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Still haven't filled up in a while. (been like 2-3 weeks now) I haven't had anywhere to go but I'm gettin close. My fuel gauge says 1/4 of a tank with 225 on the trip odometer. My fuel gauge is most likely off. It'll prolly be down to the E in 35-40 miles but even then I'll have about another 60 miles till it runs out I bet. (11.9 gallon tank but the gauge only reads 9-10 of it. The rest is a reserve).

This next fill-up is gonna be painful as I still am jobless. Tomorrow I'm gonna talk to thsi guy and confirm whether or not I have a job. Was supposed to yesterday but he left early and today he just wasn't there.

I think I'm gonna wash my parents cars to get some gas money, fill-up, and if I get the job I'm gettin my dad to buy me a bike which he said he'd do If I got a job at this particular place (only 3 minutes by car to get there, it's just outside my neighborhood and them mile and half - 2 mile drives are tough on a car's engine and I want my B16 lastin as long as possible)

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HAHA!!!! I is a genius. I sold one of text books back to the book store today for gas money. I got $38.50 for my history book and then went and put $25 of gas in my car. Apparently I had more gas than I thought. It's 3.33 for the good stuff here with water at 3.09 and the crap that wished it was the good stuff at 3.21. So about 7.5 gallons at $3.33. Wonderful. At least ole Midori will be runnin for a while now.

I need to sell some more books. I didn't pay for em so it's gold mine for me. I think I'll give some of it to my parents since they were the ones that paid for em after all but hey, I need gas.

According to my calculations I was averaging somewhere around 32-34 MPG on this last tank. Not bad for the B16. Good thing I have a 96 CX instead of the 99 Si it came out of. My car only weighs 2200lb instead of the 2600lb this motor originally had to pull. The Si is only rated at like 28-30MPG highway.

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some books they wont take back cause they are switchin books next semester (like my Office 2003 book, they must be changin the software over to office 2007). So I'm gettin rid of what I can. I'm keepin my PreCal and Econ books cause I'm takin them again in the summer. If I keep gettin $38.50 for these books, that'd be sweet. Gas and insurance money for a while.

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Some quotes from this column by Larry Elder:

... we could try a little perspective. In 1981, Americans spent 5 percent of their household budget on gas and oil. Last year, despite "skyrocketing" gas prices, Americans spent 3.8 percent. ...
... Given today's fatter paycheck, we pay less as a percentage of our mean disposable income. A gallon was 27 cents in 1949 -- but to put the same pinch on your wallet today, you'd pay $6.68. Gas for 1962's "muscle cars" cost 31 cents a gallon. To feel the same economic impact today, you'd pony up $4.48 a gallon. ...
... A recent editorial in a liberal newspaper brought some sad news. It pinned the high prices on the mysterious notion of supply and demand. It noted that despite the teeth-gnashing, Americans -- over the Memorial Day weekend -- intended to keep driving [JDoors: because they're not REALLY feeling any pinch, price-wise, despite all the teeth-gnashing]. And even with the availability of more fuel-efficient cars, Americans still love those old "gas-guzzling" SUVs, what with their roominess, high-tech features and all. ...
... What about the prices paid by consumers in other countries? While the average driver in the U.S. paid $2.68 per gallon in mid-April, our Northern brethren in Canada paid $3.56. Meanwhile, a gallon in Japan cost $4.16, the Spaniards paid $5.14, the French forked over $6.50, a trip down the autobahn cost German drivers $6.72 a gallon, and our friends in the United Kingdom kept a stiff upper lip while shelling out $8.37. ...
... Politicians and the mainscream media [JDoors: and most consumers] ignore supply and demand; overlook the impact of federal, state and local taxes on the price of a gallon of gas; disregard the effect of consumers' driving habits; refuse to point out the ineffectiveness of "windfall profits taxes"; and blame Big Oil for refusing to build refineries while ignoring environmental restrictions that make it unprofitable to do so. ...
Edited by JDoors
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  • 2 weeks later...
But getting drivers to think smaller is a huge challenge. Americans love their space. Cars are roomier and heavier than they were a generation ago. Despite improvement in technology, gas mileage in similar car models has actually gotten worse.

In 1986, a Honda Civic CRX could get 52 miles per gallon in the city and 57 miles on the highway. A 2007 Civic only gets 30 miles in the city and 40 on the open road. The new Civic is nearly three feet longer and weighs almost half a ton more.

The major reason: safety standards.

"Inside this new Civic is a chock full of safety equipment, front air bags, side airbag, a curtain, antilock brakes," said Csaba Csere, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver magazine.

That equipment adds 700 pounds and limits the ability of cars to get more miles per gallon.

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Nice find Bozo. Im tired of being force-fed this safety crap. Like these "Click it or Ticket", seatbelts laws. If I dont want to use something that may or may not help me in the event of a crash, thats my right. Soon you wont be able to find a vehicle w/o several hundered pounds of these stupid side impact air bags in the top of your vehicle. Only thing you can do, I guess, is take em out :whistling:B)

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But getting drivers to think smaller is a huge challenge. Americans love their space. Cars are roomier and heavier than they were a generation ago. Despite improvement in technology, gas mileage in similar car models has actually gotten worse.

In 1986, a Honda Civic CRX could get 52 miles per gallon in the city and 57 miles on the highway. A 2007 Civic only gets 30 miles in the city and 40 on the open road. The new Civic is nearly three feet longer and weighs almost half a ton more.

The major reason: safety standards.

"Inside this new Civic is a chock full of safety equipment, front air bags, side airbag, a curtain, antilock brakes," said Csaba Csere, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver magazine.

That equipment adds 700 pounds and limits the ability of cars to get more miles per gallon.

What I get out of that is: Drivers have and always have had the option to drive teensy cars that get fabulous mileage. They don't want them. But they also don't want to stop complaining that their choice costs them a lot to run.

Gasoline only has so much energy available and technology can only be taken so far to squeeze efficiency out of the combustion process, so less weight, i.e., smaller cars, is very nearly the only choice left (hence the teensy cars available in countries with truly high fuel costs).

I wouldn't say safety standards are "the major reason," but you can't ignore the weight they add either. A teensy car from decades ago may get better mileage than those available today, though better engine technology negates the difference somewhat. The Smart car is about as small as they come, but it doesn't get the incredible mileage you'd expect from something not much larger than a golf cart.

I remember when air bags were first introduced (not as standard equipment, but when they were first proposed). The auto makers cried about the added expense (price a new car lately?) and that they'd introduce NEW problems (see any news about injuries caused by air bags?). You're also paying for all the settlements paid by car companies in air bag injury related lawsuits (even though their installation is required by law in front).

The car I'm driving now is the first one I've owned with air bags and even after five years I occasionally get nervous thinking about that explosive charge two feet in front of my chest. I've seen 'em go off, they're nearly as violent as the accident that triggers them. (I still think they save lives and prevent more severe injuries, just as seatbelts do, but it's not a "free ride," there are costs and trade-offs involved.)

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But getting drivers to think smaller is a huge challenge. Americans love their space. Cars are roomier and heavier than they were a generation ago. Despite improvement in technology, gas mileage in similar car models has actually gotten worse.

In 1986, a Honda Civic CRX could get 52 miles per gallon in the city and 57 miles on the highway. A 2007 Civic only gets 30 miles in the city and 40 on the open road. The new Civic is nearly three feet longer and weighs almost half a ton more.

The major reason: safety standards.

"Inside this new Civic is a chock full of safety equipment, front air bags, side airbag, a curtain, antilock brakes," said Csaba Csere, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver magazine.

That equipment adds 700 pounds and limits the ability of cars to get more miles per gallon.

They said a CRX. Ummmm dur. The normal Civic of that year was bigger than a CRX and if you had the Si, it got about the same Fuel mileage as SOHC Civics get today. In fact the CRX he mentions is in fact the CRX HF. The Fuel efficiency model. It was completely stripped down and had nothing on it. It also had a 1.3L SOHC 8-Valve Engine (and it wasn't even fuel injected) and manual tranny. You also have to take into account that these things were death traps. If you got a CRX Si, it didn't get that kind of mileage cause it had more stuff on it and had a 1.6L SOHC 16-Valve Fuel Injected engine. My 1995 Honda Civic EX got about 40MPG on the highway and it was a 1.6 SOHC VTEC engine (new ones are ALL 1.8 SOHC VTEC). It's about the same as Civics today and that's a 12-year difference. Heck the DOHC VTEC Civic Si's have been gettin the same basic mileage since 1999. There have been 3 different motors and chassis from 1999-07.

Some people need to get a few facts straight first. He's comparing completely different types of vehicles. Civic VX's and HX's in the past have been the same basic thing as CRX HF. Do you know why they quit making all these though? Popularity. They didn't sell enough so they were dropped. Since then the Civic Hybrid has taken it's place and is enjoyin more popularity because of Hybrid craze. The older VX/HX Civics got about the same mileage but didn't have the features that Hybrid's have now. Most regular Civics today are getting approximately the same mileage as Civic EX's of the past though. So really the most popular Civic styles' mileage isn't changing much.

Edited by Honda_Boy
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Crap! We have a $0.14 difference just 4 miles apart at the same shops. (Meijers) $2.98 in town and $3.12 on the route to "Yuppieville" at the lakes of the rich. It's bull. I still feel sand in the vaseline.

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We have a $0.14 difference just 4 miles apart at the same shops. (Meijers) $2.98 in town and $3.12 on the route to "Yuppieville" at the lakes of the rich. It's bull. I still feel sand in the vaseline.

I've been using MapQuest Gas Prices to find the cheapest gas in my area... luckily the cheapest is 2nd in closeness to home (7.0 miles away). Might even come in handy when planning your trips to unfamiliar areas if you know the zip code, etc.

Enter the grade of gas/fuel and area info and wait (if you're on dial-up <_< )

MapQuest Gas Prices is pretty accurate from what I've seen in my little rural-Cali part of the world... and yes, the prices vary similarly as in the above quote.

Regular Gas... $3.16 USD in Georgetown, CA 95634

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Yesterday, me and my friend hauled his motorcycle in my dad's Tacoma and when we filled the truck up, Regular was $2.99, and Premium was $3.23. I can't believe my trip odometer on my Civic is already showing over 220 miles. I just filled it up not too long ago. I've been goin all over the place this weekend. It sucks not havin a job.

Speakin of haulin that motorcycle, I shoulda had more fun. :lol: My friend was ridin in the back to make sure it didn't fall over.

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... My friend was ridin in the back to make sure it didn't fall over.

Somebody ought to invent something to keep things from tipping over, like tie-down straps or something. :rolleyes:

Years ago I bought a big-screen TV from a going-out-of-business sale. Really, REALLY big. Even tied down that thing wanted to blow away at 50 mph (the speed limit was 55 but I didn't dare go any faster -- quite the angry mob behind me on that two-lane winding country road).

Just filled up after a long trip (no idea what the price was as I don't pay attention). Went to figure out my mileage and, after driving enough to use 3/4 of the tank, the trip odometer stated I had driven "00000.0" miles. Uh ... Oops. It was stuck at zero. It's especially aggravating as I get a kick out of the higher miles per gallon I get on those long trips. Kinda balances out the horrific mileage I get in four-wheel-drive driving through deep snow in sub-zero weather all Winter long (as high as 18 in summer, usually 16-17, as low as 12 in Winter, usually 14-15 -- that's in an Explorer Sport).

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We had it tied down but it still wanted to fall over.

Man, My trip odometer is readin about 270 miles. YEAH!!!! I still have an 1/8th of a tank left (according to the gauge but cause of that reserve I actually have more). I may break the 300 mark for the first time in this piece.

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gas prices dropped today back to $2.90 / gallon, the probe gt is giving me around 25 mpg highway and 21 in town which is pretty good for a '94 car. Gotta do the brakes this weekend and clean it up after several days of rain.

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Filled up today and I think prices were the same ($3.23 for 93 Octane). I got about 32MPG on average on this last tank. I might wanna swap in an LS (B18B) 5th gear as to improve my fuel mileage but cause it's longer, that's means I'd have to down shift from 5th more. I can stay in 5th on many hills and not lose speed.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, it appears the price for 87 is about 2.89 here on that gas map. I assume that 93 is around 3.09 - 3.12. I filled up recently but didn't even look at what I was payin. I just remember payin I think $26.01. I was quite pissed that I over shot the even mark by one cent. I got about 29-30 MPG on the last tank. I had about an hours worth of interstate driving (70-80MPH) and with the tach showin over 4 grand (somewhere around 4500 I think) at 75, my fuel mileage on the interstate isn't great. All the rest of it was city. I remember my old car spun at around 3 grand on the interstate so it got way better mileage.

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