Cost of fuel

[pipme]

Today !!

Unleaded Petrol Melbourne Oz ... A$1.03 per L. approx GB£0.44 !!!

LPG A$0.40 approx GB£0.17 per L !!!

Woo Hoo, What a 'ripper' as they say !!

Probably nicking it from Indonesia, by shifting the odd territorial boundary, I guess (recently in the news ?).

 

[AdamW]

Nah, you need cheap petrol to run all those inefficient old-fashioned 2 valve pushrod engines! My friend has a diesel that does 70mpg, so the poor old treasury wouldn't get to see so much money if they didn't rape us in the ass every time we take it on ourselves to fill up so we can drive to work and boost the economy cos let's face it, they can't boost it!

I have seen the Vauxhall-badged Holden Monaro, the engine is soooooo last millenium. Wouldn't say no to one though. Mmmmm, 5.7 litres. Yum, V8. drool

 

[pipme]

Here is one for the melting pot .... A motorist's union.
Could become a very powerful organisation I reckon.
If it had 5M members .... that could be a large chunk of revenue control ..... Just calced that on vehicle tax alone (must be 5M of us doing that !!) around £ 825 M, add in fuel tax and all the other car related revenues ... Quite a lever I would imagine. Hammer out deals with oil and Insurance companies, be nice to be driving the wedge in for a change !!
One for you Adam, My friend in Oz runs a '70's Chrysler with 265cu. inch motor, E38 camshaft, gas flowed head. Straight gas on 4 barrel Impco system and extractors .... Just about to fit a supercharger !!

His son has similar, but with 600 plus BHP (on rolling road) .... uses on the street and does drag racing ... Shoves one's eyeballs into the rear of one's skull, when the hammer is dropped, I gather !!

P

 

[david and julie]

600 bhp, What for? 10bhp around oz beaches is plenty for a perv like me! Whats the rush, I wanna make sure I don't miss anything!

 

[AdamW]

600bhp is good. Of course a 70s muscle car weighs about 43 tonnes so power to weight isn't that good

It is surprising to see the performance figures of big-block yank tanks from decades past, 0-60 in 6 seconds wasn't unheard of for some of the spicier models in standard form.

David, you need to get yourself down to Daytona beach in Florida: me and a couple of friends were out there for Spring break last year (although missed by one week, DAMNIT!). You get to drive along the beach until you think "hey, this is a nice spot!" then you just park up and ogle the bronze beauties who all love an English accent.

 

[securespark]

Well, I've achieved my highest ever laden figure for consumption. Did smoke and back with two adults, two kids and roof laden on outward journey. 56mph on cruise and got 746 for 39 quid of diesel.

Not bad. Previous best was 660. Mind you, they reckon previous gen Golf could do 900. Maybe in a lab.......

 

[pipme]

Ozzie petrol heads !! Over the top or wot ?
We are talking big A$ here !!
The car in question has had huge weight reduction exercise, 0-60 in about 3 and a bit secs !! Apparently has shocked many a powerful mo-bike off the lights !!
Dave, did mention the boy uses it at drag racing events.
Does the beach work off the old surf board !!

P

 

[david and julie]

pipme...I was only being light hearted, I knew you didn't mean for everyday use!

Adam.. have been to florida many times including Daytona, did you go to the space centre and see the size of the rockets! now they are engines!

Securespark...I have an Astra 1.7dti estate, at a steady 70 mph I get 61mpg and 48 mpg for local use. I bought mine from BCA a year ago, it had FSH one owner and was 20 months old, I paid £4600 for it. I have done 10.000 miles in it with no problems, it has still not had its first MOT.
Cheap insurance and only £115 a year road tax too. I know they are nothing fancy but they are fabulously cheap in use. Perfect for the working person.

Have you noticed how people don't like diesel cars, believing them to be noisy and smelly. Once they have had one though, most would never go back to petrol!

 

[keyplayer]

Bring on the hydrogen...

 

[pipme]

Hey dave .. no umbrage taken !!

By the way .... car is used on the road a fair bit too !!
I know, nuts !! Tell me about it !!
P

 

[securespark]

D & J

Yes, mine in that tax bracket, too.

I was converted to diesel in 1994 by a BX1.9RD. Non-turbo, but went like stink as half the car was fibre.....really impressive!

Then bought Monty with Perkins TD, then Xantia TD (disappointment after BX - it cost nowt but faulty alternator, but the Xantia had wty and dealer service was at least 200 every 6K....plus plastic clutch/cable link snapped. Wty said not included, I fought and won. They charged 200 to fix it and part was only 4.65..... Said clutch was wearing out and getting heavy.....got new clutch....now I know that taxi drivers and other high milers just get the link replaced by a Cit Specialist and wait for the Grim Reaper to come for the clutch plate...Quelle debacle, as they say....)

Now got 02 Octavia - belting....25K only faults rattling sunroof, dirt inside headlight both fixed under wty. Why buy VW or Audi??? Only gripe rear legroom, but I bought the car for the boot which is huge....

Only now we're expecting no. 3...................Skoda will only take 2 baby seats in rear. Time to invest in Seat Alhambra TDi, methinks!!!

 

[AdamW]

Securespark...I have an Astra 1.7dti estate, at a steady 70 mph I get 61mpg and 48 mpg for local use.

I have an Astra 1.6 Mk4, I once managed to get 41mpg but that was a continuous 70mph for 400 miles. I usually get 33-35mpg. If I was getting another Astra I would get the bigger engined versions as they have a bigger tank (unless they have changed this for the Mk5).

The benefit is, however, I get 35mpg no matter how I drive. Like an old woman, or like a crazed monkey on speedballs, it does the same. It's a funny old engine, very torquey low-end for a small petrol and there really isn't much benefit to be had by revving it highly. According to my ex's dad (a mechanic) Vauxhall have changed very little in that engine over the years and the 16V heads are more prone to failure.

 

[pipme]

Times yesterday.
New, unsold SUVs in USA if placed end to end would stretch 13,125 miles!
Due, they think in the main to the increase in fuel prices, up 52c per gal on a year ago, to an average US$1.94 !!! Bit more than £1, .. Poor thangs.
Interesting point, US stats ... Occupant death in SUVs 6% higher than in cars, they also kill more other road users per million models on the road than do cars !! ....
Yes ! get rid of the white lines, Hummer H2 (£27,500 new in US !!!), cavalry charge air-horns at full volume !!

P

 

[lesbirch]

quote]What on earth do Tony and Gordon do with all the dosh![/quote]

Much of it is lost to incompetence - for example the Scottish Parliament building will cost over 10 times budget. My guess is that this is typical of all govmt projects.

Much of it goes in unneccesary govmt employees. If you do not have a week heart you should buy the Guardian on the day they advertise government jobs (Thurs?) You will see literally hundreds of jobs with titles like 'co-ordinator' or 'facilitator'. Few of them are for people who actually produce something.

( This is not intended to be an anti-Labour comment - I dont think things have ever been different)

 

[AdamW]

"Yes Minister" is still as relevant today as the day it was filmed! I watch it on UK Gold and it is amazing how little has changed in 20 years