Poll/Feedback- How soon for $3/gallon gas (premium)???
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5th Gear
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Chicago
$27.50 to fill the MCS yesterday @ $2.28/gallon. Grrr. I believe we'll hit
$3/gallon (in some markets- particularly California and Hawaii, perhaps big
cities too) around Memorial day/June timeframe?
My theories are
1.) OPEC supply- Is barely keeping up with demand. Even with the extra 1.5Million BPD (Barrels per Day) their pushing for- this won't hit the market until a month or two later. It's all futile anyhoo, because we're sucking it up here and in China anyways... Everyone blames OPEC, but they are really only a part of this problem...
2.) U.S. Refinery Problem- No new refineries in the U.S. in 10 (or is it more years?)
making additional output difficult. Also all of the different "blends" we have (regional fuel requirements, etc.) make things difficult.
3.) Wall Street paranoia- People on Wall Street are another breed altogether, it would seem that much of the panic is due to speculation and "fear of terrorism". Until we shake that, speculators will keep bidding up the price for future deliveries.
Even natural gas (Check the Henry Hub prices) are getting bumped up as speculation rolls over into that energy source (assumptions more companies/utilities will switch to natural gas as oil prices climb).
4.) Cycle- It seems that as we come out of recessions (ex. early 1980s, 1990s), oil prices always seem to skyrocket. Soooo we are, somewhat, in our "usual" cycle. The question is, tho, when does it end
Pretty dang pathetic how dependent we are on oil isn't it??? It's becoming more importaint than water & air!
Bottom line- energy isn't this infinite source, tho I think many of us at least are doing our part with our cars
Any other thoughts?
$3/gallon (in some markets- particularly California and Hawaii, perhaps big
cities too) around Memorial day/June timeframe?
My theories are
1.) OPEC supply- Is barely keeping up with demand. Even with the extra 1.5Million BPD (Barrels per Day) their pushing for- this won't hit the market until a month or two later. It's all futile anyhoo, because we're sucking it up here and in China anyways... Everyone blames OPEC, but they are really only a part of this problem...
2.) U.S. Refinery Problem- No new refineries in the U.S. in 10 (or is it more years?)
making additional output difficult. Also all of the different "blends" we have (regional fuel requirements, etc.) make things difficult.
3.) Wall Street paranoia- People on Wall Street are another breed altogether, it would seem that much of the panic is due to speculation and "fear of terrorism". Until we shake that, speculators will keep bidding up the price for future deliveries.
Even natural gas (Check the Henry Hub prices) are getting bumped up as speculation rolls over into that energy source (assumptions more companies/utilities will switch to natural gas as oil prices climb).
4.) Cycle- It seems that as we come out of recessions (ex. early 1980s, 1990s), oil prices always seem to skyrocket. Soooo we are, somewhat, in our "usual" cycle. The question is, tho, when does it end
Pretty dang pathetic how dependent we are on oil isn't it??? It's becoming more importaint than water & air!
Bottom line- energy isn't this infinite source, tho I think many of us at least are doing our part with our cars
Any other thoughts?
Thread Starter
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5th Gear
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Chicago
Yup, we're cheap compared to many other countries. BUT... Our public transit system (in many places) is pathtic and our cities are sprawled way out (which I'm not really for, but thats another rant)...
Still, we do have cheapo gas. Tho I was reading in the New York times that Venezula has $.80/gallon gas
Still, we do have cheapo gas. Tho I was reading in the New York times that Venezula has $.80/gallon gas
5th Gear
Joined: Sep 2002
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So much for the war being about cheap oil.... but alas, I digress.
I live in Wisconsin and I think I'll pick up a small motorcycle for around town stuff. That of course won't work for the winter.
Quite honestly, we're very spoiled here. Having lived in other parts of the world the gas is dirt cheap. (even now) I think we will just have to adjust our budgets.
I'm not a Green Hippy Tree Hugger but I do believe in some common sense. Next time you're out driving take a look around and try to spot the Chevy Suburban with one person in the 8 seat vehicle. Actually, look at ALL of the cars that way.
Sometimes, we lose our right to *****.
-J
I live in Wisconsin and I think I'll pick up a small motorcycle for around town stuff. That of course won't work for the winter.
Quite honestly, we're very spoiled here. Having lived in other parts of the world the gas is dirt cheap. (even now) I think we will just have to adjust our budgets.
I'm not a Green Hippy Tree Hugger but I do believe in some common sense. Next time you're out driving take a look around and try to spot the Chevy Suburban with one person in the 8 seat vehicle. Actually, look at ALL of the cars that way.
Sometimes, we lose our right to *****.
-J
5th Gear
Joined: Aug 2003
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If you want to know when we will hit $3 a gallon gas you don't have to go any furher than our White House, just our fearless Vice President, don't ask our President cause he hasn't been right about anything since he quit drinking. :smile:
Banned
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I don't think it will happen. Will we see prices in the $2.50 a gallon range?...Possibly, but $3 is quite a huge stretch IMO.
Last fill up of my MCS came out at $24.00 (Around $2.17 a gallon). Not terribly cheap but not terribly bad either when we are talking about some of the most fairly efficient and economical cars on the road today. My CVT delivers 31+ MPG. The MCS drinks more gas because it is a performance oriented model with so much more low end torque than the standard Cooper plus force induction (Supercharger).
Right now we are paying $3 to $5 more per fill up than we did 2 or 3 months ago. So that's what another $12-$20 more per month in gas? Not really a big deal.
Last fill up of my MCS came out at $24.00 (Around $2.17 a gallon). Not terribly cheap but not terribly bad either when we are talking about some of the most fairly efficient and economical cars on the road today. My CVT delivers 31+ MPG. The MCS drinks more gas because it is a performance oriented model with so much more low end torque than the standard Cooper plus force induction (Supercharger).
Right now we are paying $3 to $5 more per fill up than we did 2 or 3 months ago. So that's what another $12-$20 more per month in gas? Not really a big deal.
Coordinator :: Alabama Motoring Society & South East
Joined: Nov 2002
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From: Burning-Ham Alabama
Not soon enough if you ask me!
We currently enjoy some of the cheapest gasoline prices in the world (with the exception of some major oil producing countries). If gasoline were to hit $5/gallon, it would stongly encourage people to stop driving alone in their gas guzzling SUV's and seek more economical and environmentally friendly modes of transportation.
In large cities that suffer from heavy air pollution and traffic, some of the regular highway lanes should be converted to express lanes for alternative fuel and high efficiency vehicles. Expensive gasoline might not be enough to make some people get out of their SUV's, but watching happy Prius owners zipping past their parade of stationary SUV dinosaurs might infuriate some people enough to seek an alternative.
If MINI/BMW is reading this, I would like an alternative fuel or hybrid MINI
We currently enjoy some of the cheapest gasoline prices in the world (with the exception of some major oil producing countries). If gasoline were to hit $5/gallon, it would stongly encourage people to stop driving alone in their gas guzzling SUV's and seek more economical and environmentally friendly modes of transportation.
In large cities that suffer from heavy air pollution and traffic, some of the regular highway lanes should be converted to express lanes for alternative fuel and high efficiency vehicles. Expensive gasoline might not be enough to make some people get out of their SUV's, but watching happy Prius owners zipping past their parade of stationary SUV dinosaurs might infuriate some people enough to seek an alternative.
If MINI/BMW is reading this, I would like an alternative fuel or hybrid MINI
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Banned
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Hybrid technology is interesting and all, but is not a definite answer to alternative fuel vehicles. Just think of it as a stop gap technology until better techniques are developed in the near future.
Hydrogen fuel cells are the real hot ticket.
Speaking of hybrids, the City of Miami just purchased a fleet of GM's very first production of Chevy Silverado Hybrid full size pick ups. If GM gets it right, you will still see these behemoths in the road but with hybrid technology, so it seems to me that SUVs are no going away any time soon if manufacturers succeed at improving their dismal mileage ratings by means of Hybrid technologies.
Hydrogen fuel cells are the real hot ticket.
Speaking of hybrids, the City of Miami just purchased a fleet of GM's very first production of Chevy Silverado Hybrid full size pick ups. If GM gets it right, you will still see these behemoths in the road but with hybrid technology, so it seems to me that SUVs are no going away any time soon if manufacturers succeed at improving their dismal mileage ratings by means of Hybrid technologies.
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Also, MINI already has a very efficient fuel vehicle alternative in the European market...is called the MINI ONE "D" (Diesel). Powered by a 1.4L Toyota diesel engine and fitted with the MCS' 6-speed Getrag manual gearbox (Albeit with much different ratios from the gasoline powered MCS model).
See it here:
http://www.mini.com
So why not push to have low sulfur Diesel fuel in here instead? Seems to me a lot more doable than developing a MINI Hybrid model from the ground up.
See it here:
http://www.mini.com
So why not push to have low sulfur Diesel fuel in here instead? Seems to me a lot more doable than developing a MINI Hybrid model from the ground up.
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I would have to agree that hydrogen fuel cells are going to be the next widely used fuel,but how long to get the infastructure in place.The Olympics in Vancouver want to have hydrogen fuel stations set up for the games to showcase the technology,but thats not till 2010.Good thing the bottom fell out of the pregnant mare urine farms,at least horses are cheap 
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5th Gear
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Chicago
Cooper4Us has the right idea- diesel... I think VW has an ad "Diesel- makes it better" or something like that. With the newer technologies like common rail, better canisters all we need is low-sulfur diesel gas and we're well on our way.
Even Mercedes is jumping on the bandwagon with a CDI E-class.
I think we'll average around $2.40 for premium this summer nationwide, but if we have another snafu with pipelines in the U.S. (like in 2000), refinery fire or some little thing to make investors go nuts- $3 in certain markets is certainly possible.
How 'bout this for an SUV :smile:
Touraeg TDI
...
but we also have to think about energy consumption as a whole, heating homes, power generaton, etc. Now I'm not going to go say live in a tent or cram 3 people into a 1 bedroom space (oh wait, that was my dorm in college
), but things like using energy efficent heating/cooling, turning off lights when your not there, etc... All add up...
Even Mercedes is jumping on the bandwagon with a CDI E-class.
I think we'll average around $2.40 for premium this summer nationwide, but if we have another snafu with pipelines in the U.S. (like in 2000), refinery fire or some little thing to make investors go nuts- $3 in certain markets is certainly possible.
How 'bout this for an SUV :smile:
Touraeg TDI
...
but we also have to think about energy consumption as a whole, heating homes, power generaton, etc. Now I'm not going to go say live in a tent or cram 3 people into a 1 bedroom space (oh wait, that was my dorm in college
), but things like using energy efficent heating/cooling, turning off lights when your not there, etc... All add up...
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Not only the total infrastructure to support the production, distribution, etc of Hydrogen is the real challenge but also to develop a technology that is cost efficient to produce and reliable for the everyday person. There are too many hurdles between now and then (Including the influence of the Gasoline Cartels.... You know who you are) but Hydrogen fuel cell are the best technology available since the invention of the combustion engine.
Hybrids are very interesting and serve thier purpose for the time being, but they are not a permanent solution to the bigger problem.
Hybrids are very interesting and serve thier purpose for the time being, but they are not a permanent solution to the bigger problem.
Neutral
Joined: May 2004
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Gas prices should not scare you if you drive a mini s on the highway. Today. on depature, I cleared my mini computer on the dash. I got a few feet behind a UPS truck carrying 2 frieght containers. My mileage in the air draft registered at 50 MPG for
the first 10 miles. After the truck left, I traveled at 55MPH in 6 gear for an average of 37.5MPG at my final destination 32miles from home. Seems my car gets better millage after helix put the stage one kit on it.
the first 10 miles. After the truck left, I traveled at 55MPH in 6 gear for an average of 37.5MPG at my final destination 32miles from home. Seems my car gets better millage after helix put the stage one kit on it.
6th Gear
Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Tallahassee FL
One of the reasons you don't see the MINI D in the US, and lots of other foreign diesels for that matter, is the quality of diesel fuel available. European formulated diesel is cleaner burning than the US blend. I'm not sure if I'm remembering correctly, but I think it has to do with sulfur content. Running US diesel in European diesel cars would cause problems.
I think it would be a great idea for MINI to offer a hybrid. It would only add to the brand's fuel-conscious, forward-thinking image. Finding a place to put the batteries in such a small car might be something of a challenge, but I imagine it could be done. If they can use a Toyota diesel in Europe, why not borrow the Prius' engine/motor for a US hybrid?
I think it would be a great idea for MINI to offer a hybrid. It would only add to the brand's fuel-conscious, forward-thinking image. Finding a place to put the batteries in such a small car might be something of a challenge, but I imagine it could be done. If they can use a Toyota diesel in Europe, why not borrow the Prius' engine/motor for a US hybrid?
Former Vendor
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: Lakeside, CA
>>$27.50 to fill the MCS yesterday @ $2.28/gallon. Grrr. I believe we'll hit
>>$3/gallon (in some markets- particularly California and Hawaii, perhaps big
>>cities too) around Memorial day/June timeframe?
>>s it more years?)
>>Any other thoughts?
Yeah, They are ripping us off. Gas in some towns in California has already gong over $3.00 per gal.
San Diego has been being over charged for years. They say, "We have to ship it down there" (It comes down in a pipe) and the gas at a station 50 miles west of Barstow (take a look at your map) which is in the middle of nowhere has the best price I can find in Southern California. I always fill up there when I go to Vegas.
Earl
>>$3/gallon (in some markets- particularly California and Hawaii, perhaps big
>>cities too) around Memorial day/June timeframe?
>>s it more years?)
>>Any other thoughts?
Yeah, They are ripping us off. Gas in some towns in California has already gong over $3.00 per gal.
San Diego has been being over charged for years. They say, "We have to ship it down there" (It comes down in a pipe) and the gas at a station 50 miles west of Barstow (take a look at your map) which is in the middle of nowhere has the best price I can find in Southern California. I always fill up there when I go to Vegas.
Earl
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5th Gear
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Chicago
Be careful drafting trucks, tho- as paintjob damage or a damaged windshield could more than offset the fuel savings 
I do notice drafting helps, tho... I was following conversion vans about a week ago... We were in a "Train" of cars that was moving a constant 68MPH. Got 34MPG in that scenario... I was surprised!
Tho putting it into perspective, I suppose the extra $30/month I'll spend on gas in the summer won't really make a different in my lifestyle... Fourtunately, I do almost ALL highway driving at the moment and walk to work (my car will sit for 2-3 days during the week sometimes...)
I do notice drafting helps, tho... I was following conversion vans about a week ago... We were in a "Train" of cars that was moving a constant 68MPH. Got 34MPG in that scenario... I was surprised!
Tho putting it into perspective, I suppose the extra $30/month I'll spend on gas in the summer won't really make a different in my lifestyle... Fourtunately, I do almost ALL highway driving at the moment and walk to work (my car will sit for 2-3 days during the week sometimes...)
Former Vendor
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From: Lakeside, CA
>>Yup, we're cheap compared to many other countries. BUT... Our public transit system (in many places) is pathtic and our cities are sprawled way out (which I'm not really for, but thats another rant)...
>>
>>Still, we do have cheapo gas. Tho I was reading in the New York times that Venezula has $.80/gallon gas but I suppose to someone there $.80/gallon is probably expensive.
>>
>>When I was in the UK last fall, I was paying about $6/gallon for gas
I hear this all the time "In England they are paying $$$$ for gas" SO WHAT!!! Unless you compare wages, rent, bread, milk, etc. you CAN'T compare gas.!!!
Earl
>>
>>Still, we do have cheapo gas. Tho I was reading in the New York times that Venezula has $.80/gallon gas
but I suppose to someone there $.80/gallon is probably expensive. >>
>>When I was in the UK last fall, I was paying about $6/gallon for gas
I hear this all the time "In England they are paying $$$$ for gas" SO WHAT!!! Unless you compare wages, rent, bread, milk, etc. you CAN'T compare gas.!!!
Earl
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>>>>Yup, we're cheap compared to many other countries. BUT... Our public transit system (in many places) is pathtic and our cities are sprawled way out (which I'm not really for, but thats another rant)...
>>>>
>>>>Still, we do have cheapo gas. Tho I was reading in the New York times that Venezula has $.80/gallon gas
>>>>
>>>>Still, we do have cheapo gas. Tho I was reading in the New York times that Venezula has $.80/gallon gas
pug poo picker-upper
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: California
I paid $2.37 in Santa Monica yesterday.
Two weeks ago gas in Baker California (gateway to death valley and on the road from L.A. to Vegas) cost me $2.79.
Get ready for Peak Oil to be a major topic. Accounts I've seen have us using 4 barrels of oil for each barrel of oil we're discovering.
Two weeks ago gas in Baker California (gateway to death valley and on the road from L.A. to Vegas) cost me $2.79.
Get ready for Peak Oil to be a major topic. Accounts I've seen have us using 4 barrels of oil for each barrel of oil we're discovering.
Former Vendor
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: Lakeside, CA
>>Yup, we're cheap compared to many other countries. BUT... Our public transit system (in many places) is pathtic and our cities are sprawled way out (which I'm not really for, but thats another rant)...
>>
>>Still, we do have cheapo gas. Tho I was reading in the New York times that Venezula has $.80/gallon gas but I suppose to someone there $.80/gallon is probably expensive.
>>
>>When I was in the UK last fall, I was paying about $6/gallon for gas
I hear this all the time "In England they are paying $$$$ for gas" SO WHAT!!! Unless you compare wages, rent, bread, milk, etc. you CAN'T compare gas.!!!
Earl
>>
>>Still, we do have cheapo gas. Tho I was reading in the New York times that Venezula has $.80/gallon gas
but I suppose to someone there $.80/gallon is probably expensive. >>
>>When I was in the UK last fall, I was paying about $6/gallon for gas
I hear this all the time "In England they are paying $$$$ for gas" SO WHAT!!! Unless you compare wages, rent, bread, milk, etc. you CAN'T compare gas.!!!
Earl
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>>MINIclo posting on Yucca's laptop...
>>
>>I believe I saw $3.11/premium in Los Angeles on tv last night!
A 200MPG car with today's technology will probably have one wheel, no setas, no engine, no body and probably no steering wheel.
>>
>>I believe I saw $3.11/premium in Los Angeles on tv last night!
A 200MPG car with today's technology will probably have one wheel, no setas, no engine, no body and probably no steering wheel.
