• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

Any changes in driving habits yet?

High Gas Prices !

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'Bout sums it up!
I guess that I'm in the last category, but for my "fun dollars", I just can't beat drivin' that Vette! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::yesnod:
Andy :wavey:
 
My '69 big block, only comes out occasionally anyway, so the current gas situation is not going to have any impact on that ride. The '01 vert and the Z16 get better gas mileage, both in town and on the road, than the wife's Cadillac SRX. So, I am in one of those most of the time. :yesnod:

BTW, I just got back from a trip to North Carolina to pick up our grand kids for a couple weeks. We have been planning this time with the kids for 6 months. We did not know the gas prices were going to go through the roof when we made these plans. When this is all done and we have returned the kids to NC, I will have spent about $600 just in gas on the SRX. :ack2: It would have been a lot cheaper and more fun to go get them in either the '01 vert or the Z16 :yesnod:, if they would have fit :nonod:, or to fly them down and back. Oh well, what we do for our kids! :thinkin:

Rich
 
Has anyone checked airline ticket prices lately? I would imagine they have gone up as well. I sent off a package a couple of weeks ago via Delta Dash that normally cost around $80. This time the cost was around $120. Those planes use a LOT of fuel, so I would expect a serious increase in those fares.
 
Rich Z said:
Has anyone checked airline ticket prices lately? I would imagine they have gone up as well. I sent off a package a couple of weeks ago via Delta Dash that normally cost around $80. This time the cost was around $120. Those planes use a LOT of fuel, so I would expect a serious increase in those fares.
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last year 250.00 in december to january . 2 weeks vacation from Orlando to San Juan P.R. this year I bought the same exact Ticket last month it cost me 445.00 . It is out of site :banghead::banghead: For 2010 im going crusing :lmao::lmao:
 

We were car pooling from Dec to May, but that is no longer possible.
No real changes because all use premium

Commute is 30.5 miles one way for me

Choices to drive... in the order I drive them.
02 Coupe - Cam, Headers, Exhaust
99 Coupe - SC, Cam, Headers, Exhaust -(actually gets the best gas mileage
07 Z - Stock
03 GSXR 600 - I could ride more, but with business dress it is hard.

Commute is 25 miles one way for him

Choices to drive... in the order he drives them.
07 Z - Stock
99 Coupe - SC, Cam, Headers, Exhaust -(actually gets the best gas mileage
02 Coupe - Cam, Headers, Exhaust
 
85vette said:
Still can't get used to seeing $60.00 on the pump when I put only 13-14 gallons in it though!
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:shocking: Me neither! So, I don't drive a whole lot anymore. F*** them. I just enjoy a lot more things at home. I drive my Z to and from work, some errands and an occasional cruise. Last tank of gas lasted 3 weeks. I just hit 2 weeks on this tank and I'm just under a half tanks. It helps that my drive to work is only 13 miles each way and that it's mostly at night.

I don't mind spending my hard earned money on my entertainment, I just try and combine my trips if I can.

:rant: over
 
At the Cruisin' Corvettes WhatABurger cruise ins, I met a guy who has a really modded C5 who claimed he was only getting 9 miles to the gallon with the car. I'm thinking that will wear him down pretty much on driving it a lot.

Which leads me to wonder if shops specializing in high performance mods are feeling a pinch right now. We really don't know just how high prices can go, so having a car suddenly become way too expensive to drive due to our own quest for raw performance may weigh heavily on people's minds when they contemplate performance mods. I think maybe more people might be thinking of a compromise balance between power and reasonable mileage these days. Maybe willing to settle for less performance and still getting 25 mpg instead of shooting for the sky and getting a garage queen because it's like shoving $100 bills into the gastank every time you go for a ride. Tuning for mpg might edge ahead of tuning for performance in many peoples' minds.

And to be honest, sometimes I worry about being stoned to death by people not realizing just how good the gas mileage is with the later generation vettes who think we are squandering a valuable resource..... :ack2:
 
The only change for me so far has been that I'm now (as the $$ approaches $4.00/gallon!) use the vette almost daily unless I know I'm going off roading or the weather absolutely sucks!!

Then I'lll use the 89 Landcruiser @ 9.5 mpg:thumbsdown:

Unfortunately, I don't drive to and from and office. my car is my office once I leave here. An average day for me is 100+ miles.

I've hired more staff to do the day to day running around but I still have meetings and "special assignements" that require my attention.

I've been looking into the hybrids, the Prius specifically.

I rented one for a week and drove the crap out of it. Absolutely loved it.:dancer01:

It's peppy, handles well and gets fantastic mileage (38-45 on the highway at 80 mhp and 45-50+ in town:thumbsup:)

It won't win a quarter mile contest, an autocross or a car show.

As a matter of fact, it's ugly as heck but at that kind of fuel economy...hell, I don't have to sleep with it.....just drive it:lmao:
 
Rich Z said:
And to be honest, sometimes I worry about being stoned to death by people not realizing just how good the gas mileage is with the later generation vettes who think we are squandering a valuable resource..... :ack2:
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People don't believe it when I tell them how good the mpg of these cars can be. With a performance tune and really trying I can get 24mpg in the city and 31mpg on the highway.

Have you seen the stories of hypermiling? With hybrids, people can do something called FAS or Forced Auto Stop and Pulse and Glide. Interesting stuff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiling

Which brings me to a hypothetical question. Along these (hypermiling) lines, how harmful is it to a manual transmission car such as a lot of our Vettes, to get up to a certain speed, shut the car off and then when you get down to say 5mph, put the car in gear and pop the clutch? Obviously having to replace a clutch or worse, a transmission would certainly not be worth it. With the talk of the current and future gas prices, this though just came to mind.

Now that I think of it, I should check the air pressure in my tires. Which sparks another question in my head. When people drag race they lower the pressure in their tires. If it creates rolling drag on the car, what purpose does it serve? I'm assuming it's traction?

Scott
 
Shadow said:
I've been looking into the hybrids, the Prius specifically.

I rented one for a week and drove the crap out of it. Absolutely loved it.:dancer01:

It's peppy, handles well and gets fantastic mileage (38-45 on the highway at 80 mhp and 45-50+ in town:thumbsup:)

It won't win a quarter mile contest, an autocross or a car show.

As a matter of fact, it's ugly as heck but at that kind of fuel economy...hell, I don't have to sleep with it.....just drive it:lmao:
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My mom and a couple of my friends have them and love them. My wife and I were thinking of renting one and driving it to New York in October. Niagra Falls and NYC or a Shuttle launch at KSC. Money will be a motivating factor. I really want to do both.

One of my friends was looking for a hybrid and said that the Honda dealer was now adding on a "dealer surcharge" for the Civic hybrid...basically because they can.

Gordon, I forgot to ask you if you checked into that Inova T4 tactical flashlight.
 
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MADN3SS said:
My mom and a couple of my friends have them and love them. My wife and I were thinking of renting one and driving it to New York in October. Niagra Falls and NYC or a Shuttle launch at KSC. Money will be a motivating factor. I really want to do both.

One of my friends was looking for a hybrid and said that the Honda dealer was now adding on a "dealer surcharge" for the Civic hybrid...basically because they can.

Gordon, I forgot to ask you if you checked into that Inova TV tactical flashlight.
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Dang it! Scott! No, I didn't. I'm sorry about that. It's been a hectic couple of weeks. I'll make sure to do it today without fail!

AS far as renting one, let me know if you decide to do it? I have a couple of good friends over here at a local Budget Rental (we do all our renting there for the business) that can get you a good deal on one:thumbsup:

I drove the daylights out of the one I had and was very impressed. The Ford Escape Hybrid was equally impressive if you need an SUV. Kind of wallowed through the turns but other than that, was quite nice and comfortable:thumbsup:

Mid 30 MPG around town. Not bad for a truck:rofl1:

I'm sure we're going to see "vette like" price jacking as the fuel rates get higher:( It's too bad a dealership takes advantage of people when they have a need. Even with the vette, they jack them up because they can.

And they wonder why car dealers have such a bad reputation?:shrug01:
 
MADN3SS said:
Now that I think of it, I should check the air pressure in my tires. Which sparks another question in my head. When people drag race they lower the pressure in their tires. If it creates rolling drag on the car, what purpose does it serve? I'm assuming it's traction?

Scott
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You want to RAISE the air pressure in the front tires and LOWER the air pressure in the rear tires. But I don't think this works for all types of tires on the rear. You may actually be reducing tread contact in some instances.
 
Converting

I'll be Converting the Vette to Electric next week.


Just kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!! For my .02 cents worth I've started trying to drive a bit smarter regarding multiple errands for any trips to Tally or local shopping. On the highway I've always set the cruise control. I think now it will be set a bit lower.

I recently had a 3.15 installed to replace the 2.73 gears. Enjoying the new acceleration and paying attention to the instant fuel consumption reading has made me realize what a huge amount of gas is burned under heavy acceleration compared to cruising. I will probably adjust some for this new discovery but still intend to have some fun. Also will be shifting to neutral while stopped at the lights in town. For sure doubling the cost of a fill up gets my attention. I will be much more conscious about how I spend across the spectrum.
 
Rich Z said:
A while back I started a poll about driving habits changing because of the high price of gasoline. Which at the time, I think, was under $2 per gallon.

So times have changed, and not for the better. Saw my first sign on a Chevron station with 93 octane running at $4.06 per gallon.

Not doing a poll this time, but how has this affected YOU in the way you drive and your plans for trips and vacations? Personally, I'm glad we had stopped doing those long distant reptile shows we used to do. A 22 hour trip up to Chicago would be VERY expensive today, and put more overhead on the trip than it would be worth. Heck, with a tank of gasoline costing around $75 for the vettes, I'm thinking twice about any sort of joy riding. Sort of takes the fun out of it when you feel that the gas gauge is attached to a vein in your leg.

What about the rest of you? Feeling any impact?
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My 2 cents, Nope. I did trade in an older 89 coupe and my conversion van for a newer 94 coupe and I drive it 3 to 4 days a week and my Harley Softail when I burn over $50.00 in gas in any week. That's my way of keeping fuel costs under 240.00 a month.
 
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