Gas Prices

[Lextreme II]

Man I am really hurting. I think i get about 15 miles per gallon in my single turbo 1uzfe and everytime i stop by a gas station, I really felt the hurt. Currently the gas price in California (USA) is about $3.40 USD per gallon and my LS400 takes about 17-18 gallons. I average about $65 each time and I pump about twice a week. Ouch Ouch Ouch....

 

[sc400rayray]

i know your pain-when chrisman gets done with my ttv8 i dont think that i will be driving as much for all the gas that i will spend on the lexus i think its time to buy a el cheapo car- i will just drive the lexus at night and weekends.... but yea it hurts the pocket

 

[jibbby]

Get a good mountain bike with some Lextreme sprocket gearing...I hear they get great gas mileage...However long trips can be a challenge unless Lance Armstrong is the driver...Pretty much a summer ride as well....:tongue2:


Yeah these gas prices are killing me in my 4.3L Land Cruiser especially...It pains me everytime to fill up at $70 a tank,....Ouch...My non-AFI SC400 is much kinder at the pumps although the piggyback ecu does not help matters..

Thinking of setting up a miny oil dig well in my backyard to see if I can tap and find me some good ole patrolium... Need a good engine to drive the dig bit...Iuz-fe maybe? :silly:

 

[Lextreme II]

How about a full electric conversion on a LS400? Double stacks of batteries in the engine bay or battery bay since the engine will be gone and trunk.

 

[jibbby]

Electic conversion will work but then the LS400 will no longer be Lexreme.... Doomed either way...Conclusion work harder and make more money to pay for the increasing gas prices...or pay and go hybrid...Either way you pay....:grumble:

 

[stevechumo]

I have an idea to cut down the gas while still retaining the 1UZ-FE effectively. It's a secret. Don't drive the car...LOL. Just kidding. Oh, man! It really pisses me off whenever I'm at the gas pump. I barely have any happy feet left on the gas pedal. I drive like an old man now. I read the news and it says the federal government is investigating on the gas increase. I don't know what it means. :approve:

One more thing, only the California government charges $.50/gallon tax on gas, which is highest comparing to most states. We, the Californians replaced Gray Davis because of his 300% fee increase on car registration. And now we ask Arnold for $.50/gallon increase on gas tax. After a few months pumping this high taxed gas, the cost would be the same as 300% fee on car registration; it might cost even more. Guys, I don't know who to vote for anymore, maybe I'll vote for Lextreme. :sorry:

For swapping to electric engines, you guys should consider the electric bill is also rising up because it's partly related to gas. Therefore, I'm thinking about a steam engine. With steam engine, I can put as many turbos as I want. The steam can vaporize and pressurize the turbos to spin.....Boosting.

 

[Lextreme II]

I have an idea to cut down the gas while still retaining the 1UZ-FE effectively. It's a secret. Don't drive the car...LOL. Just kidding. Oh, man! It really pisses me off whenever I'm at the gas pump. I barely have any happy feet left on the gas pedal. I drive like an old man now. I read the news and it says the federal government is investigating on the gas increase. I don't know what it means. :approve:

One more thing, only the California government charges $.50/gallon tax on gas, which is highest comparing to most states. We, the Californians replaced Gray Davis because of his 300% fee increase on car registration. And now we ask Arnold for $.50/gallon increase on gas tax. After a few months pumping this high taxed gas, the cost would be the same as 300% fee on car registration; it might cost even more. Guys, I don't know who to vote for anymore, maybe I'll vote for Lextreme. :sorry:

For swapping to electric engines, you guys should consider the electric bill is also rising up because it's partly related to gas. Therefore, I'm thinking about a steam engine. With steam engine, I can put as many turbos as I want. The steam can vaporize and pressurize the turbos to spin.....Boosting.

Steve,

Great analysis on California politics. Great idea on the stream engine but the cost of energy to make steam will cost more then the gas. LOL...

Solar baby! LOL

 

[jibbby]

Stevie...Wow...I never knew you were so politically correct...Good job. The funny thing is we are just now catching up to the gas prices in Europe and other foreign countries...Can you image what our European and Aussie friends have been paying for a gallon of gas for all these years? m\Maybe $4-$5 a gallon. This is the reason if you travel to Europe you see smaller cars everywhere and very few V8's. Mostly 4 cylinder cars are exported to Europe. We really shouldn't complain too much because we have been spoiled for a long time here in the States.... I still am not justifing price gouging at the pumps, and I too am still complaining...but just trying to stay positive and reason this monster out..

I think raising gas prices will do one of two things, reduce driving in general for most which will lighten up the traffic and that will be better for the envirnment, or simply another alternative to fueling vehicles will be introduced, like the hybrids and electrics.. CNN just had a energy anaylist on for a chat and he also said the increasing fuel prices will bring about change in the automotive industry... Only time will tell.....

 

[hnknrob]

2 quick things

1) if you fine folks are complaining about gas prices, youre most definitely in the worng hobby.

2) you fine folks out in cali are yet to find out what high gas prices actually are. forget about europe and australia, all you guys have to do is lok north of the border up here to canada to see staggering gas prices.

although gas price are escalating at a stupid rate, and there no legit reasoning for it. if its the stock market then why do gas prices fluctuate when the stock markets are all closed? and if its correlated to the price of barrels of oil then why is it that when barrels were at 72 dollars gas was cheaper than when they were 70?

the most logical explanation ive heard/ come up with is that gas prices are dictated by the oil companies who are simply trying to make as much money as they can from their product which eventually (thanks to our friends ethanol, hydrogen, hybrid, etc, etc, etc.) will no longer be needed.

the on thing that kills me is that dubya and cheney (the oil billionaires) are promising that theyre going to get to the bottom of the gouging. whew, thats a load off my mind.

 

[WDoherty]

as my prof said yesterday as concerning Bush's investigation, It's like he calls up his best friend and says, "hey, what's up, i'm investingating, hahaha"

 

[stevechumo]

Thanks guys for the compliments. I'm not a politician. I'm just a dinner politic talk...:approve:, especially when I'm full with beer and food so I can't take credit for my analysis.

As far as I'm concerned, it's not just the gas and the V8 cars that we drive, it will eventually cause inflation on many other things. There're thousands of other things related to gas price. Our income stays the same but we'll have to pay more for other things, even for a simple hamburger. That means our pockets are getting lighter.

As hnknrob mentioned, you're pretty correct. But I think it's kinda hard comparing between us and you or Europe. You guys pay more for gas, tax..etc but you guys get good healthcare, stable jobs..etc. In the U.S., we pay a little lower tax and gas, but we don't have good healthcare, especially the jobs are very unstable when the gas price or any uncertain scenarios rise up.

I think the oil companies (U.S., foreigners...etc) won't let the price go down that quick unless there're some alternatives. Let's imagine if you're the only one who has 10 drinking water bottles to sell in a whole town. Because you're the only one selling it, you can sell only 2 bottles/day while raising the price due to high demand. And you know after these 10 bottles, there'll be no more. So why would you sell all 10 in the same day at a lower price and make people think you'll have more for sales? People won't jump in and buy them all. It doesn't make sense in business. In fact, I heard that with the current trends of the world oil consumption, there'll be only a max of 100 years of oil left. I maybe wrong, maybe 50 years left. And even if there's a very good alternative, the oil companies would buy off that product and hide it until there's no more oil. That's when they start making big bucks again.

I've driven a new 2005 Toyota Highlander Hybrid once. It's powerful but all I say is "I hate it" because it's weird. I don't feel the engine starting, and the thing I hate the most is the power slightly jerks off when I floor the gas from the normal driving stage. At normal stage, it's running by electric and transfered to gas when being floored. That's when I feel the jerk.

David,
I used to love steam engine when I was a kid playing steam boat toy. It's simple and cheap. At the rear deck of the boat, there's a little tank with water in it and is heated up by a little diesel tank with a flame under neat. When the water tank is hot, it pushes down 2 streams of hot gas through 2 little pipes behind the boat, which pushes the boat forward. It's damn fast. Just imagine with your Garrett GT42 inline. But one thing should be considered is that steam engine isn't stable with stored energy. It blew up many really ships/boats.

Sorry guys for too much talking. It just keeps coming out of my fingers.

 

[Tradewind]

Tell me your opinion of this, and if its true this fuel prices should go down a LOT

Five months ago, the U.S. Energy Department announced the results of a land survey…

It was conducted to determine the official amount of oil a thousand feet deep in the Rocky Mountains…

They reported this stunning news:

We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth.

Here are the official estimates:
8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia


18-times as much oil as Iraq


21-times as much oil as Kuwait


22-times as much oil as Iran


500-times as much oil as Yemen


…And it’s all right here in the Western United States.

James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says, “We’ve got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East.”

More than 2 TRILLION barrels. Untapped.

“That’s more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today,” reports The Denver Post.

When asked about America’s least-publicized oil supply, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch said:

“The amounts of oil are staggering. Who would have guessed that in just Colorado and Utah, there is more recoverable oil than in the Middle East?”

Here’s the kicker…

The U.S. government already owns the land. It’s been right there under our noses the whole time.

In fact, the government’s appointed a small group of companies to begin the drilling.

Test drilling has already begun.

And the profit forecasts are ridiculous. According to the RAND Corporation (a public-policy think tank for the government), this small region can produce:

Three million barrels of oil per day… That translates into more than $20 BILLION a year.

These are the conservative estimates. The U.S. Energy Dept. estimates an eventual output of 10 million barrels of oil per day. At that rate, the money flow would be even greater.

I’ve written this letter to tell you everything I’ve learned about this rarely publicized oil reserve… who’s drilling it… and how to get a piece of the world’s biggest, untapped oil supply — before it’s too late.

 

[1UZ-HZ]

Yeh paying a $1.44 for plain old ULP out west in N.S.W. $1.50 for PULP (95ron) and it's about the same for diesel, I'm not to sure how much 98RON is, don't wanna know!!!LOL. Lucky I ride a motorbike now.

 

[Tradewind]

Bikes (with motors) are good

 

[bango]

Man,the days are coming when going round the block to pose at the cafe with your V8 is gonna cost more that the Coffee,sheesh....

 

[jibbby]

Tradewind - that almost sounds like a conspiracy theory you are suggesting, and if the oil is here in the States why is it not being drilled for? I am aware of the off shore rigs, Texas oil, but Colorado? Never heard these facts that you stated and my mother works at the Rand Corporation here in Santa Monica, Califorinia.. She doesn't tell me these things you said but then again many things are classified and info cannot be leaked...Who knows?...

Anyway, I just feel sorry for those huge SUV owners that are just getting by financially..So much for the family road trips and vacations....Also can the Hybrids tow a large boat to a river or lake? I know the electric cars cannot....

Again, if there is an abundance of untapped oil here in the States why is it not being drilled for? I am sure oil miners are not tired or too lazy to still make money by drilling for new oil, no?

I watch the news and try to stay informed and they say oil companies have made the largest profits in this last year then in any other time in history..They also say the oil companies are making only 15% profit which is below profit norms for common businesses...The reason for this gas hike is that the supply is lower and the demand is higher.. More gasoline is being sold then ever before...Whether this is fact of fiction I do not know...That is what I am hearing and reading anyway..

 

[cribbj]

I work in the oil industry, and although I'm not one of the guys involved in finding oil & gas, I know some of the history of this legendary "untapped 2 trillion barrels of oil". This is not new, undiscovered, or overlooked at all.

These "huge untapped reserves" out in the Rockies are what are known as shale sands. Oil is trapped in this rock called shale, and it can't be produced by conventional means, and believe me, that's the ONLY reason our industry hasn't done it. There hasn't been a commercially proven process developed to efficiently extract the oil from the shale, although some of the smartest people in industry have tried.

Canada has had a very similar problem with its tar sands, which also hold enormous quantities of trapped oil.

Reading between the lines of that writeup, it certainly sounds like a "come on" to me. Please....don't anyone get hooked into any "investment schemes" involving development of these shale sands, as the climate is ripe right now for scams like this. I well remember during the energy crunch of the 70's, that a number of small investors were separated from their money by shysters promising to develop Canada's vast tar sands, and figures like 1000:1 returns on investments were being promised.

Disclaimer: opinions stated are my own and do not represent the official position of my company or any of its subsidiaries. This is not oil industry "insider" information; anyone can learn about these shale sands by doing Google searches.

 

[jibbby]

Why can't this oil be drilled? Is it really because the ground make up is to difficult to drill into to reach the vast amounts of oil that lays beneathe the earths surface? Wow, I find this hard to believe with todays technology and machinery. I am a contractor and have seen some amazing machines that can drill threw just about anything you can think of...From Bedrock, concrete, etc.. you name it. This an easy concept to consider, just think of a standard drill press built on a larger scale with a diamond point drill bit...What could that not drill threw?

I am not in the business of oil drilling and cannot speak intellegently about it so Cribby I will take your word for it..but wow, I would think that a problem of that nature would and could be solved...Is shale ground makeup really harder then grade A hardened steel or diamond point drill bits? I don't think so...However when it comes to deep oil drilling and oil mining I do not know what is involved so I will not comment further on that...

In closing, I strongly believe if physic's allow something to be possible and there is a strong will then there is a way.. Brilliant minds combined with relentless determination is a leathal combination to get something done.. I may have to study and learn more about oil mining and drilling...because like I said I have seen and operated advanced drilling machinery on small scales that is available in todays industrial and commercial construction industry that can just about drill thru anything..

 

[stevechumo]

Jibby and Cribbj,
I pretty much agree with you that "the huge amount of oil in the U.S" is very suspicious and seems to be a hidden conspiracy, or even just a funny rumor that's spread out on those crappy newspapers. You know, like "The Enquirer"...etc. These newspapers take pictures, doctor them, and make up articles to sell at dirt price. With the current technology that we have, any oil or valuable materials on earth is already found, including gold, diamond...etc. Now we don't live in the time of guessing or digging to find anymore. I took an ecology class before and I learned that we know exactly how many layers, sediments, how thick...etc are inside the earth. So that means oil is included. I really doubt that the U.S. has that much oil and waiting to be discovered.

Tradewind,
Please don't be offended and we all respect you. It's just what I believe in. I know you just took that statement from somewhere to share with us.

 

[UZZ30-Québec]

2 quick things

1) if you fine folks are complaining about gas prices, youre most definitely in the worng hobby.

2) you fine folks out in cali are yet to find out what high gas prices actually are. forget about europe and australia, all you guys have to do is lok north of the border up here to canada to see staggering gas prices.

although gas price are escalating at a stupid rate, and there no legit reasoning for it. if its the stock market then why do gas prices fluctuate when the stock markets are all closed? and if its correlated to the price of barrels of oil then why is it that when barrels were at 72 dollars gas was cheaper than when they were 70?

the most logical explanation ive heard/ come up with is that gas prices are dictated by the oil companies who are simply trying to make as much money as they can from their product which eventually (thanks to our friends ethanol, hydrogen, hybrid, etc, etc, etc.) will no longer be needed.

the on thing that kills me is that dubya and cheney (the oil billionaires) are promising that theyre going to get to the bottom of the gouging. whew, thats a load off my mind.

Come in Quebec, it's even higher.

1.20 per liter for 91 octane last time i've put 50$ in my SC... 2/3 of a tank.

Horses need gas.