[ds968]

[quote name='Mark' post='48512' date='Mar 1 2008, 04:41 AM']I found a receipt last weekend showing 0.99 per gallon and total of $16 for fill up. from 1999[/quote]



Sheesh, you keep receipts from 99 ?! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/blink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> You're almost as bad as I am <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> , though I've been scared by my tax accountant into saving those things just in the event of a uber-audit where they can go back years and years.. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/dry.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/mad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



But back to the fuel cost increase in this last decade (well, almost a decade): if my salary, all our salaries for that matter, would have gone up by a factor of 3.5X since its level in 99, that would have been a very fair pairing to the current gas prices <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



public transportation is definitely part of the solution, but I fear still too little to materially change things. alternative fuels might make a huge impact, though no one seems to be able to categorically state at what expense those may come



think I'll go syphon some gas from my neighbor's Ford Excursion..that thing's got like a, what, 175gal. tank <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> ? and fill up the 968... he'll never notice anything missing, just starting his car consumes the equivalent of the 968's tank capacity <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/tongue.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Mark]

Actually no I don't keep that stuff, it was in a bag I used to keep in the car with jumper cables, etc and has been sitting in a box for awhile. I'm cleaning up the basement as my too damn cold outside project.



I will never keep stuff like this after having tos pend months cleaning out my wife's grandfather's place. You had to look through everything since he stashed stock certificates, money and jewelry all over the place. He had every piece of paper from the last 60 years. You could not walk into the basement, we had to work or way in piece by piece. I do remember finding a gas receipt in his place for filling up one of his big feed hauling trucks ($2.54) but don't remember the year. I found titles to about 500 acres of land in one spot and another few hundred in another, taxes were current so he had been paying them somehow, I'm guessing those receipts are in another house we have not gotten to yet. We actually got the point of going screw it I don't care if I throw away a million dollars let's just dump this stuff.

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[unknown4u]

For those americans that think prices are high in the states.......



Europe today 9,12$ for a gallon...

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[pinball1008]

[quote name='unknown4u' post='48530' date='Mar 1 2008, 09:48 AM']For those americans that think prices are high in the states.......



Europe today 9,12$ for a gallon...[/quote]



In the UK you can now pay as much as $10 a gallon

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[Cloud9...68]

So true, as high as gas prices are in the US, we are really spoiled compared to Europe, Japan, etc.



Something I find very telling, though, is despite the fact that so many advanced countries have been paying insanely high prices for so many years, this has not spurred the creation of a viable alternative to IC engines burning petroleum-based fuels. It's just led to smaller vehicles, and lots of diesels. I think this demonstrates very powerfully just how non-viable these so-called "alternatives" really are, at least at this time. When I see those idiotic ads by BP where they interview all those geniuses on the street who make it sound like we should be able to just flip a switch, and convert the fuel for our vehicles to an un-named "something else," I want to throw things at the TV. If only it were that simple...



And Flash, I don't know where you heard the estimate that there's only 40 years worth of usable oil left on the planet. One thing these high prices have spurred is a bonanza for drillers, who have found many new reserves over the last few years, many in friendly places like Norway, and of course offshore in the US. I think 400 years is a better estimate, although it's probably somewhere between the two. If there were really only 40 years worth of oil left (weren't they saying basically the same thing in the 70's?), there would be a massive, unprecidentedly unified effort to find a viable alternative, not the scattered, tentative activities going on today.

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[PorscheDude]

So longs as Americans keep buying these huge SUV's and trucks that for the most part do not need, gas will continue to climb.



Would be nice if station wagons made a come back as the family "truckster" of choice.

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='smokiemon968' post='48543' date='Mar 1 2008, 06:12 PM']So longs as Americans keep buying these huge SUV's and trucks that for the most part do not need, gas will continue to climb.



Would be nice if station wagons made a come back as the family "truckster" of choice.[/quote]

I totally agree. While I understand the need for interior space when you've got a growing family, and can't put kids in the front seat anymore because of the air bags, and are dealing with bulky child seats (don't get me wrong - I have nothing against these safety features, just pointing out that they more or less necessitate a third row seat if you have more than two kids), but I never understood why the vehicle of choice morphed into a truck-based, 5000+ based monster, when a wagon with a third row seat can do the job just fine. Never underestimate the importance of style on peoples' purchase decisions, I guess...

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[flash]

i said "useable" oil - while new small finds have been made, nothing accessible or useable of note has been found - lots of attempts going on though - at the current rate of expanding consumption, barring finding some way to get to other oil they may find, the estimates are 40 years



by the way - i am guilty of having one of the big guzzling SUVs that i could probably live without - most comfortable and easy to drive car i own by far though

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[Cloud9...68]

The question of how much oil we really have left is of course complicated by many factors on both sides - the exploding demand in developing countries on the one hand, and the incentive to search in heretofore undesirable locations, driven by the increasing prices, on the other. But to me, the factor that so often gets overlooked and underestimated is mankind's incredible ingenuity, fueled to a great extent by our survival instinct. It's been many centuries since a succeeding generation could say they are truly worse off than their predecessors, so I have faith that today's and tomorrow's technological wherewithal will find a way out of this situation.



It is frustrating, though, that their isn't a clear solution, something we could direct a moonshot-like effort toward achieving. So my guess is that through some combination of technologies like plug-in hybrids, cellulose-based ethanol production, increased use of public transportation, advanced detection and drilling techniques, etc., we'll have all the fuel we'll need for many generations to come. At what cost, who knows?



And from what I've read, many of the recent oil finds have been anything but small. The world is swimming in oil, and of course the more expensive it gets, the more of it we'll go after.



I read a great analogy awhile back that goes like this - imagine you have a room full of pistachios that are free for the taking. The only catch is that you have to go in and get them, and leave the discarded shells in the room. At first, things are great, but after awhile, as the pile of shells gets deeper and deeper, it becomes more difficult to get the pistachios, and eventually, even though they are free, it isn't worth the trouble to keep digging through the pile of discarded shells to reach them. The question is, when will the price of oil, and the viability of the as-yet-unperfected alternatives, reach a point where it's no longer worth it to keep drilling?



My guess is that it's going to be a lot longer than 40 years. Flash, I know you and I are about the same age. I bet you lunch that when we're in our late eighties, we will still be able to drive (if they haven't taken our licences away <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> ) in our gas-powered cars (wouldn't it be great if we still had our 968s?) to a restaurant of my choice.

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[gryphon]

Fear not, Hillary will fix the problem of overpriced oil. I heard her say it this morning. Of course the questions remains, "How?"



Tom

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[SpeedRacer64]

[quote name='gryphon' post='48572' date='Mar 2 2008, 02:55 PM']Fear not, Hillary will fix the problem of overpriced oil. I heard her say it this morning. Of course the questions remains, "How?"



Tom[/quote]



Now that's FUNNY..... <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/laugh.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[flash]

lol - as much as i'd like to think so, i'll take that bet, because i am sure that i will be eating through a straw by then, and real food will be great



we'll probably have to go inland though, because the coastal town i live in will be under water due to the melted polar ice caps

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[Cloud9...68]

Nah, by then, the children of today's pundits will be back to predicting a new ice age, like they were in the 70s.

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[flash]

lol - more likely they'll be living in it

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[PorscheDude]

[quote name='flash' post='48552' date='Mar 2 2008, 12:46 AM']\

by the way - i am guilty of having one of the big guzzling SUVs that i could probably live without - most comfortable and easy to drive car i own by far though[/quote]



Shame on you!

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[SpeedRacer64]

Flash....think the one you got is bad...just bought the wife the new SS Trailblazer...to haul the kid around....yeah 13.8 mpg...but dang is it fast...going to the grocery store was never so fun...lucky for us everything is within 5 miles.



Keep on waking up in the middle of the night with a wrench in my hand dreaming of taking the motor out for the 68... <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/laugh.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='flash' post='48588' date='Mar 2 2008, 05:32 PM']lol - more likely they'll be living in it[/quote]



Or maybe it's already starting. I heard just a little over a week ago that International Falls, MN (aka the Nation's Icebox) saw the lowest temperature ever recorded in the US: 40 below zero F, with no wind chill. And what's with all this snow everywhere <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/blink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> ?

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[NeedPorscheSpeed]

[quote name='SpeedRacer64' post='48604' date='Mar 2 2008, 09:46 PM']Keep on waking up in the middle of the night with a wrench in my hand dreaming of taking the motor out for the 68... <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/laugh.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />[/quote]



Luke,



Bite your tongue, Mister! Aren't you the same guy who just the other day was praising the 968's "mechanical work of art" that resides underneath her hood? I certainly hope that you are not somnambulatory... <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/tongue.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[SpeedRacer64]

No...No.... <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/laugh.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> There's just something about torque.



I'll take the total package in the 968 everytime! Seeing some of the threads on the install It just makes you think of the "what if"



LuKe

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[unknown4u]

due to high oilprices I use the 968 as second car. My familycar is a Citroen C5 HDI. It runs more fueleconomic than the 968 and is a lot of quieter too. But unfortunaly, when you stuck down your foot to the floor little happens. 110 hp gives not the fun of 240 of a 968!

but the enviromental of the 968. 280 gr of co2 per km is a lot. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/sad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

The Citroen only produce 140 gr co2 per kilometer.



a green car.

Also the use of fuel is 48 miles to a gallon. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Conclusion, the less I drive with the 968 is good for the environment and my wallet.

but is gives no the satisfaction that I need.



Instead the high prices of fuel in europe I still drive the 968 as much as I can.



Maybe an option for the future is to redesign the 968.

A hugh build in dynamo with two electro engines in the back to replace the tiptronic? gives lots of torque!!

and two small batterries in the back for use in heavy traffic like a prius....yakkes I hate that word!.

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