Everett Ogilvie

Just hit $4 locally - that is gonna put the hurt on towing to any events this season. And the worst part is the price hikes have only just begun.....

John Shiels

4.15-4.49 I have seen yesterday for diesel. There goes the economy again. Gas is 3.69-3.89 here on Long Island. They are saying over 5 by peak driving season.

It will be 220 buck @ 5 per gallon to fill the Excursion.

Glad the heating season is over because it already cost a fortune to heat my house.

Releasing the US Strategic Oil reserves I think is a bad thing as it could get much worse if oil from Saudi Arabia was cut off.

Reserve your Volt now!
Boating industry has been hammered. Many companies have been put out of business. Some have hung on and cut back. I guess they just keep dipping into their reserve cash but that can't last forever. After a few years of this I expect many more to go under this year if it hits 5 it will be over 6 at a gas dock. Cost of making a boat with resins will skyrocket also.

If I get my car together it will hard to run with the cost and zero business so far this year. I don't want to start the addiction again and it really happens to me. My speed brain will over take my thinking brain. I guess I'll have a 3000 pound diecast in the garage.

No real thing other than my own personal feeling but gas / diesel is a deal at say 3 and up to 3.50 doesn't make me feel to bad. Over 4 I get sick and at 5 or more I panic for myself and the country which will shut down again. Even the talk of it will may myself and other stop spending on things not required.

This is just Libya imagine if the whole Gulf has uprisings 8 or 10 would be easy and the world would spin into depression. To think when I started driving gas was 28 cents and diesel was about 24 cents. My friend had an old diesel Mercedes.

High fuel is an instance tax on everything. Imagine heat an entire school or factory?

fatbillybob

Most of the T1 guys tune for 100 octane race gas at $8/gallon at the track. I'm not sure how much HP that gives you over 93. I also think i remember that when the gas prices got real crazy a year back sometimes there was not 100 octane at the track. Then what do you do when your ECU's want 100? Do you start leaning things out and burning up your car if you run 93?

Me2d

Take it easy, we - here in Europe - have to pay $7.42/gal

Everett Ogilvie

That is horrible, but I wonder if you are considering towing a car hauler trailer 4500 + miles this summer, at 10-13 mpg? Prices might be a real damper on the season.

ScaryFast

I'm sure not happy about it, but come on, we've had the luxury of cheap gas for decades over Europe. There was no significant drop in miles driven two years ago when gas spiked over $4 a gallon. The 15 - 20% increase in my gas cost to tow to the track (which is in the thousands), is not going to become prohibitive. How often do we have to go over the "racing is an expensive hobby" topic?

News flash: racing is an expensive hobby.

Poor-sha

Gas is that expensive in Europe because of taxes. Get rid of the income tax and I'll happily pay $8/gallon

BERETTA

I decided to skip my first planned event for the year due to the fuel price increase. At the current price around $3.50 for gas, that would have been another $100 added to the fuel cost for towing and the car for just that one event

John Shiels

It is not just the cost of towing it is the cost it may be to many businesses of which many here track junkies own.

Forget EU how many average dudes are doing track events like here or have boats & RV's like this country has had for decades? How big is the average house in EU? Taxes will skyrocket as municipal budgets have to cover fuel cost. GF taxes on house are just about 19,000 up over 1500 from one year ago. Property 50x100 + feet feet of water rights.

Mine is few grand cheaper on 75x150 no water and climbing fast.

Your heating cost, and daily fuel budget rise sharply along with your business cost if you have one. That is the cost not the tow and track fuel. Granted my usual tows of 300 miles may increase from $80-120 but that's not the fuel story the economy is. Consumer has money sucked right out of there pocket world wide. The people who want to see us choke get richer in the Middle East.

Everett Ogilvie

Diesel here went up 30 cents per gallon in TWO days. And based on the price around here of 2 weeks ago ($3.37), with it now at $4, that is a 30% increase (increase as a percentage of the old price). Short term price increases are driven by speculators and profiteers, and to remain politically correct I won't say how I feel about that...
For the small guy these increases are a huge factor.

John Shiels

2782 @ 12 mpg :*****

I have a new 19 foot Boston Whaler with a fuel efficient 4 stroke and it is 6 mpg. Race boat was 1 mpg years back.

I get auto delivery on account for my heating oil. It is high and I could get it cheaper on call and cash but what I pay follows the price of diesel on the pump may be cash is 50 cents less.

Have a trucking business or they guy making blocks, bricks, cement, and metal accessories for my masonry business and energy cost is a huge deal. I bid a job then end up with fuel surcharges on the delivery tickets I have to eat.

Price of tires will roll up too.

Me2d

Not considering anyway. I do drive my Z and service people from our autoclub are taking all stuff and tires for everyone - not for free of course.
Hard to say what is better, if You can sleep in the truck, You don't have to pay for hotels etc.
I'have to say that I wanted Mosler too, but there are further barriers and complications with operating heavy vehicles for towing (e.g. road-toll) and it was total economical nonsence

The taxes are really more than 1/2 of the price (Gaddafi's price+consuption tax)*VAT it is actually taxed twice.

John Shiels

By Drew Johnson
Thursday, May 29th, 2008 @ 5:10 p.m.

It’s no secret that record high gas prices are influencing many of Americans’ purchasing decisions — from how many miles to drive to what type of vehicle to buy — but the rate at which consumers are changing their habits is quite astounding.
Through the first part of 2008, small car and crossover vehicle sales were up 50 percent on 2007 levels, according to Motor Authority. More interestingly, Edmunds reports that there was a dramatic shift in consumer demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles beginning in March, right around the time fuel averaged $3.50 a gallon — supporting Ford CEO Alan Mulally’s claim that the $3.50 mark was the threshold for consumers to jump ship on inefficient vehicles.


Through the first part of 2008, crossover sales have surged 50 percent over 2007 levels, and now own a 6.3 percent share of the market. Compact vehicles have also seen a spike in demand, with the segment now holding a 20 percent share of the overall market.

On the other side of the coin, larger vehicle sales are way down. Compact pickup truck sales slipped by 37 percent while minivan sales tumbled 25 percent, capturing just 4.9 percent of the market. Large SUVs now only account for 4.1 percent of the market, down from 4.6 percent just a year ago.

But no matter what kind of vehicles U.S. consumers are buying, people are also greatly altering their driving habits. According to the Department of Transportation, March showed the biggest drop-off in driving of any month in the history of the organization. Americans drove 4.3 percent less in March, which totals about 11 billion fewer miles drive. The DOT has been keeping such records since 1942


4.3% drop in a month.

froggy47

I never have gotten the point of comparing gas prices in Europe (where you can drive across many countries in an hour or so) vs. the US (where it takes several days to cross the country).

Apples/oranges?

Personally I am putting more thought into local driving habits, combining trips etc. where previously I would just jump in one of my cars & make the solo trip.

Everett Ogilvie

That was why I asked about towing 4500+ miles - the distances involved are considerably different. I was on the road this past week when the prices sky rocketed DURING my trip - it hurt! I definitely change my plans and driving habits when this crap starts.

Timz06

That's my problem with it- it's all 'fueled' by speculation. There is no shortage of supply.

Me2d

Apples to apples are in 1Y total mileage. It is e.g. 24k miles in Netherlands, 18k in Germany and 13k here in Czech.

On the other side: The average United States driver travels 29 miles per day and is driving a total of 55 minutes per day. (This is an average vehicle speed of 32 mph.) US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics Source:http://www.ridetowork.org/transportation-fact-sheet

29miles per day is only about 11k/y

Crepitus

Bingo! Throw in ultra low sulfur. Twice as hard to refine and kills the lubricity for the injector pump.

John Shiels

That's funny because every vehicle since computers came on if I leave it the average is between 31-33 for speed.

BrianCunningham

love how the price of gas already in the station tanks goes up because of events over seas