On Wednesday, November 5, 2003, at 04:20 AM, Hans Franke wrote:
>
>> Cameron:
>>>> Ron, give him a break, he's driving one of these big useless
>>>> Toyota SUVs, and I'm bugging him every time I'm over when he
>>>> finaly get's rid of that fuel sucking monster and gets himself
>>>> a nice roomy and economic station wagoon.
>
>>> I'm still waiting for the SmartCar to appear in the States...
>
>> Argh. You don't mean that little two-seater deal? They were a plague
>> upon
>> Rome (just got back from vacation), although I can't argue with their
>> fuel economy.
>
> Maybe, the Italians always loved to drive small stuff. The
> Smart is a perfect example for an emotional car. Either you'll
> love it or you hate it. there is no indifference. I love it.
> you got a better seat feeling than in an E-calss Mercedes.
> Shure, the car ends right in front of the windshield and just
> two feet behing your heed, but you don't feel it (most cars don't
> let you see the hood anyway, and who turns around while driving).
>
> Fuel Economy isn't as good as it may seam, since AC and all the
> little gadgets need their power, so gasmilage is only between
> 50 and 70 mpg (city/highway).
>
> Nonetheless its extreme fun to drive it. Due the low wight and
> relative high powered engine (50+ HP) it drives like a cart.
> And it's even a great ClassicComp vehicle, at least if you
> collect small stuff. The 'trunk' (as i tried) is good for two
> PETs, two 8050 dual drives, two 3022 printers and a bunch of
> manuals, diskboxes and so on :)
>
> And best of all, the new Roadster is a blast ... finaly again
> a new super small fun car, like the old 60's britisch cars...
>
> Ron:
>>> Then again, gas is so damn cheap in California ....
>
>> Yikes! I escaped CA, and one of the reasons was the prices!
>> But I guess CA is cheaper than most of europe ;^)
>
> At the moment it's acceptable in Germany: about 1.10 Euro
> per liter regular or 1.20 for premium), so make that five
> bucks a gallon. And Germany isn't even the most expensive
> place in Europe. If I remember the British prices correctly,
> which are quite higher, I don't understand why there was
> still oposition to Blairs heroic support for the war ... *G*
>
>> Prices in CA are high because there is an artificial monopoly.
>> Only about 5 companies make "California" gas with MTBE. That
>> and the extra taxes the environmentally aware Californians
>> put on.
>
> Are you shure that there are more companies in the US at all
> doing gas? I'm not talking about the label, since refineing
> business and selling are not connected in any way.
California law requires(ed) a specific oxygenate, MTBE = cleans
up some gasses from exhaust but gets in to the water and is very
hard to get out. Only a few refiners mix that particular mix.
They raised prices when the started putting the MTBE in. And now
that the law has changed they say they will have to raise prices
to take it out.
>
> Gruss
> H.
> --
> VCF Europa 5.0 am 01./02. Mai 2004 in Muenchen
> http://www.vcfe.org/
>
>
Received on Wed Nov 05 2003 - 08:24:22 GMT