I have a new business plan!

[MovieStuff]

For a reality check, thing "tires". We all deep down know that tire companies can make tires that could outlast the cars that use them but that ain't gonna happen in our lifetime. As long as there is big money to be made in providing a limited power resource, there will be no appreciable funding to discover new energy technologies. That's just the hard truth of it. Anything being researched now is more for PR or the back pages of Popular Science than for the benefit of mankind.

Roger

[Blue Audio Visual]

Time to dust down my perpetual motion machine that I have stashed away in the back of my garden shed and head off to the patent office. I will finally join my rightful place in the multi billionaire club along with Gates, Abramovich, Mittal & Buffett.

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

[camera8mm]

does your bailout plan on spending more money on an endless ammount of commercials??

how bout they require you to make you make a model that doesnt run on gasoline before you get any of the money.

for killing off the volt, they got what they deserved, a fading industry.

[super8man]

Roger are you suggesting there is also a 200 mile per gallon carburetor? For the record, I do not believe there is...And how long do we need a tire to last? Many people now sell there car when the tires need replacing (as a rule of thumb). It never used to be that way though...tires used to wear out much more quickly...

[MovieStuff]

Roger are you suggesting there is also a 200 mile per gallon carburetor?

Not at all but cars do get better mileage now than they used to. And we were told that electric vehicles were still 30-40 years away by all the research institutes until there was a $250,000 prize offered for a practical design about 10 years ago. Six months later that prize was won by a couple of college drop outs using off the shelf components and sponsored by a plumbing supply company. It's amazing what can get done when you take the research grant factor out of the process.

And how long do we need a tire to last? Many people now sell there car when the tires need replacing (as a rule of thumb). It never used to be that way though...tires used to wear out much more quickly...

Um, exactly.....

Roger

[super8man]

While I am the first to love old cars, I am the last that wants to be peeling around corners in a car that's been previously parked in the Arizona sun for 20 years equipped with BF Goodrich Radial T/As from 1985. No sir...my point is that some solutions (lifetime tires) solve a problem that does not exist (that tires don't last long enough for drivers in today's cars).

We could also invent a t-shirt that never wears out but why? Common sense tells us that we would simply buy a new one next year...

[MovieStuff]

..my point is that some solutions (lifetime tires) solve a problem that does not exist (that tires don't last long enough for drivers in today's cars)

I wouldn't mind if my tires lasted a lot longer. But if I can't make my point with tires, here's one that I think we can all agree on: INK JET CARTRIDGES. :twisted:

Roger

[downix]

For the record, VW is introducing their L1 this year, which *does* get over 200MPG.

[super8man]

Roger, you mean you don't simply buy a whole new printer everytime the black ink runs out? Gee, I am starting to sound like a Californian and car purchases (we buy new cars once we are required to smog them after 4 years).

And do you all think that diesel is dead now that VW is being bought by Porsche. From the rhetoric I have heard, Porsche doesn't really like diesel engines...

At work here in California, I have a few friends waiting for a diesel car to be allowed to be sold in this state. So far nothing is available. The diesel Jetta was our only hope - bet it gets shelved by Porsche...

[super8man]

For the record, VW is introducing their L1 this year, which *does* get over 200MPG.

No carburetor though! hahaha...it's a fuely...(fuel injected)

[S8 Booster]

if Porsche buys VW it is a matter of survival because here is the writing on the wall but it is not only P who would be bankrupted by these regulations;

http://www.motorauthority.com/eu-enviro ... limit.html
http://www.motorauthority.com/eu-counci ... -2012.html

shoot....

[James E]

I took my wife's 05 C230 to the dealer for it's last under warranty service and got a ride in a courtesy E series Blue-tec diesel. It was very quite and smooth. I asked the guy driving to "punch it" and it about broke my neck! It made something like 300 HP and 500 lbft' of torque!

I don't really understand American driving habits. My C230 is a 4 banger, the last year issued. Now they're all v6's. I drove the identical V6 version of of the 06C230 and my supercharged 4 banger blew it away. Mine gets 5mpg better is .5 sec faster to 60mph and has better mid to low end acceleration. People here seem to be 4 cyl adverse like it's not good or luxurious enough. With a simple ECU upgrade I can get 20/20 more HP and torque and 3mpg better mileage.

In general Americans IMHO are piss poor drivers with a lot of dumb ideas about engines, fuel, mileage, and speed. Somehow they think diesels are evil even though they last far longer and burn far less fuel, and that driving slower and being stuck in traffic buy not building more freeway lanes causes less pollution. :?: (I live in 'green" Oregon where the vehicle is an tool of evil.)

The few times I've been to Europe I was impressed with the condition of the Autobahns/Autopistas, the skill of the drivers and the speed at which they drove. If you think the freeways in Belgium are bad, (I didn't) try driving around Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, the I-80 Donner pass or LA. Roger, I'm getting ready to move to TX where the speed limits are at least reasonable. 80 on the W. TX freeway? That's still 5mph slower than the slowest speeds I saw in France or Spain (130 KPH w/ an average flow 140-150kph) The cops get on your case for going too slow! A driver that can get somewhere in 4.5-5 hours eg Portland to Boise at 100mph, is less fatigued than a driver at 65 driving for 7-8. The greater MPG fuel burn at the higher speed is insignificant. My wife's C230 gets 30-33MPG at 65-75, 29-31 MPG at 80-90MPH and 27-29MPG at 95-110, 24-26 MPG 115-120, above that it drops off very quickly. SO there are optimal, very fuel efficient high speeds at which people can safely drive. If people could driver faster, the overall consumption of fuel and addition of pollution would be less since they're not stuck, idling, or in stop and go traffic which creates the greatest amount of pollution due to constant acceleration and braking. What most governments are interested in doing in the US is posting artificially low speed limits in the so called name of safety and environment so they can issue speeding tickets to generate revenue. It's always all about the money w/ the government.
Check it out: Best Highway Safety Practices Institute. http://www.bhspi.org/
Most specifically : http://www.bhspi.org/main/mission.html

Cheers,
James E.
http://www.payoffyourhomenow.org
Save your home, mod that loan!

[aj]

Here is an appetizer for cars from the recent past:
http://community.ebay.de/media.html?id=3708
German spoken.

Possibly these cars had then already a better MPG

Of course then you could also shoot Kodachrome and Moviechrome at very friendly prices too. Eliott Bristow Retro style with a Nizo.