[ExI] Energy hints

[spike]

> ...On Behalf Of Dave Sill
> ...
> I had a 3-cylinder Geo Metro ten years ago that routinely got 
> better than 55 MPG, so beating the current hybrids doesn't impress me.
> ... -Dave


This is one of the reasons why I don't get too worked up about peak oil.  If
we are willing to make some not-terribly-painful sacrifices, our
transportation oil use can go way down.  My brother in law had a metro.  His
had over 100k miles on it before he got it, but since he was only driving
six miles round trip a day, it was adequate.  He also could beat 50 mpg,
until he broke a piston ring and went from three cylinders to two.  Two
small pistons.  Then it had even less power, but still would get about 40
MPG, so he kept flogging it to work and back.  Drove it almost five years
with those remaining two cylinders.  After the failure it wasn't fast: it
would hit about 50 mph on level ground in still air, if you were patient.

If we settle for slow, light cars, we can get high fuel economy.  Our
current Detroits are such comical overkill, our grandchildren will laugh and
envy.

spike