Friday, November 6, 2020

GAS MILEAGE - Do the Math?

 -  2887  -  GAS  MILEAGE  -   Do the Math?   Now that we are paying $3.25 a gallon for gas some people are interested in fuel economy.  This review will give you 2 things to do on Sunday.  Don’t buy gas and visit your car dealer.


---------------------------  2887  - GAS  MILEAGE  -   Do the Math?

-  If you paid $25,000 for your car then today you are paying $5.16 to go ten miles.  This assumes you are getting 15 miles per gallon on your mileage.

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-  Of course, if your car is paid for then that is all “spent money” and it is only “operating costs” you are concerned about.  15 miles per gallon is costing you $2.20 to go ten miles.  So if you drive to Costco to save a dollar, you lost a dollar in the process.

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-  If you could increase your gas mileage to 34 mpg it would only cost you a $1.00 to go ten miles.

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-  How can you go from 15 mpg to 34 mpg?

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-  The biggest improvement in gas mileage will come from lighter cars.  Most people bock at this because of safety reasons.  But, if weight was really the tradeoff for safety, then we would all be wearing steel bicycle helmets instead of carbon fiber ones. 

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-   Every reduction of 10% in weight increases gas mileage by 5%.


-  An aerodynamic uniframe would increase mileage another 8%.

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-  Continue improvements in drag reduction by streamlining the car body can cut drag and get another 6%.  Keeping your tires properly inflated and replacing a dirty air filter only gets another 3%.

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-  If you could cut of 4 cylinders in your 8 cylinder engine at highway speeds you could gain another 5%.

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-  The generator alone uses 15% of your mileage when your car is waiting for a green light.  A better design would shut off your engine when the car is at idle.  It could be started faster than you could move your foot from the brake to the gas peddle.  This new design would save 10% in gas mileage.

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-  Get a six speed transmission instead of 4 speed.  Each gear widens the range of speeds where the engine can achieve maximum efficiency.  This increases mileage another 7%

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-  All these improvements could be available today if we asked for them.  Add them up and you get a 44% improvement in gas mileage, from 15 mpg to 34 mpg.  Your costs drop from $2.20 to go ten miles to $1.00 to go ten miles.


-  Cars are expensive:  The total cost of a $25,000 car for 10 years at 15 mpg costs $5.16 for every ten miles.  At 34 mpg the cost drops to $3.96 for every ten miles. 

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-   If you bought a $60,000 car your cost is $12.67 per ten miles.  Think of that when you drive to work and back it cost you $25.  Wow!  Of course, gas alone at 34 mpg would only cost you $2.00

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-  The price of anything is what somebody will pay for it.  

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-  The gas companies are gouging you.  If everyone stopped buying gas on Sundays, one day a week it would completely screw up the gas pipelines.  They would have excess inventory on Mondays causing price reduction pressure.  The gas trucks would be idle then overworked.  Believe me you would have the oil industry’s attention.

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-  Then if you went to the car dealers and pretended you wanted to buy a car.  Then ask for all the improvements in the above list, one by one.  Believe me the news would get back to the car dealers soon after you walked out of the show room.  You would have the car manufacturers attention.

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-  In a good democracy it is better to vote with your buck than to vote in the booth.  It is ten times more effective.  A lesson to be learned in today’s Presidential Election.

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-  Jim was a staunch Republican all his life.  At 90 years of age his health began to fail and he asked his son, Doug,  to take him downtown to the courthouse.  Why are we going downtown?  I’m changing my registration to be a Democrat.  What do you mean, you have been a Republican all your life.  Right, if someone has to die it might as well be one of them.

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--------------------- ---  Friday, November 6, 2020  ---------------------------






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