Well, as promised for most of our adult lives, we are finally starting to feel the pain of “petrol” prices the way Europeans and Canadians have for a long time.
With the national average at $4 and rising, it seems likely we are witnessing a tipping point in American use, consumption, and perception of automobiles. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but I feel the need to air it out a bit…
Here are some general informational tidbits to frame the conversation. These are taken from the CNET.com Car Tech Podcasts, and other sources:
- The Toyota Camry and Corolla each outsold the iconic F150 last month. Why is this significant? It’s the first time a passenger car has outsold the F150 since October of 1991.
- Ford has now introduced employee pricing combined with cash incentives to move F150′s. Desperate measures by Ford, shorty after it appeared they were starting to turn the corner financially.
- GM is shutting down 4 factories that build Full Size Pickups and Large SUV’s, and is shopping the Hummer brand to potential buyers (not sure who that would be).
- GM’s Truck to Car mix, currently 50/50, is expected to be 60/40 within 3 years.
What’s the point? Apparently $4 is the point. This is the magic number where the wheels seem to have come off for trucks (pun intended).
So why am I droning on about gas prices and the state of the automotive economy, when I’m supposed to be talking about mud, beer, and bikinis? Because this is a good oppootunity to revisit the discussion of the ideal vehicle solution for our beloved off road hobby…
A year ago (at $3/gallon) I went through the deliberation of the “one vehicle solution” for both daily driving and off-road use. The trade off is obvious; moderately bad gas mileage (17mpg), reasonable wheelin’ performance, family friendly, home-depot friendly, road trip worthy, one insurance payment. My thought at the time was to have one all-purpose vehicle vs. 2 more specialized (Passat and Bronco). Toys. The decision pains me to this day…but I love my Frontier.
So I made a choice I can live with, but at what point do I have to reconsider? $5…$6…
With that in mind I’ve considered the 2 vehicle solution again with a Trail Rig and a Grocery Getter. And here’s where the discussion part comes in. What’s the best combo? I am being budget minded with my choices (still have to pay for $5 gas and insurance) and I have eliminated the “trailer queen” option for budget and storage/parking reasons…
My choices:
Trail Rig – Wrangler Unlimited (?J), ’90′s Bronco, 80′s Four Runner, or current Frontier with serious mods…
Grocery Getter – VW Jetta, Ford Focus, Toyota Yaris…
So there’s the food for thought. Thanks for tuning in for bad economic news and droll commentary. Speaking of bad economy, has anyone else noticed the price of beer lately? Ouch.
Finally, I highly recommend the CNET Car Tech Podcast! Good Stuff.
I’m kindof enjoying the $2.79 E85 I’m running in the XJ, cause yeah, $4 blows. Being a big believer in the power of economics and markets, I hope this surge will properly motivate the nerds to truly develop viable alternative energy sources — necessity being the mother of invention.
I watched a pretty cool nerdy dude (Ray Kurweil) on HLN the other night predicting that we would all be running on nearly 100% solar in the next 20 years. he would have been laughable except for his predictions in the 70′s concerning cellphone and internet propogation — kind of a techy clairvoyant…
How are you running E85? Modifications?
I thought you were on the no E85 bandwagon because the shift in corn production is screwing up the balance of the economy in other ways…
The necessity driven development has already begun. Lot’s of hybrids and low displacement turbo stuff on the horizon.
I think we will soon see a fairly strong aftermarket for electric and hybrid conversion kits.
If you want to get into Ray Kurzweil, check out his work on the “singularity”…I think his official title is “futurist”.
No modifications (other than a stroked motor), just running E85, and with no CEL’s and only a 6-8% drop in milage — since it is 30% cheaper, I am winning.
That Kurzweil dude was really interesting — singularity is what he was pitching on the Beck show… have you read it?
I haven’t read it yet. It’s on my list of stuff I need to get to. I may buy it on audio and listen to it on my next road trip. If you’re catching up on geek stuff, you should also look up “On Intelligence” by Jeff Hawkins.
I guess I need to do some more E85 research. I didn’t know you could run it in “any old engine”.
The “experts” will tell you that you can’t, but some of us are proving them wrong. The government will tell you it will eat your fuel system — bullshit, all cars post 88 were designed for varying levels of ethanol in the fuel.
The guys who sell convesions kits will tell you that it will pull a “lean” code, since the injectors can’t move enough of the less-potent E85, and they are not entirely full of shit. I have a friend who was fine in his ’03 rubi (4.0, stock) in Denver, but pulled a lean CEL at altitude and had some running problems. Others with non-jeep engines (i.e. imports) have reported instantaneous CEL on E85 use and total lugging, loping issues. I have none of these, including at altitude over memorial day, but it is likely in part due to my larger fuel injectors in the stroker… regardless, almost everyone has reported that a 50/50 mix of E85 and dino is causing no problems – and even that mix can be a substantial savings (Arvada has the cheapest E85 in the state). My milage dropped from 15-16 to around 14 mpg, so it has definately been worth it for me.
Check out the ongoing thread on Colorado4x4.org:
http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=119593