I totally agree...some need their trucks for their work, SUV for their family safety and they can afford it, why not.. we need people who can afford it to spend to stimulate the economy.... not everyone should hold back....

 

It would be pretty hypocritical for me to knock drivers for having inefficient cars, when I'll hop on the motorcycle and ride 200 miles for the fun of it.

 

Heh. I bought the Fit because of this:

During spirited sessions I get about 4mpg when burning pump 93 + Toluene and Meth on my race tune 37-38psi boost. But when just highway cruising in vacuum in my super long 5th gear it'll do 28-29mpg. During a WOT tuning session it'll guzzle 14.x gallons in less than 80 miles.

Which is worse mileage than my old Ram Cummins Dually had when it was stock

 

 

Haven't seen that before!

 

I hope you're right and I'm wrong, that's for sure. But when gas prices get very high, Americans close up the wallets and they don't tend to move much. And when it gets bad enough and the market can bare no more, the prices will start coming down again. It's a scenario that's played out time and time again, bringing in stupendous profits. At the very least for us the consumer, it won't be good for the economys forward progress.

Dan

 

You're seeing it right Dan - Here's the rub, oil companies make huge profits regardless of the price of fuel, it's their industry and they make their money supplying the world.
Industrial pricing has little to do with the per barrel market oil price - these price rises are giving huge profits to oil speculators. The pump price is the price consumers pay to keep the investors in luxury.

The other fallacy is that unless we the people spend more money the economy will suffer... I've never understood that one.
How about pulling all 'off-shore' corporate HQ's back into the country they're exploiting and requiring them to pay their due share of federal/state tax. That would be a good place to start, then encourage consumer saving programs that allow the consumer to profit as opposed to the financial institutions taking all the advantage.

K_C_

 

But the $110 to $40 fill up cost difference is not comparable. The biggest variable is not mpg but tank capacity. The new F150's have either 26 or 36 gallon tanks vs Fit's 10-1/2 gal.

2011 F150's are EPA rated at 23mpg highway. One of my tenants just bought one and has taken two long trips, got 24-25mpg and truck not even broken in yet.

So in comparison Fit's average 35mpg cruising 70-75mph vs the F150 averaging 23mpg. Big difference yes but not 110 to 40 difference. Also remembering what additional the F150 can do, carry and tow I think it is pretty impressive.

Only reason I already know all this is currently researching a new vehicle as I need to haul motorcycles. Will either be a truck or a Fit pulling a lightweight trailer. Motorcycle in truck bed would only drop to 23mpg but pulling a 800lb trailer on a Fit I'm guessing could drop as low as 30mpg so gap narrows even further. However I'm still probably going to buy the Fit though as towing is only 10-15% of my use. The other 85% of the time I want a fun car to drive.

_

 

Due diligence on towing expectations w/ the Fit. You can but the hitch mount to body is minimal, as in sheet metal seams.
Look into Trailer Hitches, Heavy Duty Hitch, & Towing Accessories Made in America by CURT Manufacturing. They offer a three point hitch for the Fit. I think it's the only way to go.

Search the forum for towing or trailer hitch and you might find what others have been doing.

 

^Silverbullet: Good point. The size of the gas tank is just as important a factor in gas savings as mpg's, at least as far as the monetary savings aspect of the equation is concerned.

In my Altima, the EPA estimated fuel economy was 21 city/29 highway. With my commute and driving habits I usually averaged around 26 mpg per tank combined. With my Fit, my combined mpg is now between 33-35 mpg per tank.

The Altima had a 20 gallon tank, compared to only 10.6 gallons in my GE. I find myself filling up my Fit just as frequently as I did my Altima...every three to four days on average (~275 miles per trip to the gas station...I refill at around 1/4 tank).

With my Altima, a fill up would cost me in the neighborhood of $40-$45 because the tank was so freaking huge for a sedan. What's important that since the Fit is so much more efficient with regards to mpg's, I can drive the same distance that I did in my Altima on a smaller tank of gas. So even though the rate at which I fill up is just the same, I don't have to shell out as much to fill the tank because it is very nearly half the size. Hence the savings. I was in Jackson, NJ over the weekend and I was able to top off from 1/4 tank with $25.00...gas was $3.11/gal at the local WaWa, about eight cents cheaper than it is by where I live.

 

Thanks for the link. That does look like a better attach method. Although my use is so light duty probably any hitch will be fine. Most of the time my total weight (trailer + load) will only be 500lbs. Only occasionally will it go up to 800lbs, never over.

_

 

If the hitch mounted to tubular members I would agree, but on the Fit it's a sheet metal seam.
There's a post somewhere on the forum of a bike rack flexing a two point hitch.
You might consider it a light duty application, however, in reality there's quite a bit of load being managed at the tongue.

I've towed a 6' home made utility trailer on small cars for years. I've always balanced out the loads to give a 50# tongue weight max. Haul weight has been up to 500#.
As long as the trailer sits level when hitched to the Fit there should be no problem.

This spring I'll be hooking up the Curt euro-ball hitch to the FIT.

As with many small car manufacturers, Honda does not recommend towing anything with the Fit in the USDM.
Go to the UK and they do... it's an American insurance thing I'm sure.

K_C_

 

There's a good argument that incentives for home ownership exacerbate the problem. We no longer live in an age when most workers do 30 or 40 years and retire with a shiny watch. They tend to bounce around between jobs, which typically aren't all located in one central business district. As a result, they often find themselves with long distance commutes, but locked into one residence by virtue of a mortgage. Some states such as Cali further encourage this lock-in by having controls on property tax - even if you can move, you'll see a rise in property taxes.

It's only part if the puzzle, no doubt, but most people don't intend to have 30+ mile commutes.

 

Let's see, pay $4.00/gallon or pay a few cents per gallon but have Hugo Chavez as president.......let me see???........I'll take $4.00 a gallon, thank you.


Flea

 

1)My retirement fund partly invests in oil companies, why do you want me to reduce my retirement?

2) Yes they make huge profits, but the return on the HUGE investment they have is right in line with other industries. They also employ hundreds of thousands of people.


Flea

 

I am concerned about the lack of hundreds of thousands of domestic jobs these groups are failing to create.

In the long run, these companies make rich men out of a few, at the expense of many at home and abroad.

The fact that many of our homegrown firms are no longer necessarily tied to the country that allowed them to come to being is a big problem.

That and they can rent a senator or some representatives to get them subsidies, tax breaks, etc. that allow them to return even less to the system that lets them rake in these profits.

I too am a stock holder in a few of these groups, but to just go "I got mine, screw you guys" is part of the reason we have the economic issues we suffer from today.

Sometimes you need to look at the bigger picture and not just yourself.

You are in part screwing my generation, that of my children and grandchildren by supporting the policies and practices that allow these guys to skirt their responsibilities to this country and its people.

How does it make any sense that we should encourage or accept large groups making record profits in some cases while the rest of us had to tighten our belts for the recession? Or bankers getting bonuses after requiring a bailout which for some reason was given to the banks that allowed the crappy loans and mortgages in the first place? (in some cases without proof of owning the loans or possession of the paperwork)

Lets elect some more republicans to serve their corporate masters. So while they spent months screaming about jobs and reform.. the only real actions they've made is to work on making abortion illegal and keeping gays from getting married all while "sticking it to the libs"

Lets reduce the deficit through tax cuts! Let's defund NPR! Let's attack the teachers! Let's cut unemployment benefits!

We don't want an educated populace that might catch on to whats happening do we? We'll run on a platform of Joe "lowest common denominator" Six Pack, call anyone remotely educated an elitist and make the words elitist, intellectual, liberal and progressive insults because we are pandering to our semi-literate base of mouth breathers who have bought 30 years of reagonomics BS because they don't know any better and were essentially tricked into voting against their interests! Screw collective bargaining too! Who did that ever help?



Jobs? What about em? You just need to be more bootstrappy! You betcha *wink*

In short, if you can't be bothered to care about others.. F*ck your retirement.

My generation won't be able to retire.

Most of us will be dealing with loans on degrees that have far exceeded the pace of inflation because you a$$holes have made education a business as well. Not even accounting for the debt, pension overhangs and medical costs you guys will leave in your wake.

/end rant

 

I have no real issue with the oil companies. You're correct, they make a great return and employ a whole lot of people.

My issue is with the oil speculators. If the bbl price of crude was actually based on supply and demand that would be one thing. What the oil spike in 08 told us is that investment speculators were effecting the price and gambling obscene profits. Plus the fact that OPEC is 13 foriegn countries managing 40% of the world oils supply. The USA is certainly not a member, however, the pump price I see has historically based on OPEC's production rate. Now we need to figure in the speculation factor...??

Something is wrong with this arrangement.

 

I noticed a lot more motorcycles and scooters on the road this morning than usual. The weather is nice, so I guess the folks who have 'em are taking advantage, as well as softening the blow.

How high are these prices projected to go, experts?

 

You just described my situation exactly. A few years ago when my wife and I were in the process of getting married, I landed a full-time faculty position at Bucks County Community College...thought the job was secure until I was laid off after two semesters. That job was literally five minutes from our town house. Now I have been full-time faculty at Drexel University's Center City campus (Philly) for the past three years...32-mile one-way commute!

I love teaching at Drexel and I hope to be here for a while, but the commute is horrific. I'd like to move closer, but we can't due to our current mortgage; the market is awful (not a seller's market by a long stretch) and I don't think we've built up enough equity yet to even think of moving.

 

DiamondStar, it is obvious that you and I will never agree. I think you are a bleeding heart liberal, I want the government to control everything, and any company making a profit is a horrible thing. Me.....I'm sure you can come up with a good description. Your system is called Socialism, and it is a great system in that it accomplishes what it sets out to do....make everyone equal.......equally poor that is. Secondly it only works until you run out of other peoples money. My system, Capitalism works. Perfectly? NO! It has its flaws but it is by far the best system since Fred Flintstone.

I'll leave it at that and get back to Honda Fits.

Hey, the last time that gas went this high, your people blamed it on George Bush, .......well? Who's fault is it now???? Is it still George's fault.

Okay, now back to the FIT.



Flea