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My huge truck (quad cab, long bed 4x4 Diesel) gets me around 20mpg (mountain driving)
My little Forester XT gets me around 22mpg (mountain driving) and has to have premium gas.
I lived in Germany all my life and there is competitions going on between the car companies there and Asia about who produces the lightest and most fuel efficient cars.
The streets are packed with little cars who use hardly any gas anymore. People are proudly announcing how fast and far they can go with one tank of gas. Advertisements about fuel economy, save our environment, etc.
Then I moved to the US (VA to be specific) in 2006 and was surprised to see that nothing of that trend has reached the US. Huge trucks are all over the streets, blowing out massive amount of smoke, nobody talks about environment or wasted gas, people let their cars/trucks idle forever (illegal in Europe), everybody apparently hauls tons of stuff every weekend (?) which is questionable, especially when I see all these tiny women drive big trucks.
So I am wondering, if Europe and Asia are making a big deal out of nothing (carbon footprint) or if the US just doesn't give a damn?
I lived in Germany all my life and there is competitions going on between the car companies there and Asia about who produces the lightest and most fuel efficient cars.
The streets are packed with little cars who use hardly any gas anymore. People are proudly announcing how fast and far they can go with one tank of gas. Advertisements about fuel economy, save our environment, etc.
Then I moved to the US (VA to be specific) in 2006 and was surprised to see that nothing of that trend has reached the US. Huge trucks are all over the streets, blowing out massive amount of smoke, nobody talks about environment or wasted gas, people let their cars/trucks idle forever (illegal in Europe), everybody apparently hauls tons of stuff every weekend (?) which is questionable, especially when I see all these tiny women drive big trucks.
So I am wondering, if Europe and Asia are making a big deal out of nothing (carbon footprint) or if the US just doesn't give a damn?
Is a diesel truck, who uses 20 mpg better for the environment as a regular gas car, who uses 35 mpg?
If environmentalists had any idea how much waste goes into the development of new automotive technology they'd probably feel a little green (pun intended). Seriously, if we could go back in time to, say, the late-1980s when manufacturers started to put out cars that could consistantly get 25+ mpg and just continued to drive models based on those platforms rather than expending all the environmental and financial resources to try do develop more ecologically-friendly vehicles (most of which are scrapped before production but only after building dozens of prototypes) the environment would be in a heck of a lot better shape.
To answer your question, it depends what kind of fuel each car is using. StealthRabbit's diesels all run on used cooking oil, virtually no environmental impact whatsoever.
If environmentalists had any idea how much waste goes into the development of new automotive technology they'd probably feel a little green (pun intended). Seriously, if we could go back in time to, say, the late-1980s when manufacturers started to put out cars that could consistantly get 25+ mpg and just continued to drive models based on those platforms rather than expending all the environmental and financial resources to try do develop more ecologically-friendly vehicles (most of which are scrapped before production but only after building dozens of prototypes) the environment would be in a heck of a lot better shape.
To answer your question, it depends what kind of fuel each car is using. StealthRabbit's diesels all run on used cooking oil, virtually no environmental impact whatsoever.
yeah, but that is not the norm, that is an exception.
I lived in Germany all my life and there is competitions going on between the car companies there and Asia about who produces the lightest and most fuel efficient cars.
The streets are packed with little cars who use hardly any gas anymore. People are proudly announcing how fast and far they can go with one tank of gas. Advertisements about fuel economy, save our environment, etc.
Then I moved to the US (VA to be specific) in 2006 and was surprised to see that nothing of that trend has reached the US. Huge trucks are all over the streets, blowing out massive amount of smoke, nobody talks about environment or wasted gas, people let their cars/trucks idle forever (illegal in Europe), everybody apparently hauls tons of stuff every weekend (?) which is questionable, especially when I see all these tiny women drive big trucks.
So I am wondering, if Europe and Asia are making a big deal out of nothing (carbon footprint) or if the US just doesn't give a damn?
Is a diesel truck, who uses 20 mpg better for the environment as a regular gas car, who uses 35 mpg?
There is also competition in Germany for the most powerful, the most luxurious, and the fastest cars. Porsche vs. BMW vs. Mercedes Benz.
There are NOT huge trucks blowing out massive amount of smoke everywhere. Please tell me where you see this. Texas has more pickup trucks than any other state. The modern V8 powered pickup truck is just as clean burning as a BMW.
As for tiny women driving big trucks - tiny women drive big SUVs too. They like the view of the road and the feeling of safety. I see nothing wrong with that.
Gasoline is just $3.25 in the US. That has much to do with the popularity of larger vehicles. Gasoline in Germany is about $2.12 per liter right now or about $8 per gallon.
There is also competition in Germany for the most powerful, the most luxurious, and the fastest cars. Porsche vs. BMW vs. Mercedes Benz.
There are NOT huge trucks blowing out massive amount of smoke everywhere. Please tell me where you see this. Texas has more pickup trucks than any other state. The modern V8 powered pickup truck is just as clean burning as a BMW.
As for tiny women driving big trucks - tiny women drive big SUVs too. They like the view of the road and the feeling of safety. I see nothing wrong with that.
Gasoline is just $3.25 in the US. That has much to do with the popularity of larger vehicles. Gasoline in Germany is about $2.12 per liter right now or about $8 per gallon.
If you live in Texas on a farm/ranch, hauling stuff around - okay, makes totally sense. I lived in VA from 2006-2010 and seemed to be the only one with a small car. Lots of young kids with MASSIVE pick up trucks like RAMS and F150. When I was on the road, I felt stuck and couldn't see a thing because I was surrounded with lifted trucks.
Tiny women in SUV's might have alot of kids and strollers, kinda makes some sense to me. But how is a tiny women able to haul big items in her big RAM1500 if she can't even lift more than 10 lbs of stuff? It looks - to me - as a waste of truck (trying not to be judgmental).
ANd just because gas is cheaper here means that it makes it ok to blow it out for no reason and kill the environment - is that your thinking?
I have an F250 diesel to pull my 5th wheel camper, but I mostly use it as my daily driver. I drive 30K a year for my job as a home inspector. I don't need a pickup for that, but I do need a 4x4 and something rugged for getting over the occasional rough, country roads. I've considered buying a 3rd vehicle just for my job. It would save me about $3500 per year in fuel expenses, but that's not nearly enough to justify another car; insurance, license plate, depreciation and "interest" (whether I financed it or not) would cost much more than what I'd save in fuel.
Plus, my wife prefers the truck for travel (as long as I'm driving). She feels more secure in it, likes sitting up high where we can see over the little cars, and it has room in the back if we buy something big. (We bought a 1500 pound concrete mail box while traveling a couple years ago. They set the thing in the back of the truck with a fork lift and we were off. Try that with a car!) We also bought a 36" wide carriage printer a few years ago 250 miles from home. Overall it was about 5' long and 4' high. Set in in the back and away we went.
Quote:
Originally Posted by james777
If guys wanted the extra room of a truck, they wouldn't buy one with a console three times the size of any other vehicle, or with a console at all. They would buy one with a comfortable bench seat and plenty of room to spread out. When I purchased my truck, I had to search far and wide for one with a bench seat. I shudder to think what the search for a truck with a comfortable bench seat would be like now.
Those trucks with wide consoles aren't real trucks; they are just yuppie status symbols and high-priced, glorified grocery getters.
I guess my "console" isn't a true console since it folds down from being the backrest for a middle passenger, but it is huge compared to anything else I can find. I need it that size for my 17" laptop that I use constantly in my job. I have just enough room for it and the mouse beside it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrWillys
I can't wait to get one of these newer trucks. Ford is producing as much HP as GM with almost one full liter less. I'll bet that 6spd trans shifted nice and smooth.
My son traded off his one-year-old Cadillac Escalade on a new F150 a couple months ago because he was having trouble towing his 4-seat golf cart behind it. (I don't know why.) He says the F150 rides better and has more zip. He loves it. So does his wife.
Is a diesel truck, who uses 20 mpg better for the environment as a regular gas car, who uses 35 mpg?
Where I live, high ground clearance AWD/4WD is a must and there aren't any options that are returning a real world 35mpg. I'm at 10,000ft so it's also got to have a turbo.
The new 1/2 ton diesel trucks look good and may work for my purposes, but they are still not going to get 35mpg.
Then again buying a new car/truck for environmental reason is a bit of a farce. Keeping a car/truck for the entirety of it's useful life is pretty green vs buying the latest electric this or that every 2 years.
"Environmentally friendly" consumerism is more about marketing and selling crap than actually helping the environment in a lot of cases.
The environmental argument is bull****. HAVING CHILDREN is the worst thing for an environment. Do you really think a 10 MPG difference in a vehicle makes a difference when our world population continues to grow at an exponential rate? A single guy in a truck is hurting the environment far less than a baby-momma with four of her offspring in a Camry.
The environmental argument is bull****. HAVING CHILDREN is the worst thing for an environment.
So true.
...and what's with women and all these shoes. That can't be good for the environment
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