Having noticed our post on fuel economy recently, the folks at Autolite directed us towards their new YouTube channel where they are spreading the gospel of the clean spark. Ok, so they design and sell spark plugs for a living, of course they want us to look at their ads videos. Really though, they’ve put together some pretty cool vids including ones with drag racers Cory McClenathan and Cruz Pedregon.
In this video, Autolite’s tech trainer talks about how the condition of your spark plugs affects fuel economy.
As traditional media tries to hold on to market share, the old school car mags are doing their best to get with the new media. Old guys are being replaced supplemented by young guys and girls who truly get the virtual world.
In this vein, Car and Driver mag is reaching out to bloggers to get the word out that they are as vibrant and relevant as ever. In other words, they are blogging their hearts out! They’re not just blogging though, as they are tackling topics that are hotter than ever.
Today, they’ve got a list of fuel saving tips to help ease the pain at the pumps.
The first two should be common sense: Tune-Up Your Car
Keep Your Tires Properly Inflated
Really folks, a well maintained car does get noticeably better gas mileage. Continue reading →
When I first began driving as a teenager I really wasn’t bothered by the price of gas primarily because like most country boys raised on a ranch we had our own gas pump. I had actually driven for almost a year before I ever had to pay for a tank of gas. I recall a couple of cute gals from my high school cruising around with me on a Friday afternoon when we all decided it would be cool to drive over to a nearby town and check out the sights. Before we got ready to leave I asked, “Since it’s about 15 miles over there how much gas will it take us to get there and back? Do I have enough?” The gals didn’t know any more than I did so we pulled into a gas station to ask a friend. He asked me how much cash I had and after looking in my ash tray where I kept my money I found about six dollars. I remember him saying. “SIX BUCKS! That’s enough to drive all the way across Oregon and back.” Continue reading →
They say that what comes up, must come down. Somehow, that doesn’t seem to apply to gas prices. On the drive home from work last night, the pumps said $1.17 a liter. This morning they had jumped to $1.20 a liter or roughly $4.80 a gallon! Somewhere along the way, this has to stop.
Perhaps when the price of a liter of gas equals the price of a liter of Evian.
This photo was taken a couple of days ago in Death Valley by one of the Motor Trend family. And I thought gas was expensive here in Toronto at $4.36 a gallon!
Recently there have been a lot of articles with headline quotes such as “V8 On The Way Out” “Big blocks doomed” “Muscle cars a thing of the past” and so on. Yeah sure, and I have some beach front property in Iowa I will make you a great deal on too. This is simply a trend of the times not all all unlike those hard times with high fuel cost and gas lines back in the 70’s. I should know, I was there and I owned three service stations at the time.
Some more recent quotes have been made by Bob Lutz who has been a vocal opponent of the regulations which he believes will harm the U.S. auto industry. Lutz said, “This is going to be a net average of cost of $6,000 per vehicle which will have to be passed onto the consumer. CNN reports, “Newer luxury cars are shifting toward smaller, more sophisticated engines for power.” and Chrysler says, “The Hemi in not the powertrain of the future.” Continue reading →
Although the U.S average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline remained unchanged today at $3.03, different parts of the country provide wildly different prices.
If you live amongst the rich and famous in Bedford, New York regular is offered today at $3.75 per gallon.
To save some money at the pump, you luck out if you live in the Golden, Colorado area. Gas today at one station was offered at $2.60 for regular unleaded.
Next time you slug down a Big Mac or two consider the fact that the cost you pay at the pump may also be contributing to your high blood pressure.
Americans are now pumping 938 million gallons more of fuel annually than they were in 1960 as a result of extra weight in vehicles. A lot is attributed to additional electronics and safety features, but a good proportion is the good old blubber factor.
When gas prices average around $3 a gallon, the tab for overweight people in a vehicle amounts to $7.7 million a day, or $2.8 billion a year. Now wonder convenience store’s in gas stations are filled with hot cheese nachos, Twinkies, and Slurpies.
You’ve all seen those local gas price comparo pagers, well now Mapquest is getting in on the game. Now you can find directions and cheap gas all in one place. I suspect that this will be a great tool for you mobile web users. At the moment it looks like this product is for the US only, as the Canadian provinces don’t show up on the selection menu but I would suspect it will only be a matter of time.
Recently there have been a lot of articles with headline quotes such as “V8 On The Way Out” “Big blocks doomed” “Muscle cars a thing of the past” and so on. Yeah sure, and I have some beach front property in Iowa I will make you a great deal on too. This is simply a trend of the times not all all unlike those hard times with high fuel cost and gas lines back in the 70’s. I should know, I was there and I owned three service stations at the time.
