BUSH: Gas consumption / state of union

[wahaha]

I predict that he'll say something like "We're reducing the speed limit nationally to 55."

 

And if he does, then it's me who told him to do that. And if he says anything other than that, he's even more of an idiot than the polls claim.

 

He had a package of bills last year he tried to pass, which his secretary told me "He knows what he's doing, and has plans..." which were all unanamously rejected as being idiotic and not providing an immediate impact on fuel supplies.

 

Seriously, this guy should be savaged by a hamster. What a failure for someone who went to Harvard AND Yale.

[Tenebrae]

American speed limits have always baffled me - many jokes are made about your inability to drive in the Britains but seriously, you've got some of the longest, straighest, flattest, widest roads... are you kack handed that your tankmobiles can't manage 70 without crashing? Seriously, if you think reducing the highway speed limits will make a difference, you're just not looking at the right problem. American cities are the problem, they're built FOR the car.

 

I had a friend from MA and she was basically trapped in her house because she didn't have a car - that's the problem, not the speed limit. Unless you're being facetious. Somehow, I doubt you are though.

 

The hydrogen economy seems to be touted a lot... I wonder why? We've literally NO infrastructure to support it.

 

Also - best not to make threats on the president with hamsters, the secret service will be round.

[Ulysses]

well it was reported last week that the uk speed limit should be raised from 70mph to 78mph

[wahaha]

By the time the hamster got to him in the mail, it'd be dead, what with the delivery services not moving packages on the weekends(stupid businesse move there)

 

I have no problem driving well above 130, sitting comfortably and securely behind the wheel of my twin turbo Audi. But the problem is not the width and length of American roads. It's the condition of these potholed, rutted, manhole cover infested death fareways. The thickness of concrete used isn't even half of what they put into the German Autobahn. The only country I feel assured of safely driving those speeds would be in Germany, and only in a German car. But I'd be more than happy in a VW GTi or smaller Audi IF they had the damn features that they only seem to put in the bigger cars.

 

There's a reason the speed limit used to be 55, and why so many old and some new cars have highlighted numerals at 55. Because it SAVED GAS when there was a gas crisis in the 70's! People seem to have forgotten that time in history. Since the idiotic US auto industry is too incompetent to build efficient vehicles, and people are too poor to buy German cars(which would support their development of alternative fuel engines), the only solution again is to reduce the speed limit and viciously enforce it. They just upped the limit for semis here, and these things already get a measly 5mpg. It's not a long term solution, but it works for the here and now. And bush is a hypocrite with his F350 plowboy mobile. He belongs on the farm, living off the fat of the land instead of the taxpayers.

 

As for hydrogen fuel. I can just see the first car out of good 'ol gang bang detroit being a 600HP hydro-camaro. They'll just treat it as a joke, like all their cars are. America will succeed in sucking the ocean dry in 30 days with hydro-nascar events. It's so ridiculous that ford and gm had to combine their miniscule brain power to come up with a 6 speed auto when the Germans did it years ago. Why is it so hard to adopt fuel efficient transmissions and engines from Europe and just shove it down the throats of Americans? Because all these past presidents were incompetent morons and have no power or pull. We think 0-60 is an everyday stoplight event. If that were the case I could blow away every damn body in this town for their lack of automobile awareness with my cars small but deceptive 2.7L 32mpg engine. But I TRY to drive conservatively and do my part. In fact I'd much rather have the lazier European transmission for my car instead of the bastrdized US version which revs higher and wastes gas.

 

In most cities you can usually use the public transportation system. But even that is bigger and more wasteful than it needs to be in most cases. We have to do EVERYTHING jumbo sized here. So I don't see why the person in MA would be stuck. Unless they live out in the woods like my relatives in NH. And the solution to that is obviously 1 passenger vehicles. We don't need cars that seat 6 when there's usually 1 person who drives it. Covered motorcycles or hybrid designs like the CARVER are cool alternatives. The SMART FORTWO is coming soon to the US, but it might have a hard sell because people won't feel safe in it unless they outlaw SUVs. But I'm sure they'd feel safe doing 220 on a suzuki hayabusa with just a helmet.

 

It seems too that the auto industry doesn't want to invest in making these vehicles until there is an infrastructure. Well I don't remember there being a shell and wesco food mart on every corner when ford and benz started making their cars. They're just slapping their jaws and saying a lot of nothing, hoping in the mean time they can get rid of their old junk to countries like China and reduce them to a pile of ash before they are forced into making clean vehicles. Or maybe they can't make them because they're not smart enough? I feel if any country had UFOs it sure as hell wouldn't be the USA. We can't even make a decent fuel efficient car.

 

Last contention is commercial buildings. These places have gaps so big in their front doors you could fit jeremy clarksons ego through. It's an amazing feat of engineering to accomplish that much inefficiency in design, as to let all the heat out of your building in 30 seconds.

[bones2097]

55...isn't that 30mph....lol!!!!!!!

 

thats the speed limit here (uk)........

 

 

on residental roads!!! ::)

[TetsuoShima]

30 mph is about 50 kmh

 

I think he means 55 mph though, that would be about 90 kmh.

 

Funny thing: my fathers bmw consumes just as much (in mpg) while driving 40 mph as when he drives 65 mph, that's constrant speed, no acceleration (that's 40 in 5th gear and 65 in 6th gear, since 40 in 6th gear is not pleasant to drive), so all that driving less than 65 mph accomplishes, is loose time, price and fuel consumption remain the same over the same distance.

 

EDIT: for that car obviously... don't know about other cars.

[Hilander72]

That's an odd car... ???

 

Increased speed should increase drag and therefore increase fuel consumption.

(Unless the car somehow 'becomes' more aerodynamic at higher speeds :o)

(maybe something kicks in at lower speeds, airconditioning or the subwoofer in the trunck ;))

[TetsuoShima]

It probably has to do with engine efficiency. I figure the engine and drivetrain are simply less efficient (concerning to consumption) in the slower combination. It's a diesel with variable geometry turbo, direct injection and all that stuff...

 

Airco is regulated by temperature (suprise :D ), no subwoofer, my father is 64 years old. :D

[bones2097]

its about revs.... mor for 40 in 5th

then 60 in 6th...

 

i think!!

 

just imagine if the greater public were told they could save money by driving faster??

 

:o

[wahaha]

Yup. I try to keep it in 6th as much as possible. At 55 it's running a little over 2k rpm. But with the German geared tranny it would probably do 1500 and add 5 mpg. I think I read on a website that you'd save more gas by gunning it to 60 or whatever speed you needed instead of taking it slow and rowing through all the gears.

 

I just think the US has gone nuts with big N/A engines when the world would be better served with smaller turbo ones. Not to mention the US doesn't build good engines anyway. Thinking of the ford 3.8L coolant leak problems.

 

And as it turns out, all bush suggested was for him to grow more corn. Ethanol is not the answer.