[extropy-chat] Public Transportation

[MB]

I am sadly out of step with the mainstream. Have been looking for 10
years for a car like my Geo, but have not found it, no matter the gas
mileage. Don't like big size, don't want all those "features", don't
like the styles, all pointy in back with tiny rear windows and poor
visibility. My Geo is so old now that it's become a "county" car and I
have to use something else for long trips.

For me the little car was comfortable: the seats were comfortable,
visibility was excellent, the car was nimble and handled nicely,
zipping up our hills and merging onto the interstate, carried lots of
stuff, parked in a tiny space (which was good after the parking spaces
on our local streets were redone to size "extra-small") and could run
all over the place for a couple of weeks on one tank of gas.

Which is why I still have and use that car every day. My other car
... well, better not get started on that topic. ;)

Mournfully,
MB


On Wed, 23 Mar 2005, J. Andrew Rogers wrote:


> The 50mpg engines were actually less efficient than the 30mpg
> engines, they were just much smaller.  Better gas milage has nothing
> to do with whether or not the engine is "crappy".
>
> To put it in simple economic terms, the fuel economy differences today
> between a two-ton mid-size sedan with a 0-60 in the mid sixes and one of
> the funky subcompact hybrids is about 100 gallons per year.  Or
> $20/month, and less than a lightbulb's worth of CO2 generation.  This
> makes the choice obvious to most people, and the point of the sacrifice
> dubious.
>
>
> What I think has happened is that beyond a certain amount of fuel
> economy people are not willing to give up features or performance, even
> for people who really do care about fuel economy.  Fuel economy is not
> the only driving consideration in vehicle selection.  A lot of people
> are willing to accept a 35% reduction in fuel efficiency for a 250%
> increase in power, particularly if it buys them other features, like not
> having to drive in a sardine tin, more space, or good performance. Fuel
> economy has come a long way.  20 years ago, 30mpg got you a 100hp
> engine.  Today 30mpg gets you 250-300hp.  Trading all those ponies and
> the flexibility in car layout that comes with them for marginal
> increases in fuel economy just does not seem worth it for most people,
> obviously.  If the high-end of fuel economy was something like 60mpg
> typical in a decent car, it might be more compelling.  The closest thing
> we have to this today is the micro-diesels (like the Jetta TDI).
>