so your saying that this "global warming" is nothing abnormal? just heating/cooling cycles of the earth.

Global warming is such a myth. You have to realize that we have only be accurately recording temperatures/ recording the depth of arctic ice for a little over 100 years in most cases. Even if you take a 500 year sample, it's nothing in comparison to the lifespan of the planet. The planet goes through a natural change of temperature. That is why we have Ice Ages.

^^its not a myth my friend...

I may stand corrected...it depends in what context your using the word "myth"

And I'm sure even with millions of trees killed to print all of those "scientific findings and hypothesis" we are that much closer to saying that we understand mother nature?

It's a myth, meaning its concocted. It's nothing more than raising global awareness and added marketing. If you ask me, we all learned the truth in earth science when we studied the heating/cooling cycles of the atmosphere. It's nothing abnormal.

And need I add that hydrogen cars that emit pure water are horrible for the environment too. At least from a global warming standpoint. The highest heat holding component of our atmosphere is water vapor. Add more water vapor= more heat absorbed by the atmosphere.

And don't get me started on the effects of concrete and local temperatures.

but does the millions of trees killed (increase in temperature), hydrogen cars putting more water vapor in the atmosphere (increase in temperature) and the massive amounts of concrete and asphalt(increase in temperature) = global warming? or can we call it global increase in temperature?

what kind vladd...?

thinkin about picking one up myself when i get back

i see your point audioneon...but i firmly believe that our environment is changing (and all the chit that goes along with that), maybe not drastically or with any effects that we'll see in any of our lifetimes, but it is changing. I believe apart of that is from global increase in temperature.

and this global increase in temperature is far from normal.

vladd i like GIT --global increase in temperature..

btw i agree to an extent that global warming is a myth, but out "warm" cycle is a bit extreme lately.

don't remember the brand, nothing special.

I think I'm going to repay off my car loan pretty soon. I only have about 2,000 left on it. I'd also like to repay one of my student loans, which also has about 2,000 on it. If I didn't repay these loans I'd be making 4 different payments on loans each month pretty soon. yuck. Luckily two of them are only 50/month.

Then I'm trying to decide on if I want to save up to pay off my big student loan or for the down payment on a house first. I think I can get one or the other in 2-3 years, maybe both in 5 (given I stay at the job I just got). After the discussion we had a few weeks ago on here about houses and all, it seems like buying a house sooner would be better since it would hopefully/probably appreciate in value. I guess at that point it would be figuring out which would be larger, the appreciation on the house or the interest rate on the loan. But who really knows at what rate the house will appreciate? Half of my student loan is at fixed 6.5% and the other half is variable, I think at around 7.5% right now. I figure the house would be better than that, but I just hate having debt. One big loan wouldn't scare me as much as the 4 smaller ones I'm about to have. I guess I'm weird like that.

A second on your house should be in the same range, buy the house first and finance the loans into after. If you don't have 20% down you might want to do this anyways to avoid the MIS insurance.

Was looking at an MB with the supercharged 1.8. Consumer Guide claimed 31mpg highway.

And repair costs that will bring that average to about a realistic 8mpg. Those are terribly unreliable.

0% throttle input = 0% fuel input

I rev match on downshift, then let the engine do the braking for me. Doesn't work for those that like to slam on the brakes to avoid the rear end of another driver.

Only problem with downshifting to save your brakes is the wear on your clutch. Brakes are cheap and easy, clutch parts aren't.

Ok, so now that I have an indication of my gas mileage and such for the saturn I have put together some numbers....

Constants

Gas - $4.00

Z71 - 16 MPG

SL2 - 29 MPG

I average around 430 miles per week. (Drivng to and from work, driving to Baytown or else where on the weekends and Leisure travel)

for the Z71 and SL2 that is 26.875 Gal and 14.333 Gallons respectively and $107.50/wk and $57.33/wk

The difference comes out to about a $200 Saving per week and $2400/yr

Ok so we need subtract cost of ownership

$2400

-$120 (for oil changes)

-$300 (Tires)

-$150 (Repair and misc)

-$90 (emissions and registration) (I think this is higher than what it really cost)

=$1740

Now Subtract the cost of the car...

-$1400

-$124 (TT&L)

=$216

So in one year I am already ahead by $216 and the cost of tires is not a yearly occurrence and neither is the cost of the vehicle.

Depreciation is not worth mentioning because the car is worth more than I bought it for and will be in the future with gas the way it is

Insurance is not worth mentioning either because we dropped another vehicle for this one and the Saturn is cheaper.

So in the next few years I should be saving quite a bit of money

LOL, $150 for repairs my ass. National average on a car with over 50k miles is $80/month

T0P!

Hmmm, tornado heading this way apparently. Was standing on the porch and it was nice and calm, then the wind picked up and started raining and sounded like a freight train in the distance for a little bit, kinda went away and I decided to head back downstairs.

I almost didn't get home because of it, the plane ride was well um interesting. Getting home a 2 sucks

Maybe its just all the worn out vehicles I've driven that it is pretty easy to go from neutral to reverse.

Actually even in an old muscle car once you get above 20mph it is pretty damn hard to push it into reverse. Try it once, it just kicks the shift lever right back out.

To me coasting in neutral is a horrible practice to learn, if you ever drive a semi or big truck you HAVE to use engine braking otherwise your fucked.

If you are stopping on sheer ice, Neutral is definitely helpful. I also put it in neutral when it is super slippery, but it isn't for the sake of gas mileage.

Sean, I don't know if it affects any of your plans or not, but there has been a revision to our route for tomorrow. The new one is up on hotrod.com.

Thanks!

^^its not a myth my friend...

Well it isn't happening, right now global cooling might be not warming.

To me coasting in neutral is a horrible practice to learn, if you ever drive a semi or big truck you HAVE to use engine braking otherwise your fucked.

If you are stopping on sheer ice, Neutral is definitely helpful. I also put it in neutral when it is super slippery, but it isn't for the sake of gas mileage.

x2 - you learn that in a hurry.

Ice core data isn't exactly spectacular, either.

Went and drove around with a friend and surveyed the damage, much against my wishes the math building still exists on campus, it appears the engg building is messed up some but can't see much, they sealed campus off since there were power lines down. Ice storm week of finals in December, hail storm last week, this today, storms quite a bit, been floods in parts. Global warming anyone?

saw a bit of that on the news just now

they showed police arresting some guy wearing a "Trust me, I'm a doctor" shirt :shrug:

Ok, so now that I have an indication of my gas mileage and such for the saturn I have put together some numbers....

for the Z71 and SL2 that is 26.875 Gal and 14.333 Gallons respectively and $107.50/wk and $57.33/wk

The difference comes out to about a $200 Saving per week and $2400/yr

So in the next few years I should be saving quite a bit of money

LOL, $150 for repairs my ass. National average on a car with over 50k miles is $80/month

MK, $200 a wk?

The math will prove is almost every time, buying a second car, unless you get 2-3 times the mileage of the first, will not provide a savings, at least not within the first year or so.

Tabs, liscence costs, you still have to change oil in the truck several times a year, so you just added oil costs.

The only reason to buy a mileage effecient vehicle instead of your primary is if you want a different kind of vehicle, and to reduce the use of your baby.

Not to mow you down but, you also talked about performance parts for the saturn too. even if it gets you another 2 mpg and 20hp, the it will take a heck of a long time to make even the cheepest air box at $50 bucks be paid back by 2mpg.

Edited June 12, 200817 yr by dem beats

Can't say that I would coast in neutral in a vehicle for any extended period of time. To my knowledge the transmission fluid pump is driven off of the input side not that tail shaft so I would think that if you did that you might not get enough fluid pumped through the tranny and could shorten the life of it. Also you run the risk of accidentally slipping it up into reverse and fucking things up. Sure you may be careful 99% of the time on that one, but is saving a little bit of money on fuel really worth the extra risk on fragging the transmission? Now on the new fully electronic controlled ones, I don't know if it will even try to slip into reverse while going that speed.

I've talked to my transmission rebuilder friend about the coasting in N in an auto, and he says that the pump will still provide enough fluid/pressure to get keep things ok in a coasting type situation.

On every car I've ever driven, you had to push the button in to shift into R from N so it's not like it could just slip.

Not all vehicles have buttons on there gear selectors though

Ok, yeah, column shift cars don't. But you have to pull it back and then change gears, preventing the slip.

I could get used to this full nights sleep thing...

SWEET!

It's like a do rag for your car!