Oil Prices Pass Inflation-Adjusted Record Options

[impala454]

Up to $105.97 now
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5596920.html

gasoline doesn't seem to be going up as bad as this would suggest, but diesel is goin outta sight

[Dogmeat]

Up to $105.97 now
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5596920.html

gasoline doesn't seem to be going up as bad as this would suggest, but diesel is goin outta sight

Makes me glad I bought a big block

[Testm0nkey]

I see.

I still don't see where hybrids are realistically any more effecient than a highly effecient small-displacement gasoline engine as far as miles driver per gallon of gas utilized.

The recovery of kinetic energy from braking is nice, but how much gas does this concept really save you?

um getting 60 miles to the gallon in city

[Dogmeat]

um getting 60 miles to the gallon in city

So have you actually verified this or are you just stating some claim from the manufacturer?

Also, what is the 'highway penalty'?

[Oasis]

So have you actually verified this or are you just stating some claim from the manufacturer?

Also, what is the 'highway penalty'?

Wouldn't highway be better? Or is it different with hybrids?

[Mommy]

I'm trading in my truck. Fuck this.

[Dogmeat]

Wouldn't highway be better? Or is it different with hybrids?

It's different with hybrids. When they travel on the highway they utilize the gasoline motor, as highway travel will put it in it's most effecient operating range.

City traffic, they use the electrical motors and recouperate lost energy via energy recovered from braking and other various means.

It's essentially using an electric motor to make up for the inneffeciency of a gasoline motor during stop-and-go traffic by scavenging energy to charge the batteries for these motors wherever they can find it.

My question is, what is the real world miledge you get driving in the city with one of these things. Cathryn claimed 60 mpg, which I find a little tough for me to believe ... That's why I am curious, is this miledge she's calculated herself based on what she's filled up with over the course of a month or so, or is this a manufacturer claim? On the highway these cars typically get in the neighborhood of 30 mpg ...

I didn't think you could double that figure in city driving, I would have expected it to be slightly higher but not double ...

[Testm0nkey]

So have you actually verified this or are you just stating some claim from the manufacturer?

Also, what is the 'highway penalty'?

totally verified. want a picture? i know this because on the prius you have a constant reading of the measurement of your efficiency. it helps you become a better driver thus increasing your mile/gallon. you can toggle between the GPS system and the fuel/hybrid reading on the screen in the console

if by highway penalty you mean a drop from 60 to 45 at the lowest then yeah ... big penalty. what do you get on the highway?

whos telling you they only get 30 highway? they are totally abusing their car or just dont know how to drive. and toyota claims less than 60 in city actually


people who say hybrids are rip offs are totally stupid

[Dogmeat]

totally verified. want a picture? i know this because on the prius you have a constant reading of the measurement of your efficiency. it helps you become a better driver thus increasing your mile/gallon

if by highway penalty you mean a drop from 60 to 45 at the lowest then yeah ... big penalty. what do you get on the highway?

whos telling you they only get 30 highway? they are totally abusing their car or just dont know how to drive. and toyota claims less than 60 in city.
people who say hybrids are rip offs are totally stupid

I have a friend who owns a Prius. I've taken a few trips with her in it and we just read off the odometer vs. how many gallons we put in. We figured ~30 mpg highway @ 75 mph.

This was a 2003 Prius.

I can't recall what the computer figured her miledge was ... I think she's got over 100,000 on the car at this point, I'll have to ask her about it next time I see her.

What amazes me is this car has ben relativley trouble-free.

[Testm0nkey]

virtually all the prius's have been trouble free. i know a guy with a first gen and over 200k miles on the 2nd battery and he hasnt replaced or fixed anything else.

so again why do you all like to shit on hybirds? you just love burning through cash?

[Dogmeat]

virtually all the prius's have been trouble free. i know a guy with a first gen and over 200k miles on the 2nd battery and he hasnt replaced or fixed anything else

Which hybrid do you have?

[Oasis]

I've yet to see a hybrid that doesn't look completely dorky

[FORSAKENR320]

I've yet to see a hybrid that doesn't look completely dorky

DUUUURRRRRRRRR

[Dogmeat]

Actually, the concept of a gas/electric hybrid really picks my curiosity as far as use for the entire US consumer fleet of vehicles go.

I don't see any reason why this concept couldn't be adapted to virtually every kind of vehicle we have, save perhaps for high-performance sports cars.

Theoretically, this would be even better for commercial trucks as well as consumer light duty pickup trucks I think..

An electric motor produces peak torque at 0 rpm. Have Chuck explain this to you, I don't know off the top of my head how to. But anyways, a naturally asipirated internal combustion motor typically has a peak operating effeciency at ~2,200 rpm.

If you could come up with a way to utilize the electric motors, producing great torque at low RPMS's, and effectivley overlap the with the power curve of the gas motor so to speak, you could reduce engine load on the gasoline motor quite a bit ..

Electric motors to drive heavy loads is and has been in use for quite awhile now. Steam locomotives use electric motors to power their drive wheels, as do incredibly large mining trucks which can weigh up to 320 tons fully loaded ....

Given these mining trucks have diesel motors the sizes of small homes to produce electricity for the electric motors, but you can see where a compromise might be found for consumer-level pickup trucks

[Hartmann]

What ticks me off is that these fuel price jumps have nothing to do with demand, just investors hedging the market.