1. Siciliano’s Market in Grand Rapids, Michigan comes pretty close to the Platonic ideal of a beer-and-brew-supply store. The beer selection was as awesome as their taste in homebrew supplies. The starter kit, for example, includes stuff that I wouldn’t do without such as a siphon primer. Better, they don’t even sell those awful malt syrup and hops all-in-one kits. They even make their own wort chillers, which gratifyingly look almost exactly like the one that I made. Any beer-oriented readers from the southwest Michigan area would do well to introduce yourselves.
2. One can (just barely) drive from Grand Rapids to Pittsburgh in a 1999 2009 Honda Fit on one tank of gas. We averaged about 72 MPH with air conditioning running most of the way. That averages to 41-ish MPG over 410 miles in a regular-type internal combustion car, although it is fair to point out that winds reliably blow east-southeast over that part of America. Given how skeptical I am of the long-term value of hybrids when you consider manufacturing complexity and the eco-awfulness of their batteries, that was pretty gratifying.
It is also important to note that under the more useful measure of efficiency, gallons per mile, the difference between what I got and a Prius at 50 MPG (.02 GPM) adds up to less than the difference between my car (.024-.033 GPM) and a V6 Camry (.04 GPM). In terms of efficiency the most important move you can make is out of the teens or low twenties. Even graduating from an 18 MPG SUV (.055) to a 23 mpg mini-SUV (.043) saves as much gas as if I switched from my ‘dirty’ car to a Prius and drove it at a constant 45 MPH with the air conditioning off. Once you can reliably drive in the 30’s the rest adds up to relatively small potatoes.
How was your Fourth?
Napoleon
Driving slower then that and drafting occasionally I managed to get north of 50 mpg with my Toyota Echo going to Chicago last spring (my Yaris, which I have not done any long trips with seems to get worse mpg then the Echo).
demimondian
Um, Tim? What’s so eco-awful about a lithim-ion battery pack?
malraux
Hybrid mileage is not particularly competitive at interstate driving conditions. The big difference is stop and go traffic.
Tim F.
@demimondian:
First, it takes tremendous amounts of carbon to make a pack big enough for a passenger car. Second, lithium is already a relatively rare element that will become precious, and therefore something for which we will tear open heaven and Earth once gas prices spike and hybrids become more common. Third, disposal can go very badly for the local environment if not done carefully.
BDeevDad
Is that the justification behind the cash for clunkers program?
Steeplejack
@malraux:
Yeah, what most of us do the other 350 days of the year when we’re not on vacation.
BenA
I used to get a reliable 40 MPG highway in my ’95 Ford Escort. Occasionally I wish I still had it.. a smaller car that I actuall fit in. I have a fairly large sedan now… mainly because I fit in it.
I think I’ll move back to a smaller car with a manual transmission next. (only a year and half left on my lease) That is if I can find one where my knees don’t end up jamed into the dash or something equally painful… and where I wont have to cut a hole in the ceiling for my head.
Robin
A 1999 Honda Fit? Did you mean 2009? Because I just bought one of those and that’s pretty much the gas mileage I get.
srv
It’s Tuesday freaking morning, and you’re talking about a brewer road trip, runing an imaginary Honda without a/c in July and saving the planet.
Highly inappropriate when MJ is laying in state.
Paddy
Grand Rapids is a damn fun city. Spent 6 great years there and if it wasn’t such a pain in the ass I’d move back today.
joe from Lowell
How was my Fourth?
Great, until some unAmerican bastard stole Trusty the Wonder Civic from right in front of my house that night.
I hadn’t made a car payment on that baby for five years, and it only had 115k on it.
mr. whipple
???
joe from Lowell
Trusty the Wonder Civic was a 1999.
I got it back, minus the hood, headlights, nose, and front fenders. Now I’m trying to get the insurance company to pay for repairs, instead of handing me a $2000 check and telling me to get a new car with it.
Crashman06
What’s the best book to get for someone who wants to start homebrewing?
Also, how much space does a homebrewing setup consume? I’m in a relatively small apartment, and I’m afraid I wouldn’t have enough space to fit all the stuff comfortably.
SGEW
@joe from Lowell:
This is a god damned national tragedy. I speak from experience, as the former owner of the HMS Magic Civic Irrepressible (may it rest in
piecespeace).El Cruzado
@BenA:
I’m 6’6″ and will do mightily fine in a VW Golf, not so great in a Honda Fit (but still doable). Lousy in an Impreza or Outback for some reason (sometimes it appears the Japanese haven’t figured out how to design for bigger people than themselves).
Anyway, it’s hybrid for the city, diesel for the highway, normal gasoline engine for everyone else. They ought to replace the USPS fleet with hybrids and that should go a long way towards saving the planet.
Eric U.
this is what a hybrid is about: 48mpg going to the grocery store. I could probably do better, but I’m too lazy. Sure, I only get 48mpg driving 80 on the highway. But I’m thinking we’re running out of dinosaurs faster than we will be running out of lithium. They recycle the batteries, and I suspect they will get better at the recovery as time goes on.
You can easily fit a homebrewing setup in an apartment. It’s the huge amount of beer that you’re going to produce that can be a problem. I used to keep about 10 cases ahead of my consumption.
Bill E Pilgrim
That means you can make the beer but you have to stay just friends with it, right?
joe from Lowell
On the upside, there’s a better-than-even chance my mechanic can get a really good deal on a set of gently-used front-end body parts for a 1999 Civic.
Persia
@joe from Lowell: Good luck, Joe. What a pain.
Half the reason I got a Prius was that it was so damn quiet. Don’t regret the choice a bit.
cliff
@Crashman06:
visit the homebrew forums, lots of helpful people:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f10/
@john: check out http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/ the brew builder app is super cool, and a improved version is in the works::
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/brewmasters-warehouse-open-91473/index14.html
BenA
@El Cruzado:
Yeah I just don’t fit in Japanese cars that well.. I test drove Civics and Accords and it just didn’t work out that well. Even the Chevy Malibu and the Saturn Aura weren’t all that comfortable.
I’ve come to the realization that I only drive a few miles to work and should just get something small and buy it out right…
Polish the Guillotines
I’ve got a 120 mile round-trip daily commute which is pretty much all freeway.
My 1998 Neon got (and still gets) around 30mpg on that route, even on engine #2 with 150k miles on it.
I just got a 2009 Scion Xd and that thing’s getting about 40+ mpg on the commute. That’s as good or better than I could expect from a much more expensive hybrid. I’m happy.
Now, the wife’s 2005 Durango with the 5.7L Hemi… that’s a different story.
malraux
@Crashman06: Joy of Homebrewing and/or Homebrewing for Dummies.
For a minimal setup you need: a moderately large pot: 2-3 gallons, two 7 gallon buckets, and a bunch of bottles. I got started in my college dorm room, so yeah, you can do it in minimal space. The next step up would be to add a secondary fermenter (5 gallon carboy/glass bottle). For a visual example of absolutely everything needed, see here
That said, personally, 22 oz bottles are far better than 12 oz ones, so I highly recommend ignoring the “standard” size. In addition, you’ll want to find a real bottle capper over the generic red thing. I found an antique cast iron one for about 25 bucks, but the modern ones work too.*
*: ok actually you’ll want to move to kegging as soon as possible. But with an apartment, that’s not really possible.
cliff
you can start here:
http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html
also visit the homebrew forum for help:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f10/
@john checkout brewmasters warehouse they got a cool app for building brews, new and improved version is in the works too, and its already pretty darn cool.
chopper
@Crashman06:
the complete joy of homebrewing by charlie papazian. also, the homebrewer’s companion by same.
chopper
jeez, i thought i was a nerd.
Johnny B. Guud
Speaking of fuel efficiency—it only took Al Gore a decade or so to violate Godwin’s Law.
Sheesh…
BDeevDad
@Polish the Guillotines: I covet your 2009 Scion as I could only afford a 2004 Scion xA. Love the gas mileage though and it has better pickup than the 1993 Saturn that I replaced.
demimondian
Given that my hybrid SUV (with kid with cello, a requirement) gets 27 MPG *in the daily commute*, Tim, I don’t think your argument about carbon cost stands up — your Fit gets exactly the same mileage as my Escape in that situation. If I had the choice of driving a Prius, I’d be getting closer to 50 MPG *every day* — and that’s half the gasoline consumption over the course of a year.
As to the rarity of lithium — yes, as there’s no route to lithium synthesis during supernova explosion, the lithium on earth is “only” the primordial stuff. It’s only the 33rd most prevalent material in the crust — and “only” concentrated in granites and granitic clays. There’s a *lot* of lithium available; it just isn’t worth extracting.
cliff
just got another carboy yesterday, planning on filling it up tonight =) homebrewing is fun =)
demimondian
@El Cruzado: In fact, the current generation of Japanese adults are no shorter than American adults of the same generation.. having a protein rich diet will do that to you.
SammyV
@Crashman06:
John Palmer’s How to Brew is available free online, and it’s great. You can find Charlie Papazian’s Joy of Homebrewing awfully cheap sometimes, and it’s good too, although a little out of date. There’s tons of info online as well. I highly recommend the Brewing Network’s podcast The Jamil Show.
As for space, — yeah, the equipment doesn’t take up much space (I keep all mine in the box my beginner kit came in, except my kettle), but the full and empty bottles do stack up.
El Cruzado
@BenA:
Well, if small is good give a shot to the Smart. Lousy engine choice for the US market, but it’s surprisingly spacious (figures, there’s no rear seat row to worry about).
The mini also works well for my frame, if you’re into that/can afford it.
Or just wait to the fall and get a Golf TDI. I know I am…
Dennis-SGMM
1992 Ford Escort station wagon, 1.9L, 5 speed manual. 31 MPG in mixed highway and town driving. Can carry full sheets of plywood thanks to the built-in “Okie racks” or enough stuff for a two week camp out. Bought new, paid it off early, I haven’t had a car payment on the thing since 1994. Paint’s shot, lots of little dings so it wouldn’t get stolen if I parked it in South El Monte with the engine running.
128,000 miles so far on the original engine.
On the other hand, the visors are in tatters. Somehow that’s not enough to make me want to race out and get a new car.
gbear
this is what a
hybridscooter is about:4865-100 mpg going to the grocery store (depending on the scooter).Crashman06
Thanks for all the advice! Should I buy a starter kit, or get all the pieces individually (if that’s even possible)?
BenA
@El Cruzado:
I need the two rows of seats… have a couple of kids… TDI Golf seems intriguing.. I wont buy buying again until 2011… so who the hell knows what I’ll buy. :-)
jnfr
We only get about 40 mpg in town in our Prius – lots of short trips and months of cold weather bring the mileage down, but then that would be true for any car we drove. When I do longer trips in town I hit 45 easily enough. On the highway, though, we consistently hit 50 mpg, unless I really push the speed up.
It’s a really comfortable car, and hauls a ton of stuff (love that hatchback).
joe from Lowell
You should go ahead and buy the whole Civic.
inkadu
@BenA: I’m about 6 feet, and I had a Honda Civic hatchback that still had a few inches to spare. I needed a hoist to get out of it, though.
@joe from Lowell: You can probably get a good for $2k now. The market is in the toilet. But I’d fix up Trusty if I were you, too. There’s nothing more stressful than buying another car. And if a car you bought and maintained breaks down, you never feel like you got screwed over by someone else.
Incidentally, someone stole my Civic. I got it back later and beat to crap. I didn’t care. I drove it for two more years before shame got the better of me.
@Johnny B. Guud: Inkadu’s corollary to Godwins corollary: In any internet discussion of Godwin’s law, the law will be misapplied and it will annoy me.
Beerdrinkers: I am sitting down to a trashy dinner of chorizos inside of french bread, and now realize that what I really need to go with this lunch is a beer. I am also in Argentina, where the beer is a very distant third beverage after wine and Fernet with coke, so I will be considering homebrew; but I have no idea where I would go, in a beer-unfriendly country, for supplies or ingredients… hm…
Sarcastro
(sometimes it appears the Japanese haven’t figured out how to design for bigger people than themselves).
Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. I (at 6’2″) can wear a helmet in my 1st gen Miata with the hard top on (tight, but do-able), but I can’t fit in a sunroof equipped RX-8 with a bare head! The 8 has much, much more leg and side room but less headroom.
Another weird thing about the Miata is that it gets 26 MPG no matter what I do. Freeway? 26 mpg. Around town? 26 mpg. Track day? 26 mpg. Autocross? 26 mpg. Top up? 26 mpg. Top down? 26 mpg. Tuned up? 26 mpg. 40k on the plugs and wires and 1k miles overdue for an oil change? 26 mpg. 400 tread-wear all-weather tires? 26 mpg. 80 tread-wear r-comp slicks? 26 mpg.
I think it would get 26 mpg if I pushed it.
Napoleon
@BenA:
Try the Yaris, or that boxy thing Scion (sp) puts out (which is Toyota). The Yaris and Scion (similar to Ford Festiva/Aspire and some other cars in the past) are what I think of as sit up cars where as all the cars you mention are basically sitting on the floor type of cars (btw, I am 6 foot tall).
PS, my Echo was a sit up type car as well. Think mini SUV then sports car wanna be.
malraux
@Crashman06: You might as well get a kit. They are pretty affordable and really don’t cost more than buying individually. Actually, they are often really cheap relative to buying in pieces. Its just a matter of what kit to buy. Obviously, if you already have a large pot, you don’t need another. You can reuse regular beer bottles as long as they are not twist off (though this does mostly limit you to 12 oz bottles), but I strongly recommend getting larger bottles. Cleaning, filling and capping bottles is the least fun part of the process, so anything you can do to less it is good. I’d go with whatever kit fills in whatever you don’t have.
cliff
austin homebrew supply has economical starter kits and I just got a 6.5 gallon glass carboy from them, packed quite well .. flat shipping is excellent from them and the otherplace I mentioned.
I can’t wait till fall when I can get fresh apple cider from a local grower, want to try EdWort’s Apfelwein
Zifnab
I’m not sure what you guys want. Battery technology is very new. I mean, ultimately, you sound like a bunch of guys arguing over why anyone would buy a computer when you’ve got a perfectly good high-end type-writer sitting right in front of you.
The hybrids and electrics are going to be inefficient for a while to go. But they’ve got greater overall potential. From a waste standpoint, lithium might be rare, but you only need so many pounds of lithium per car battery. Compare that to the thousands of gallons of gas you go through over the life of even an efficient Honda Fit, and lithium seems the preferred choice in the long run if we want to talk about waste by volume.
It’s also worth noting how cars would get 40-60 mpg back in the 70s, but SUVs still managed to slink back into the single digits by the end of the ’90s. We need the technology investment, or society will just waffle back and forth between gas guzzlers and economy cars with every wave in the national market. High MPG small cars are a quick fix. Electric is the future. :-p
Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)
@Dennis-SGMM: I am, and have been for some time, a Volvo 240 fan. My 5 speed wagon gets 31mpg on the highway.
My philosophy exactly. But it would make a run across the country with no problem. The wife would like a new(er) car, but I haven’t made a car payment in 25 years and don’t want to start now.
Kiran
I’ve been to Siciliano’s in Grand Rapids. Its a nice store. The location couldn’t be beat for buying beer, between downtown and GVSU’s campus.
If one is in Grand Rapids and looking to drink beer go to Founder’s. Get a dirty bastard.
Montysano (All Hail Marx & Lennon)
@BenA: One of our company cars is a Scion Xb. I’m 6’4″ and 270 lbs. I have plenty of room and 6″ clearance over my head. The only thing I don’t like is that the engine winds up to 5500 rpm to pull up a hill.
DecidedFenceSitter
Actually, type-writer versus room-eating Mainframe is fairly accurate and honest.
The pure electric cars don’t have the range (yet), nor the cargo capacity (yet) to do what I need them to do – so that eliminates the pure electric, which may or may not be the future – not sure if our infrastructure is capable of handling that sort of revamping that would be required (though my next house will have a garage or at least a separate carport so that if I need to charge a future car I’ll have that available.
White House Department of Law (fmrly Jim-Bob)
IMO, it’s all about passenger miles per unit of fuel, Tim.
Five in a 16 mpg SUV is better than three in a 25 mpg station wagon, or two in a 30 mpg hatchback.
Because, see, rarely are we presented with a real-world “all else being equal” situation… That said, every vehicle should have fuel efficiency and safety as its two main functions. (Again, IMO.) And I propose re-education camps for tuners, BMW-driving fatasses, and other assorted motorsports enthusiasts–paid for by a tax levied on all fuel with an octane rating above 87…
And, as the owner of a ’68 2t Vespa 150 Super and ’03 4t ET4, it chagrins me to admit that nearly all scoots made before 2008 emit FAR more particulate matter and NOx–somewhere in the range of 100-1 (for a 2 l ULEV gas engine) for the 2t, or so I’ve read. Thus, fuel efficient as they may be, scoots aren’t quite the greenest options on the vine.
Morbo
Hope you’re drinking some of our fine Michigan beers. I would imagine you could get Bell’s, Arcadia and Founders’ there in G.R., but have something from Short’s if you get a chance. You won’t regret it.
Tim F.
At first I thought that you disagreed with me, but then I got to the end and realized that you were also making my point. Thanks!
Montysano
Oh shit….. Alert the kerners! Wolverines to the keyboards! Michelle Obama wore black & white to the 4th of July celebration!@!
cliff
@DecidedFenceSitter:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/10/20/biodiesel-turbine-super-capacitor-series-hybrid-hummer-60/
SAE Energy, this guy is doing things right.
Marlon F. Swanger
You can also make a big dent by not driving so much.
We’ve moved to where we don’t have to commute far, try to stick to shopping and frequenting places in our neighborhood or in our end of the city, and ride our bikes when we can. So even though I still own my old Suburban, it ony gets driven about 7,000 miles per year. We use a lot less gas than do my brothers, who commute in small Hondos in Silicon Valley and in Houston.
catclub
Is somebody just fibbing about 40mpg on the scion xD, when the EPA
rating is more like 33 highway. Or are they also hypermiling as they
get that. I have a scion xA that is about as EPA advertises, 35 or so,
but nowhere near 40mpg.
Mr Furious
Current Furymobile: 1995 Subaru Impreza wagon. 5-speed, 1.8 liter. I believe Subaru unnecessarily retired that engine the next year in favor of 2.2 and 2.5 liter plants because Americans “need more power.”
$1750 in a Subie-demand market (Asheville) was a deal. I average 28 around town and twisty, up-and-down mountain driving. I get low 30s on the highway driving 70-plus. I’m a fairly aggressive driver, and only on the longest 6-8% grades do I long for more horses. Pickup in that car is great, it’s the top end where it comes up short.
The big problem is the fact that American have been duped into thinking horsepower is paramount. All the efficiency innovation of the last twenty years has gone towards power output instead of mileage.
My wife’s Honda Odyssey minivan gets 250 horsepower from a 3.5 liter V6. Corvettes and Porsches in the 80s barely had 200 hp.
The original GTI went from 0-60 in 9.7 seconds and was a revelation. I bet there’s not a new car anywhere that can’t beat that time now. Is that really necessary?
The technology is there NOW, it’s just mis-directed because of this false performance demand.
jibeaux
I’m not the only one who’s noticed Tim F. is recycling mileage posts he made, I dunno, a year ago or so, right? Not the details, but the moral. :) That’s ok though. I definitely agree with the conclusion. Isn’t that the motivator behind the new car tax credits, too, that getting the clunkers off the road with new cars that meet some basic mileage standards is going to do more good than even replacing a much smaller percentage of cars with hybrids?
My Fourth was nice, since we bought fireworks from the neighboring, less safety-conscious and more pyrotechnically inclined, state.
Chuck Butcher
Our ’09 Impala seems to be doing 30 mpg on twisty mountainous roads w/2 in it. This is a pretty big comfort oriented car. 3.5L six
The Harley is 1.8L and gets 46 mpg.
SGEW
Or you could take a bus or mass transit, you know.
Just saying.
Origuy
According to Wikipedia, most of the available lithium reserves are in Bolivia and Chile. At the moment, those are relatively stable, US-friendly countries. At least until lithium gets to be in as much demand as oil and the Andean People’s Liberation Front gets cranked up.
Phenobarbarella
Hey Tim,
You do realize that it’s sort of torture to hear about “the Platonic ideal of a beer-and-brew-supply store” when it’s in Michigan – if you live in Atlanta (as I do). However, a guy can always dream I suppose. Sounds like a great store.
Wanted to ask you two specific questions: are you an IPA guy? And do you like the stuff from Stone brewery in San Diego? If “yes” to both, then I’d advise you to check this out (or this, if you don’t do all-grain recipes). Hard to verify for sure, but it’s supposed to be a released copy of the actual recipe. I’ve made it a few times myself, and if it’s not the real thing, it’s damned close.
Let me know if you try it?
Madison
A couple of things about hybrids… stop and go city driving is where they really shine, and you are talking a whole different ball game when you look at plug-in hybrids.
mossypete
NIMH & Lithium batteries are not anywhere as bad environmentally as Lead Acid or Ni Cad – Most all the of the batteries will get recycled and to ensure it, all that needs to be done is to place a $200 core deposit on them as part of the purchase price refunded back when the car is junked or transferred to a dealer. If we were really interested it the environment we should mandate a car manufacturer take back the car at the end of it’s life. That would ensure proper recycling and if we do it right create US jobs instead of crushing then and shipping the metal overseas. It might even spur manufacturers to redesign cars to make them easier and less toxic to recycle locally.
The line about switching from a 18 MPG SUV to a 23 mpg SUV being better for the environment is pure Detroit bullshit. Better still to park the 18mpg SUV buy a hybrid/diesel/ or other small car that gets 40+mpg and only us the SUV when you need it – hauling a bunch of people or stuff – trips to the snow/mud/offroad or during the snow season depending on were you live.
mossypete
KCinDC
Is there any difference between the snarky liberal spoofers’ coverage of the tea parties and the coverage by actual conservatives?
cliff
@Phenobarbarella:
you lucky guy, you are right near http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com .. dunno if they opened a storefront yet, you could ask him in his vendor thread at the homebrew forums
jibeaux
@Origuy:
Bolivia? Evo Morales is not a big friend of the US, nationalizing industries and kicking out foreign investors. I believe he refers to it as a process of de-colonization. It’s their right to do so and I’m not shedding any tears for foreign corporations, but it is also true that some technological and environmental breakthroughs may be delayed without investment from outside.
Polish the Guillotines
@catclub:
That would be me. Not fibbing (at least not intentionally). I’m going by the average mpg indicator on the car (that’s what I display instead of the odometer).
I had to google hypermiling, but I guess that’s what I do most of the time. I tend to stay in the slow lane and keep it around 60MPH as long as I can, aiming to keep under 65MPH for as much of the commute as possible. I try not to bury the accelerator from a dead stop or when passing (which I rarely do).
I’ll walk it back a little, allowing for the built in MPG calculator probably being less-than-accurate, but I keep that meter at around 40MPG per tank. The highest I’ve peaked was around 43MPG.
Again, almost all of my driving in this car is freeway. I don’t do much around-town driving. When I do, it definitely knocks the meter down into the 30s.
Oh, and it’s a manual transmission, for what that’s worth.
Eric U.
I usually ride my bike to work instead of taking the Prius. It’s a 15 minute walk from the closest parking spot to work, so the total commute is up to 30 minutes each way. I could actually make the trip in 15 minutes on my bike if I pushed it. I usually take about 30 minutes, but I enjoy it a lot more than sitting in traffic.
chopper
@mossypete:
shrug. hard to say, 2 cars embody a bit more energy than one in terms of manufacturing.
catclub
Polish the Guillotines:
Thanks! ” … as measured by the mpg meter on the dash.”
That is a much more likely explanation than 40+ mpg as measured
by tanks of gas – which is how I measure mine because the car I have
has no mpg meter – which I believe is a great motivator to keep a light
accelerator foot.
My understanding of hypermiling is slowly accelerating to about
45-50mph, then killing the engine and coasting, then restarting.
Yours is the non-fanatic version.
Cheers.
Zoogz
Kiran @47:
I’ve been to Siciliano’s in Grand Rapids. Its a nice store. The location couldn’t be beat for buying beer, between downtown and GVSU’s campus.
If one is in Grand Rapids and looking to drink beer go to Founder’s. Get a dirty bastard.
GVSU representing! Lived in the GR for three years total, but commuted to Kalamazoo for half of that time (2002-2003). In direct opposition to everyone here, I did it in an ’84 Pontiac Parisienne… I didn’t bother computing the gas mileage, I would’ve just cried.
Mr Furious
@chopper:
Yeah. Not to mention $$$.
Mr Furious
@catclub:
Word!
I drove my mother-in-law’s hybrid Civic from MI to NYC and back, and I spent the entire 1,500 miles riveted to the mileage gauge and the meter that shows the car charging vs. burning gas…I was constantly trying to maximize the number.
If going up a mountain meant the avg mpg crept under 40 I would work like crazy to get it back over, etc.
I firmly believe that if every new car had a mpg needle or LED front and center in the instrument panel it might do more to save fuel than everything else discussed upthead.
Shit like that should be part of any financial deals with the automakers.
joe from Lowell
The digital mpg meter in Mrs. joe’s Passat is the best video game I’ve ever played. Take your foot off the gas as you go downhill…26.4…26.5…26.6…26.7…ohno, uphill!….26.6…26.5…26.4…
Josh Huaco
How was my Fourth?
My cousin Amy had her baby, Stanley. 21 inches and 8.9 lb.
Kiran
@Zoogz
I didn’t go to GVSU. I once dated a girl who did. Nice campus, but the buildings have ridiculous names. Calder for the Art building, Louis Armstrong for a music hall.
I’ve always been more of a Kalamazoo type guy over GRR. But that might just be superficial. I’ve never really spent any time in the Kzoo.
Notorious P.A.T.
Did you pass through my city of Lansing?
chopper
@Josh Huaco:
nice. my ams just hit the 6 month mark. she’s a nut.
Papa Tony
My 2002 Prius is EPA rated lower than the current, third-generation Prius, yet I get insanely better mileage on long runs than your bogus “50 MPG”. In the same circumstances, I could have easily bettered your Fit’s 72MPG.
I have a picture somewhere of the dash display on my Prius showing solid green from top to bottom and side to side, showing that I was getting better than 100MPG for 35 minutes on my last long-distance trip.
I earned it the right way, too – No cheating or Photoshopping. Just hypermiling.
Next time, don’t pull numbers out of your ass and pretend that it’s valid.
Chris Johnson
I just drove to Pittsburgh and back in Fluffy the insanely hotrodded 92 Buick Century, using a new ram-air scoop (properly designed for as much pressure as you’ll get from any ram air thingy).
Consistently 30 mpg, so I’m ditching the ram air duct- got way too many bugs jammed into the air filter, that would get packed solid in time. One plausible 32 mpg leg. And this is a car that will roar and do over 100 mph easily, with a 3.3 litre engine, laden insanely heavily.
On the way back, over a particular mountain range that was like macro-hypermiling (grinding up endless grades flat out, or rolling down the other side) with less load, my calculations say 46.09 mpg over 5.532 gallons of gas.
Heck with your priuses :D
p mac
If you really want an efficient car, you can pop for the Tesla Roadster–it uses 1/2 as much end-to-end energy consumption than anything else currently on the market. And it does 0-60 in 4s.
Yours, for only 110K!
And the Tesla sedan will cost only 65K, with the same miles/MWH
cliff
pmac, you are forgetting all the tax credits and such in those prices.
MRSP is not =to final cost.
condimentalist
@catclub:
I also have a Scion xD. I drive mostly on back roads in rural NH so it’s a lot of up-and-down driving and over the last year I’ve owned it my average is about 38. The dashboard mpg reads 40+, being as high as 43 as well. My real-life MPG is usually 38 for a tank, a little less if I do all highway or all city — but if I stay at 65 it’s pretty close to 38. It’s also a manual so that can factor into it. I don’t jackrabbit start, I don’t gun it (usually), I don’t slam on the brakes — I just drive conservatively, and it seems to have paid off. I absolutely don’t hypermile either.
On another note, I lived in GR for 5+ years in the late 90s and I have to say that I’m really excited to see the homebrewing and brewing scene in general take off! Kudos, and I’ll drink some homebrew in GR’s honor tonight. :)