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There was engineer I saw on TV discussing corrosion on cars and there was excellent quote from him that basically went "We can make a car last for 100's years but that doesn't help if you can't afford the car".
The concern I would have with lower weight vehicle is you need weight when pulling trailers for example. The less weight the vehicle is the more the trailer will push you around, doesn't matter how good the brakes or the suspension is.
That was about the Ford truck having aluminum. Would help MPG also. And honestly how often do people tow a lot of weight.My posts mention that most people really dont need a truck,Its like hunting rabbits with a machine gun. If its a work truck than its a commercial vehicle and could be written off.
I like motorcycles. Why isn't everyone forced to drive a motorcycle. How many times do you see people driving big luxury cars and they are the only one in the vehicle. Waste Waste Waste. Moderator cut: Instigating
Driving in the snow kills the motor cycle idea. Many luxury cars get about twice the MPG of trucks.
I once read a book which showed an engine block made of resin and fused with some sort of silicon.It used ceramic pistons and showed no engine wear.
My father was involved with testing Cadillac Northstar engines.They used synthetic oil and ran for 200.000 miles than tore the engine down and the engines showed almost no wear.(mobil one)
IMHO - and just my .02 from just personal experiences. I don't have any independent backup to this.
You don't hear of many catastrophic engine failures any more. Really, the parts around the motor fail more than the actual engine does. Or the rest of the car falls apart and its scrapped. I wish I had actual figures and could prove it. Only point I can make is that a lot of auto manufacturers warranty the engine up to 100k miles and some dealers even throw in longer and up to lifetime warranties on the engine itself.
If there is an engine failure it usually secondary to another part failing - as in the oil pump or a valve breaking off or bad fuel (especially in today's diesel motors).
An ICE motor that doesn't use oil would indeed be intriguing. I don't have to change the oil on the electric motor part of our electric car either though. I still have to change the oil on the iCE motor though.
idea for saving gas... get rid of these safety cans and go back to the old fashioned ones with the plastic cap and vent pipe. I've wasted and know people who waste more gas spilling it out onto the ground from these ridiculous cans with the convoluted safety mechanisms that ultimately break forcing you to replace the gas can or just throw it away out of frustration, which also wastes plastic... although I agree we should have safety regulations in place, I swear they sometimes create regulations to solve nonexistent problems.
Old gas cans would often be used for 10 years or more until the cap broke off and someone lost the cap.
Remember these? There was nothing wrong with them. I'm all in favor of progress, but the new cans are stupidity in disguise.
I am keeping my old school plastic gas cans until they die because of the new EPA spouts. Those new ones are a solution looking for a problem.
Although - on youtube there is a video on how to modify them to work like the old style ones with the vent hole in the handle. They even tell you where to buy the caps for the vent hole. I actually need to drill a small hole in the handle and put the caps on mine. I have the vent pipe inside the spout and it just takes FOREVER to empty the 5-gal out. If I am in a hurry I use a large funnel and no spout.
Every where i look,people seem to drive pick up trucks. Ive used them over the years,hard on gas and terrible in the snow. Wouldn't we save a lot of oil and clean up the air a bunch,if trucks were all considered commercial vehicles? To discourage their use. And either have diesel engines or run on Natural gas,set up,right from the manufacturer.
Using synthetic oil and limiting the amount of oil changes to twice a year.(i feel this is very easy and doable) The addition of a bypass filter would help this.
Offer tax incentives to people. So they would relocate closer to where they work. Sure is easier on a person if their commute is only a few miles.
If you really want to save on oil, don't use any of these products (144 of 6000 products).
A partial list of products made from Petroleum (144 of 6000 items)
[SIZE=3]One 42-gallon barrel of oil creates 19.4 gallons of gasoline. The rest (over half) is used to make things like:[/SIZE]
Americans consume petroleum products at a rate of three-and-a-half gallons of oil and more than
250 cubic feet of natural gas per day each! But, as shown here petroleum is not just used for fuel.
Thank you for posting that list. I've seen it before, and it's eye-opening, isn't it? Lots of room for those of interested in conservation to make different choices. It's not just about the cars.
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