might be something to consider.

Cheers! M2

90 is for the Euro model. Some go 95

American model has a governer that limits at 84. Maybe it depends on the model.


Edit: I see now that was the older model..top speed is 90.

[zxrider]

Will it get to $6/gal...sure as the sun rises, just as when it about a dollar, and folks thought $2.5 or $3 would be ridiculous. The big question is when????

[hello13685]

Less drunk drivers on the road. Less crazy teenage drivers on the road texting their friends. San Antonians will not be able to afford their 12-pack AND the gas. I bet they'll just stay home (where they belong) with the 12-pack.

[BigDogsTX]

Originally Posted by sapphire

You might catch a lot of people dead in that thing.

(you know, as in "you wouldn't catch me dead in that thing.")

Only, like really dead. Those do not look like they would hold up at all.

YouTube - smart car crash

Pretty interesting crash test... the tiny car appears to be built pretty solid.

[sapphire]

Originally Posted by hello13685

Less drunk drivers on the road. Less crazy teenage drivers on the road texting their friends. San Antonians will not be able to afford their 12-pack AND the gas. I bet they'll just stay home (where they belong) with the 12-pack.

I've so noticed that, too. In all my travels, San Antonio seems to be the only city with a DUI/DWT problem.

[llowllevellowll]

Just as a note, while $6 dollars per gallon seems like alot and shocking to us now (hell, two years ago when gas was $1.50, I bet $3.75 seemed unreal too. It will definitely be $6 and probably more like $8. The price of gasoline still hasn't caught up with the price of oil on the market yet. We're letting gas out of the reserves but when it becomes feasible to no longer do that, you're really going to see why we need to take a lot bigger steps to free ourselves.

I live in the city of Akron and where I live, there are many stores around within 3 miles. My college is also within 5 miles. I've taken to biking to things as much as I need -- I'm not attempting an overall biking revolution, I'm simply trying to save money on my own and I can't tell you how much money I've been saving just not going to the video store in my car 3 miles away. It's been such a great experience. Just have an ipod on you cause it can get boring!

Electric biking would be so neat. Good luck to all.

[42JetSet]

Two quick notes...

Paid the equivalent of $8.50/gallon in France in mid-March -- ouch -- paid more for gas than for accommodation! But please remember the taxation in Europe is much higher than the US. At the military facilities we are paying (per gallon) $3.75-ish in Germany and $4.60-ish in The Netherlands.

My neighbor/friend/landlord has loaned me her Smart to drive as I need (we're down to one car as we've just shipped ours). I gotta say -- it is SO much fun! It sits up far higher than you'd think and drives really smooth and is quite comfortable. Hers is a ForTwo so just enough room, uh, for two. My husband would love to have one once we're back in the US for commuting. The Smart sits higher than his old Honda Civic (or, for that matter a Mini or other small car) -- and gets that fantastic gas mileage. And you can get them in really nifty paint schemes; which has nothing to do with the topic, but is just darn fun to know. Oh -- and you can park it ANYWHERE... like in the back of your F-150. ~:-}

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by BigDogsTX

YouTube - smart car crash

Pretty interesting crash test... the tiny car appears to be built pretty solid.

Same video I posted earlier...

And don't forget to factor in the fact that the dollar is tanking overseas as well. When we went to Belgium in 2002, $1 bought you €1.35. Last week when I was in Germany, €1 cost you $1.65.

I would also recommend reading the Business Week article, There Is No Gas Shortage to better understand the other forces in play here.

And just for comparison, gas is 17 cents a gallon in Venezuela (but we all know Hugo subsidizes it), $18.42 a galllon in Sierra Leone (but there are only 585mi of paved highways in the entire country), $10.13/gal in Turkey and $9.55/gal in Olso, Norway (I was just having this discussion with my German uncle, who is visiting, and looked these up here).

The US average as of 19 Apr was $2.61/gal.

Cheers! M2

[guyd78]

I've mentioned this before in previous posts, but it fits in here as well.

I have a Kymco scooter. It has a 250cc engine, which means that it has enough power to allow myself, as well as my wife, to easily maintain 65 mph. We usually stay on roads like Nacogdoches, Wurzbach, Broadway, and Thousand Oaks. We've ridden on 281 and 1604, and stayed up with traffic, but we didn't enjoy it as much. All in all though the roads we stay on get us everywhere in town that we need to get inluding downtown (free parking), work on the far north side, and over to Universal City - and these side routes only add a minimal amount of time to get to our destinations.

I keep my Jeep as a backup for the days it rains, but so far those days have been very limited. The winter weather is not a factor, because I just dress warmer, so I can ride it year-round. I purchased it brand new for $3100. I budget about $6.00 for gas each week, and I average about 68-70 mpg. My monthly payment for the scooter is paid in full, and then some, JUST in what I save at the pump by riding it compared to my 22 mpg alternative - and that is at our current gas prices.

I'll catch some flack for this, but each time the gas price goes up it brings a smile to my face. This is not because it makes my scooter purchase more warranted, but because it forces people to re-look at their driving habits and how they can in-a-round-about-way minimize their impact on the Earth. This goes all the way across the board to even grocery costs. Buy locally, and reduce your carbon footprint. I do hate seeing the oil companies line their pockets with the rising prices/profit margins, but now I'm making choices that let me put my money where I want to put it.

Some people will say that they don't feel like it would be safe. I admit it's not as safe as an enclosed car, but a small enclosed car is not as safe as a Hummer either. All in all life is full of risks from driving, to walking, to swimming, to waking up in the morning. You just have to do decide what level of risk you are willing to live with based on your own personal preference.

Riding a scooter, or a motorcycle, isn't for everyone. So far, it has been a great decision for me, and maybe it could be a good option for you as well.