State of the Union address touches on "oil addiction."

[rh77]

Originally Posted by Sludgy

What hypocrites these Democrats be! We're screwed from left and right.

Better phrasing possibly would have been to remove the sentence about Democrats. I'm glad that you mentioned that we are indeed squeezed between two parties of great divide, but a blanket statement as mentioned could be taken as offensive. I respect your views as a Republican, and wouldn't utter an insulting comment about your party on this site.

At Gassavers, we have a common thread as a community of people trying to reduce fuel consumption -- regardless of political view. I was afraid the mud may start to sling when this thread started.

In response to John Kerry and Robert F Kennedy, Jr. - they indeed seemed to have gone completely against their environmental committments in favor of small groups in their region. Either a powerful lobbying group or the citizenry of the immediate area of the project have made an impact on their decision. It is disappointing, because the benefits of many would outweigh the detriments of a few.

Best course of action, as I have said before -- TELL THEM. Become informed on the subject, and write them a letter or e-mail on your opinion.

Write to Senator Kerry.

Bear in mind that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is an Environmental Attorney and shouldn't be confused with Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy.

RH77

[Sludgy]

I wasn't referring to ALL Democrats. If you read the sentence again you can clearly see that it refers to just the two I specifically mentioned. And Ted Kennedy Is in record opposing Cape wind, not just Robert.

[chesspirate]

I probably sit close to Sludgy on polotics, but that is not the point.

The important thing here is to realize that the SOTU address really doesn't mean a darn thing. Even if the gov follows through with some of this stuff, it really wont make a diff anyway.

We've seen what does make a diff though, higher gas prices. It comes down to consumers and thier attitudes toward any number of things.

Think about it, outside of our small circle of friends who are nuts about mpg's how many people do you know who even check thier mileage on a regular basis??? Regular maintenence for most people is out of the question as well. But when the price for regular grad gasoline here in Cali got over $3 a gallon, people were putting thier trucks and SUVs up for sale and buying smaller cars, and lots of interest was in the hybrids, that's why there is so much complaining about them missing thier mileage targets, the people only bought them for that, while other people bought it for the look, or to be nicer to the enviornment etc.

Basically, independant of what our government does, at any stage in history, the american public is going to determine what is used, what is popular and how they'll live thier lives. So, basically, for most people, unless it becomes a financial decision, they won't buy a car with new technology. It will have to become 'socially acceptable' instead of being somewhat ridiculed. It comes down to the individual.

[JanGeo]

Yup classic case of but I want - one of my friend was looking for a more gas efficent vehicle than his Nisson Exterra that is costing my $60+ a week in gas. Didn't think the xB was big enough for his family of 5 DUH!!! it seats 5 and has lots of room but the point was that he needed something to commute to work with and pick up a kid or two - the rest of the time they have the carravan which runs pretty well if you keep the air in the tires and go easy on the gas pedal. So here I am telling him about additives and my 44-45mpg in the xB and he is still driving the eXterra.

The windmills on the cape are interesting - my brother who usually is for the people sided with the owners out there against the farms - having driven out to the cape on occasion - what most people don't realize is that you can't see water from most of the cape because the land is so flat and the trees and building along the shore. Maybe we should put up a Nuke plant out there or just turn the electric off every other day and make them think twice about it. Another thing is that the blades spin pretty slow and will not be slicing birds in half in mid air as some believe. We have probably the highest cost per KWH in the nation around here. Ironically my friend with the eXterra has a passive solar house but wood stove and a few gas and a wood fireplace and electric heat to suppliment - turns out when they were building the house they heard rumors that there was going to be cheep electric power from canada so ... yeow you should see his electric bill! Funny thing is he tells his kids to turn off the lights and ONE baseboard heater uses more power than all the lights in the house - almost.

[Sludgy]

Jan,

I'm WAY impressed with the mileage you clam for the xB. It's higher that the EPA ratings on the sticker. What modifications and additives? What kind of driving do you do?

[JanGeo]

Yeah thanks you guys have got it down pretty good for gas saving tips. The only thing I have done with the xB is add the 3cc of torco GP-7 oil and 2 oz acetone to 10 gallons. Right now I have only 3cc of Torco oil in the gas and trace amounts of acetone in the gallon or so that was in the tank when I put the 10.81 gallons in at the fillup Sunday (11.9 gallon tank). It has 1800 miles on it basically not really flooring it much yet - just a couple of quick bursts now and then and a lot of stop and go driving around town. I have a 12 mile drive around Ocean Drive which I can make at about 25-30 mph with a few slow turns in it that is almost non-stop that yields some good mileage. The rest of the time I watch for red lights and catch a few that change pretty quick from green. Got the tires pumped up pretty good - they were 38.4 psi on all 4 - not sure where they are now 2 months later. Most of the tricks in driving come down to not using your brakes - if you can drive like you don't have any brakes you can save a lot of gas. Once in a while you HAVE to rev the engine a little especially when breaking it in or else you don't get the oil up to the top ring in the pistons and also don't spray the oil around enough to cool and lube all the parts in the engine. Also helps to downshift and let the engine slow you down so you get a little more oil up there in the cylinder. Another thing to remember is that you are breaking in the gears and shaft surfaces too. Pushing the car too hard can overheat the surfaces and break the oil down really quick when the surfaces of the gears have not had a chance to polish yet. What I like to do is when the engine is warmed up and I am taking off from a light or stop sign is to give it a little gas in first gear and just let it rev up until it stops increasing in speed. You get a good idea how loose the motor is getting when it revs up freely - if it stops accelerating at 4000 rpm or so then the motor is still tight and needs more breaking in. Taking off slowly like this sounds cool and then when you hit the next gear you can just goose it a little and really move out as you are already high in the rpm/HP curve or just give it a little gas and rev it in that gear too. I usually do this in the first two gears and then drop it in 5th and watch the MPG on the ScanGauge come way up after loosening the motor a little by reving it. The gaslog has all the gas I have put in it to date - some of the low mileage was hitting 6 stop signs and lights in a 1.2 mile trip between the house I was sitting and the office. Accelerating hard and not coasting enough on those trips really dropped the mileage and it was cold then but the garage was heated so it started warm one way at least. One last thing is the odometer is still reading low so I am actually going 5-10% more miles than what it says - will get on a highway and check the mile markers on my next trip.

[diamondlarry]

Yeah thanks you guys have got it down pretty good for gas saving tips. The only thing I have done with the xB is add the 3cc of torco GP-7 oil and 2 oz acetone to 10 gallons. Right now I have only 3cc of Torco oil in the gas and trace amounts of acetone in the gallon or so that was in the tank when I put the 10.81 gallons in at the fillup Sunday (11.9 gallon tank).

Does anybody know how to convert mili-liters to cc's? I have a glass container Igot from Walmart that is marked in ounces, teaspoons, tablespoons, and mili-liters. I could be using this to add my Torco. What I have been doing so far is to put 2 ounces of Torco into a gallon of gas and use 1 ounce of that mixture/gallon of gas added to the tank. The other way may be much easier.

[Sludgy]

One milliliter ("ml") is exactly equal to one cubic centimeter ("cc").

[diamondlarry]

I thought I had heard that before but it just seemed too easy. Thanks for the info.

[JanGeo]

I just use a 10cc medication seringe and load it up with 3cc of oil straight and then I don't have to deal with gasoline - that gallon will go stale before you get to use it all. 1 ounce is about 30cc so use the graduated cylinder to mix up a smaller amount.