Return to Unfiction unforum
 a.r.g.b.b 
FAQ FAQ   Search Search 
 
Welcome!
New users, PLEASE read these forum guidelines. New posters, SEARCH before posting and read these rules before posting your killer new campaign. New players may also wish to peruse the ARG Player Tutorial.

All users must abide by the Terms of Service.
Website Restoration Project
This archiving project is a collaboration between Unfiction and Sean Stacey (SpaceBass), Brian Enigma (BrianEnigma), and Laura E. Hall (lehall) with
the Center for Immersive Arts.
Announcements
This is a static snapshot of the
Unfiction forums, as of
July 23, 2017.
This site is intended as an archive to chronicle the history of Alternate Reality Games.
  

The time now is Mon Nov 18, 2024 10:13 pm
All times are UTC - 4 (DST in action)		 View posts in this forum since last visit
View unanswered posts in this forum
Calendar
 Forum index » Meta » Various & Sundry
What will your next car be?
Moderators: Giskard, imbri, ndemeter
View previous topicView next topic
Page 1 of 1 [6 Posts]  
Author Message
Tien_Le
Charter Member


Joined: 22 Sep 2002
Posts: 878
Location: corner of no and where

 		What will your next car be?
I found this cool magazine: Green Car Journal

Mainstream mag about all the car industry's work to create alternatives to the gas guzzling vehicles of today.
_________________
consume less; live more

PostPosted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 12:00 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
MageSteff
Pretty talky there aintcha, Talky?


Joined: 06 Jun 2003
Posts: 2716
Location: State of Denial

 		My brother the auto mechanic had this to say when we were talking about hybrids...

"You have to remember that the electric part of the engine kicks in only on the highway most of the time, because in city driving you aren't recharging the batteries fast enough - so in the city, you will be using the gas engine most of the time. If you do a lot of highway driving then the car would be worth it."

For myself, I think my next car may be one of those GM flexi-fuel vehicles that can use regular gas or ethanol mix. If there are local stations selling the mix, I can get it, but if they aren't I can use regular.
_________________
Magesteff
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead


PostPosted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:37 pm
 View user's profile Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
 Back to top 
yanka
Fickle


Joined: 06 Oct 2003
Posts: 1214
Location: undesirable
MageSteff wrote:
My brother the auto mechanic had this to say when we were talking about hybrids...

"You have to remember that the electric part of the engine kicks in only on the highway most of the time, because in city driving you aren't recharging the batteries fast enough - so in the city, you will be using the gas engine most of the time. If you do a lot of highway driving then the car would be worth it."


Hm, the above is wholly inaccurate. I have a Prius, and it's equipped with this neat little LCD which shows you what you're using at the moment - gas engine or electric motor or a combination of both. Whether I'm going full speed on a freeway, am stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, or am driving on city streets, I see on that monitor that I mostly use the gas engine when I increase speed, use the battery when I am maintaining speed, and charging the battery when I'm slowing down.

Whether the car runs on its electric motor or gas engine has nothing to do with whether you're on the freeway or in the city – it is completely dependent on the car's fuel system management computer's determination of need for horsepower. The "electric part of the engine kicks in only on the highway most of the time" statement is simply not true – the battery takes over on the city streets (just as it does on the highway) any time that the car thinks the battery can give you all the horsepower you want – which, provided you are maintaining speed is actually more frequent on the city streets, since highway speeds are usually higher. There are also a lot of variables that influence your mpg – how fast you take off, how fast and how long you accelerate, how often and how long you are depressing the gas pedal, how often and how long you break for (Prius has something called "regenerative breaking"), and a load of other stuff, but the main point is – it's all in play both on the highway and on city streets.

The second part of the statement – "in city driving you aren't recharging the batteries fast enough" is inaccurate and… um, baseless. Your battery is being charged any time you let your foot off the gas (such as when you break, roll down hill, roll to stop or to slow down, coast, etc.), provided it needs charging. When the computer determines that the battery charge is below a certain level and the gas engine has horsepower left to dedicate to battery charging, it charges the battery. I hope it's obvious that that also happens not only on highways, but on city streets as well.

Further, what does "recharging fast enough" mean? I am not sure whether that implies that the battery gets all the way depleted, and the car needs to hurry up and recharge it, or that it needs to keep it fully charged all the time. I hardly ever see my battery fully charged, but I see it being used all the time. I can actually only remember one time that my battery was discharged completely (at which point it needed to be "recharged fast") – I was driving to Vegas, going mostly between 95 and 100 for about 2 hours, got to the mountain-y area, tried to maintain speed, and it ate my battery completely. It was recharged within minutes after I started going downhill. But, anyway, the point is – your battery does not need to be fully "recharged" in order to be used, and most of the time you are driving on something between 50% and 90% of the battery charge. Both on city streets and highways.

Finally, onto the "the car would be worth it" part. Well, I drive rather like a maniac, probably with about a 30%/70% highway/city ratio, and my mpg is around 46. When my boyfriend drives it, he gets it to between 50 and 55. Mm, gas money, especially if you're a normally-driving person (unlike, er, me). I can drive in the carpool lane alone. And I can sell this car today for about as much as I paid for it 2 years ago. Dunno… seems "worth it", doesn't it?
_________________
Annushka has already bought the sunflower oil, and has not only bought it, but has already spilled it.

PostPosted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 3:33 pm
 View user's profile
 Back to top 
Addie
Guest


 		Mage, get a new mechanic. Or fire your brother. Wink

I'm a Prius driver also, and the main thing to remember is that the car needs to warm up. After the first 5-10 minutes, I can be in city stop and go traffic and never have the gas engine kick on.

BTW, on Christmas day on the highway we got about 45 MPG going 80 MPH to San Antonio and back. Not too shabby.

PostPosted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:42 pm
 Back to top 
imbriModerator
Entrenched


Joined: 21 Sep 2002
Posts: 1182
Location: wonderland

 		Just to add on to Yanka's great post with absolutely no real personal experience (yet! I am getting a Prius when I move and have spent many hours in Honda & Toyota dealerships), but my mom's boyfriend has the Lexus Hybrid and has had similar experience to Yanka. The battery has always been charged (but not fully) and he gets great mileage for an SUV (mid 20s). Not that it justifies an SUV, but it's slightly less cringeworthy.

Also, I just can't see how your brother can make such a claim when the mileage figures show something so different. Non-hybrids get better mileage on the highways while hybrids get better mileage in the cities. (based on their figures created in ideal situations, I know) But, as an example - the Toyota Camry which has both hybrid and non-hybrid models. The non-hybrid gets 24 city & 33 highyway. the Hybrid gets 40 city and 38 highway. The difference between them is far greater when it comes to the city figures and, considering that it's getting better city to highway, I just can't see how one could claim that it's relying on gas most of the time in the city.

PostPosted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:45 pm
 View user's profile Visit poster's website AIM Address
 Back to top 
MageSteff
Pretty talky there aintcha, Talky?


Joined: 06 Jun 2003
Posts: 2716
Location: State of Denial

 		Thanks guys. I'll have to bop my brother on the head (and myself) for not doing any research. Very Happy
_________________
Magesteff
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead


PostPosted: Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:12 pm
 View user's profile Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
 Back to top 
Display posts from previous:   Sort by:   
Page 1 of 1 [6 Posts]  
View previous topicView next topic
 Forum index » Meta » Various & Sundry
Jump to:  


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
You cannot post calendar events in this forum



Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group