How would you respond?

[Matt Timion]

A guy on honda-tech recently said about a user who wants to make a more fuel efficient car:

Uh... I guess I'm not really understanding the point of dumping money into a car so that you can save money. Why not be happy with 40 or so mpg, strip whatever isn't needed (free) and just spend as little money as possible to keep it running good...

Your investment isn't going to pay off unless you're putting like 100 miles on the car every day and plan on keeping it for a LONG time... I could do the math for you but if you sit down for literally half a minute and put some numbers down on paper you'll realize how silly of a goal this is.

All you are going to accomplish is bragging rights about miles per gallon in the end, which is about as trivial as bragging about your download speed.

Just my $0.02

How would you respond?

[Compaq888]

The response would be different for every person.
From my point of view he is right. Because I drive a nissan and me throwing money at it will only improve mpg very little.

Now if you own an economical car that gets 40mpg and you throw some money at it and now it gets 60mpg then it's a worthwhile investment. Because the gas prices are going up and it will pay off.

Either way you're getting bragging right, but with a gas guzzler you look like an idiot. Which is me.

[SVOboy]

Using less is worth the cost,

[mtbiker278]

It's true that it wouldn't be cost effective if you don't drive a lot. However, if you're like a bunch of people on this site who drive 60, 70 miles or more a day, every little bit helps.

[GasSavers_DaX]

I guess it's part right. This is why I'm not rushing to buy a SuperMID and why I'm hesitant to do some FE things. I generally stick to the inexpensive things, like a few aero mods, a 5-speed conversion, etc. Some things are a lot more economical for me since I do all of my own work.

The same argument he makes can be made about building a fast car though. Throwing money into a car to make it fast is almost as fun as setting it on fire - I should know. I sunk about $10,000 into my 1992 Civic VX and in the end I blew the motor twice. Yeah, I parted out the car but may have gotten a total of $2,500 back from parts sales. From start (purchasing the car) to finish (blowing the motor a second time) only spanned about 2 years. At least with FE mods there is a net GAIN. Unless you're a sponsored race car driver winning events, there is no net gain (at least legally) to putting money into a car to go fast.

Does this mean I never intend to build a fast car ever again? Certainly not! I thoroughly enjoyed the acceleration of my car, and am intent on building a better and faster one. I am, however, going into it knowing that I will be taking a net LOSS in exchange for some fun.

[Sludgy]

HMMMMMMMM Have we been invaded by a stooge from Texaco-Chevron?

[Bunger]

Originally Posted by Matt Timion

How would you respond?

Lets do a little math, just to get a basic idea:

Average driver: 12,000 miles a year
Starting MPG: 40
Modified MPG: 60
Average Gas Price: $2.00

Ok... all that being true, you're talking about the difference of $200 a year, as you use 100 less gallons (300 vs 200). But how about this... lets say you have a 10 useable gallon tank, which means you'll have to stop to fill up 10 more times that year. Now, I'm gunna take a little leap here, but I'm going to say that when you stop for gas, you're going to probably spend at least $5 to do so... this is time, extra wear on brakes, possibility you're gunna get some nachos, etc. that adds another $50 to the cost easily.

So... REAL world difference, easily $250 a year... lets say we do that for 10 years... $2500... and if we had invested that money in some overseas mutual funds, I would expect to see around $6500 by the end of those 10 years. =)

[kickflipjr]

The best thing to do is learning to drive efficiently and drive less.

As for mods, I would not recomend spending hundreds of dollars to gain 1-2 mpg.

Just keeping the car maintained is important.

You can pickup used insights on ebay for under $10,000. So maybee they should by that insted on modding up the car.

It all comes down to the miles to $$$ ratio. Bunger already set up the math problem (so i don't need to explain).

[krousdb]

All you are going to accomplish is bragging rights about miles per gallon in the end, which is about as trivial as bragging about your download speed.

Or as trivial as bragging about your trap speed in the 1/4 mile, or your 0-60 time.

Everyone has a different definition of performance. Mine is different than most. My "hobby" requires little or no investment and will always have some return on investment. Off hand I can't think of any other hobby that you could say the same thing about.

And one more thing to consider. In the event that gas becomes extremely expensive or downright impossible to buy (gas lines during the 70's oil embargo), I will be much better prepared than most others to deal with the situation. I also feel good I am trying to do my part to reduce our country's dependance on foriegn oil.
Just my .02

[The Toecutter]

Some want to show what can be done with modern off the shelf technology. They might want others to understand that the auto industry could be making cars that get high fuel efficiency that require no loss in performance, safety, size, or utility, and perhaps insignificant if any additional cost.

Take aeromods for instance. Most cars being sold now days still lack a bellypan, something the automakers could add to a car for well under $20, which would improve fuel economy an entire 1-2 mpg with absolutely no loss in performance or safety.

Most of the expense in these modifications are incurred not because the components are expensive for a manufacturer to place into a car, but because they aren't placed into the car from the start during a mass production run and it is then left to the hobbyist to purchase, build, and/or install the parts themselves. They already paid beforehand for what the manufacturer placed into their car, when the manufacturer could just as easily swap out parts to improve the fuel economy.

There are individuals on this site who have modified their cars to see 30-40% more fuel economy than their car achieved stock, often with improved acceleration performance and increased reliability. Why isn't the auto industry doing that?