So you use it and that's my point. Others don't and it's just dumb.
Why isn't gas mileage improving for new vehicles?
- Thread starter dualthreat
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So you use it and that's my point. Others don't and it's just dumb.
There definitely is. But as shown by post #47 in this thread, you're evidently compensating for something if your kill is visible to anyone else, so hitch racks are no go. We just can't win.
In all seriousness though, with the amount of gear I use for that hobby alone I need a pickup or a really, really good friend to let me borrow theirs. Treestands (plural), hunting blinds, decoys, storage totes of clothing, a bulky bow case, 40-50 lb sacks of mineral/salt, the occasional dead deer or turkey. You have the space to haul that stuff and you keep the mess of dirt, dust, spider webs, and blood outside. A sedan isn't going to cut it.
Now I'm off to the Clive bookstore to be judged for driving a full size pickup with no passengers. I mean, I only have it as a status symbol, right?
I'm probably an offender of the "don't really need a truck but have one" club. I could tow my golf cart with my Edge but it wasn't even remotely as comfortable as towing with my F150. I like doing projects around the house and tossing drywall in the back of a vehicle isn't quite as convenient as the bed of my truck. Not having to put all the leaves and branches in my vehicle when doing outside cleanup is nice as well.
Most importantly, tailgating with my truck is significantly more convenient.
Most importantly, tailgating with my truck is significantly more convenient.
In some cases its a phallic symbol more than a status symbol, the bigger the truck the bigger their %^^&*
Guys buzz by me all of the time (I've looked ahead and see the light turning red) and than have to brake hard and a few seconds later I am in the lane right next to them again and we are all stopped at the same light. It's not the Tour de France where you get bonus points off your time by reaching certain points first. Smooth is the name of the game in braking, acceleration and shifting.
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What gas you use makes a big difference. Ethanol fuel decreases fuel economy greatly. Run a couple tanks of Ethanol blend and a couple tanks of Premium without ethanol and compare the results, you will be surprised how much difference it makes. Especially if you take longer drives.
I had a Honda Civic that I could get 40-42 on Regular (not premium) without Ethanol. It would drop to 35-36 with 10% Ethanol, consistently. I would check almost every tank for over a year, and drove over 500 miles per week.
E85 will cut your mileage in almost half in some vehicles even though they are made to run on it. It is easy to see by looking at your manual, my truck manual has how many miles a tank will run on regular and how many on E85, which is just over half the distance.
I had a Honda Civic that I could get 40-42 on Regular (not premium) without Ethanol. It would drop to 35-36 with 10% Ethanol, consistently. I would check almost every tank for over a year, and drove over 500 miles per week.
E85 will cut your mileage in almost half in some vehicles even though they are made to run on it. It is easy to see by looking at your manual, my truck manual has how many miles a tank will run on regular and how many on E85, which is just over half the distance.
Guys buzz by me all of the time (I've looked ahead and see the light turning red) and than have to brake hard and a few seconds later I am in the lane right next to them again and we are all stopped at the same light. It's not the Tour de France where you get bonus points off your time by reaching certain points first. Smooth is the name of the game in braking and shifting.
I think this will become more the case for more people the more self-driving components become part of our driving (or rather, riding) experience. Just got a new rogue with the lane-keeping and adaptive cruise and I've noticed it myself when on the highway around here, i'm more content to just set a max speed and let the car mostly do its thing (ready to jump in if needed, obviously).
As self-driving tech becomes more of a thing, even at the earlier stages where the driver is still somewhat involved, i think people won't mind that the drive may take a minute longer because theyre less involved in every little decision on the way there. They'll relax a bit.
There definitely is. But as shown by post #47 in this thread, you're evidently compensating for something if your kill is visible to anyone else, so hitch racks are no go. We just can't win.
In all seriousness though, with the amount of gear I use for that hobby alone I need a pickup or a really, really good friend to let me borrow theirs. Treestands (plural), hunting blinds, decoys, storage totes of clothing, a bulky bow case, 40-50 lb sacks of mineral/salt, the occasional dead deer or turkey. You have the space to haul that stuff and you keep the mess of dirt, dust, spider webs, and blood outside. A sedan isn't going to cut it.
Now I'm off to the Clive bookstore to be judged for driving a full size pickup with no passengers. I mean, I only have it as a status symbol, right?
Haha, I'm not serious on that. There's several reasons people hunt.
But seriously the culture in Wisconsin (and might be the law too?) is to have the dead deer on top of the car/back bumper etc.
Not that it didn't happen in Iowa, but typically deer were out of view in the back of trucks. I do know the hunters safety course I took pointed to having it on the hood etc. as bad ethics.
Again regarding trains, their big advantage is in "tire" stiffness. A fluid filled rubber tire squishes significantly under the weight of the car. It also stretches and compresses under cornering, acceleration and braking. All of this rubber movement absorbs energy and takes away from fuel economy. All of your suspension does the same thing - when you hit the gas, it all has to get "loaded up" before the car takes off. The front raises, the rear end squats, the frame twists, the tires flex, and then you go. In contrast, the steel wheel of trains doesn't flex in any measurable way. And while trains do have some suspension, it's not nearly as compliant as a car. So all of the torque/power gets put into turning the wheels.
You got it backwards.
Giant, jacked-up, extended cab, short bed, leather interior, top of the line, all the bells and whistles trucks are correctly called "TPTs". Tiny Peni5 Trucks.
Idiotic CAFE standards by politicians forced automakers to ditch 6-cylinders (in the name of 'MPG) and stick turbos on 4 cylinders--- which are installed in sedans and mid-size SUV's.
Turbos creates boost but turbos can disintegrate after 7-10 years and cause carbon build-up, blow the engine, etc.. The 4-cylinders are OVERWORKED
Continuous Variable Transmissions (CVT) , now coupled w/turbos found on Hondas causing all sorts of problems,
CVT's can't go on trucks---worthless....
We rented a Nissan Rogue (wCVT) non-turbo for mountains in N Arizona last March. Biggest piece of CRAP ever. Overworked crappy 4-cylinder.....sounded like a lawn mower, struggling n higher altitudes
Turbos creates boost but turbos can disintegrate after 7-10 years and cause carbon build-up, blow the engine, etc.. The 4-cylinders are OVERWORKED
Continuous Variable Transmissions (CVT) , now coupled w/turbos found on Hondas causing all sorts of problems,
CVT's can't go on trucks---worthless....
We rented a Nissan Rogue (wCVT) non-turbo for mountains in N Arizona last March. Biggest piece of CRAP ever. Overworked crappy 4-cylinder.....sounded like a lawn mower, struggling n higher altitudes
Simple physics or perhaps chemistry in this case. The energy density of diesel > gasoline > ethanol
Here is a nice little table. https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/energy-content-d_868.html
Diesel is 139k Btu in a gallon
Gasoline is 124k Btu
Ethanol (different source) is ~77k Btu
I don't know if I'd call it bad ethics but it does look trashy and doesn't help with the stereotype of hunters being tabacker chewin' , beer drinkin' , uneducated rednecks. I like to think people like Steven Rinella, Cam Hanes, and Bill Winke are a more accurate representation of hunters than Bubba from the trailer park carrying a Mt. Dew bottle for a spitter everywhere he goes. Unfortunately I've been to the Iowa Deer Classic enough to know there are plenty of Bubbas in our community.
And to top it off diesel fuel is burned in a Diesel engine which is much more efficient at converting that fuel to energy than the otto engine used to convert gasoline to energy (energy meaning mechanical as opposed to heat)