Would you buy a hybrid car?

[pyrate83]

I've seriously been looking into it and with gas prices over $2 now it does seem like a good idea.

[tgpo]

Too late, already had one and we sold it. So you can't steal it. Ha ha ha.

[rallynavvie]

I would purchase one for daily driving, but I won't give up my little performance car even if gas prices were $10US a gallon. In fact I don't think I'd feel peeved about gas prices until they reach $4-5 a gallon. I enjoy driving so much that I count it as money spent toward my hobby. Filling up with 104 is getting a little bit pricey though, so I may have to cut back on track days.

[pyrate83]

tgpo[/url]]Too late, already had one and we sold it. So you can't steal it. Ha ha ha.

Why sell it though?

[BJ_M]

ford escape hybrid looks good

[tgpo]

tgpo[/url]]Too late, already had one and we sold it. So you can't steal it. Ha ha ha.

Why sell it though?

It was my Dad's car. He got tired of it and wanted something new.

[zzyzzx]

When I can get a made in USA 2 DR hatchback hybrid that I can plug in and recharge overnight and go at least 60 miles on a full charge, then I'll get one. Until then I keep my 1995 Escort.

[pyrate83]

When I can get a made in USA 2 DR hatchback hybrid that I can plug in and recharge overnight and go at least 60 miles on a full charge, then I'll get one. Until then I keep my 1995 Escort.

Yeah, I remember you saying this before and I agree with you. They are coming my friend. Another year or so and I believe you will start seeing some new hybrids hitting the market, especially from Toyota.

[pacmania_2001]

Right now I'd get a normal car of my choice then convert it to LPG and it'd be the same savings as a hybrid, for less cost and also you can choose any car.

[CoffeeGuy]

Right now I'd get a normal car of my choice then convert it to LPG and it'd be the same savings as a hybrid, for less cost and also you can choose any car.

You'd better hope I never convert to liquid propane. The day I do, will be the day the price of lpg goes through the roof. And stay's there.

Around here, there are several propane dealers, and all located on or very near major highway's. But, you'd have to plan your purchase between the hours 9-5.

Some one in my area has an all electric auto (retrofit) and he claims 20 miles on a single charge. Not much. But he say's it gets him to and from work every day. Battery life, if taken care of, 4 maybe 5 years. I didn't ask the price, but I imagine it was pricey. Still, this is the route I would want to go.

[BJ_M]

electric / gas hybrid lot more efficient than straight electric ..



cars that are straight electric consume MORE energy as they proccess's to create electric power (in most cases) are not as efficient as a gas engine ... you are just moving the creation of the energy from one location to another ...

you also have to replace the batterys more often - which a huge disaster in its own right...

straight electric cars are a bad idea

[CoffeeGuy]

Gasoline wont last forever. moving the creation of the energy from one location to another is the whole point. That's what is happening in the internal combustion engine. A solar panel temporarly fixed to the auto while at work (if you have access to the open sky) will supply you with a free charge. Maybe not a full charge, but a charge none the less. You take care of the batteries and the batteries will take care of you. A straight dc powered vehicle may not be the best idea, but certainly not the worst.

[BJ_M]

a hydrogen/electric hybrid will be prob. the car of the future

[Webster]

a hydrogen/electric hybrid will be prob. the car of the future

On a slightly related topic, why haven't anyone mention biodiesel car. They are more environmental friendly............. Check out this van:
http://www.biodieselamerica.org/biosite/index.php?id=3,0,0,1,0,0 :P

[hudsonf]

I would buy a hybrid car for my wife if the price was right. As for me I'm not getting rid of my Chevy truck no matter how much it cost to fill.

[Faustus]

If not for the high cost I would. I also would consider a VW with a Trubo diesel for mega fuel usage.

[pyrate83]

If not for the high cost I would. I also would consider a VW with a Trubo diesel for mega fuel usage.

Cool.

[jackal70058]

Definitley not!

I hate to have to have one of those.

And I definitely won't drive Toyota crap, either!

[flaninacupboard]

Toyota Prius, best economy 60MPG (55 combined) $20,000
http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2005/prius/specs.html

VW Lupo, best economy 78.5MPG (64.2 combined on the 1.7L engine) $16,396
http://www.vw.co.uk/new_cars/lupo/engines#


Plus there's a lot more to go wrong in the Prius....

[glockjs]

mark me down for a HELL NO. ugly little beaters. wouldnt be caught dead in one

[northcat_8]

I would buy a hybrid car for my wife if the price was right. As for me I'm not getting rid of my Chevy truck no matter how much it cost to fill.

Me either. If gas gets so high or I have to get rid of my truck, I'm buying a horse.

I would buy my wife one though.

I work with a guy who drives the Toyota Hybrid...or Honda Hybrid, I can't remember off the top of my head, little silver car, but he said he loves it. He's an old guy, so I assume he's past the "performance car" part of life.

[hudsonf]

My son is thinking of either buying a hybrid car or moving. He travels about 120 miles every workday. He lives in Ca and the price of gas is getting to expensive.

[jackal70058]

mark me down for a HELL NO. ugly little beaters. wouldnt be caught dead in one

Well said!

[Xylob the Destroyer]

I would purchase one for daily driving, but I won't give up my little performance car even if gas prices were $10US a gallon...

Amen brother!
I have a daily driver that gets fantastic mileage, but it's 20 years old and I don't know how much longer it's gonna last me....
My other car gets SHIT mileage, but I doubt I'll ever get rid of it because its so damn fun to drive and so damn fast. It doesn't come out to play in poopy weather tho, so I haven't driven it much in the past few months.
Stopped by one of the few places around that sell 'racing fuel' today just to see what it's going for -- $4.799 a gallon. Not too bad, and definitely not as high as I was expecting it to be, especially since the cheap stuff is around $2.059 a gallon.

[rallynavvie]

Just beware of using race gas in a street car. Most aren't ready for higher octane fuels like 104. Some performance models just need an ECU reflash so it car "re-learn" the timing and fuel delivery with the higher octane stuff. On mine I have a different map for 104 as opposed to the pump 92-93 I usually run, but I have to plug in the laptop to switch maps. I only run 104 on track days though, the timing is just too aggressive for street driving.

I get use out of my somewhat-fuel-efficient rocket all year round. It just wouldn't do to have a car you can't drive here 8 months out of the year (it is Minnesnowda afterall). AWD is fun

[Xylob the Destroyer]

hehe, my engine has been modified...
it can definitely handle the higher octane

since you're talking about on-the-fly fuel mapping and AWD, I pretty much have to assume you drive a WRX STi (or you've imported one of Audi's little Euro-spec pocket rockets)
mine's a bit too old for the groovy laptop connectivity, but....
I've replaced the stock head with a higher compression head and had the intake & exhaust ports machined to match and polished them out nice & shiny (unfortunately shaving the head just wasn't in the budget)
installed a set of performance cams
installed an adjustable timing cog and advanced the timing a bit
and of course, all of that would not be as fun without the performance chip I installed
nobody makes a cold-air intake for my engine, so I'll have to make it myself -- it's a work in progress....(pain in the ass!) so for now, it's just got the obligatory K&N filter, which actually made more of a difference than I was expecting

[AlecWest]

I answered "no" but only because I'd prefer a complete conversion away from gasoline. A few years ago in Portland, Oregon, there was a "Street Of Dreams" home show featuring houses with a "filling station" in the garage -- courtesy of Northwest Natural Gas. At the time, they suggested a dual-fuel conversion allowing cars to use either natural gas (filled up at home) or propane (an infrastructure already exists at many service stations near freeways to provide propane). I'm not sure how many people went for it ... but I think that would be the easiest conversion for people to make.

[zzyzzx]

I would think E85 might be an even easier conversion.

[enstg8er]

electric / gas hybrid lot more efficient than straight electric ..

not necessarily. electricity off the grid is often chearer per unit of energy. assuming coal and reasonable nuclear.

a hydrogen/electric hybrid will be prob. the car of the future

same deal. hydrogen doesn't exist in a natural state. you must expend energy to get it from a compound. then there is the storage problem. a long way off from practicality.
\

If not for the high cost I would. I also would consider a VW with a Trubo diesel for mega fuel usage.

best of the current options.

steam hybrids are lurking out there as the viable short term relief...........

[BJ_M]

electric / gas hybrid lot more efficient than straight electric ..

not necessarily. electricity off the grid is often chearer per unit of energy. assuming coal and reasonable nuclear.

a hydrogen/electric hybrid will be prob. the car of the future

same deal. hydrogen doesn't exist in a natural state. you must expend energy to get it from a compound. then there is the storage problem. a long way off from practicality.
\

If not for the high cost I would. I also would consider a VW with a Trubo diesel for mega fuel usage.

best of the current options.

steam hybrids are lurking out there as the viable short term relief...........

not true - gas engines are MUCH more efficient than any electric coal and nuke plants ... gas car engine is 98-99% percent efficient at converting gas to torque at the wheels .. way better than even steam .


hydrogen storage may be by tank at the distro level - but storage in the car will be by solid storage reactant ..

wind power hubs, water generation and geo thermal will power hydrogen production from water ..

The Danish Wind Industry Association includes hydrogen production from wind energy as a long term goal. According to the plan about 4000 MW wind power from 1000 offshore hydrogen producing wind turbines will generate enough energy for the Danish transport system.

German Enercon, US GE Wind and Japanese Mitsubishi are also going this route..

High-Temperature Electrolysis is another proven cheap source of H. , part of the Generation IV nuclear research plan. A single next-generation nuclear plant will be able to produce in hydrogen the equivalent of 200,000 gallons of gasoline each day. The US Gov. is very intersited in persuing this method.

solar is another way at producing H ..



Natural gas for cars is right now - not a viable alternative and support for this method in many areas has dropped to zero .. the major issue is the huge cost of the High Pressure pump required to fill a truck/car tank .. and said pumps dont last long .... service stations dont want/need that expense and tanks in the car are at VERY high pressures ... a safety concern in northern states specially (and canada).