Gas $5 a gallon in Europe?

[Staga]

Yep DejaVu; Realities suck...

I might had to buy a Seat Toledo or Leon turbo-diesel too... Old Peugeot 405 now.
Few years ago I was looking at Oldsmobile Cutlass from -70 (not sure what year that was anymore). I tested it and it was kinda fun when you hit the pedal to the medal  
Then I realised I need a car to go to work too and with our gasoline prices I had to forget it  
(Saw top cond. Buick GS 455 last week; Maybe I should sell my car and take a loan  )

[Jigster]

1.3? My gawd.

My '79 Bronco had a 6.6L orginally. But then again you don't see European vehicles towing boats and other recreational and agricultural stuff around  

I can literally pull a good size tree down with my truck. I lived in a rural area most of my like where the town was about 12 miles down the highway and we bought gas by the month (or even year) by storing it in a huge tank on the property. No taxs of course, agriculture tax break. But anyway what I was getting at was that I needed a big 4X4 vehicle capable of hauling at least 4 people and doing multi role. Well it does just that. Take the top off and the rear seat and it becomes a small bed truck. I can get up and down the dirt roads on the property easy with mud tires (they are really big   )...

anyway the thing gets about 15mpg (at around 400HP, 400 fp torque, I hypo'd it   )

Some of us need big gas guzzling cars to make a living.

My family did run all fuel 2 cylinder John Deeres for many many years, along with LP models (natural gas) JD's if it makes ya feel better  

And now I still drive that '79 Bronc because it's still in great shape (and it looks friggan cool, lol) , gets good gas milage for a 5 thousand pound people hauler and it's alot cheaper then buying a 30k + equvilant now that can't double in truck duty.

If public transportation can do that I'm all for it, but until, forget it.

- Jig

[Jigster]

btw the way if any of yall are in the US, and around Baytown for a while I can show ya why we US dweebs like gas guzzling horsepower monsters  

going out on the weekends and bellying up in mud is a bonding expirence, except for the guy that has to get out and work the come-a-long (winchs are for whimps!)

 

- Jig

[Naso]

 

Originally posted by Jigster:
1.3? My gawd.

My '79 Bronco had a 6.6L orginally. But then again you don't see European vehicles towing boats and other recreational and agricultural stuff around  

- Jig

LOL, Jig, maybe you dont see there European vehicles towing boats, here they do it, easy.

Not personal mode on (dont feel offended, pls)

Amazing me this attitude: my cars are better than yours, my army is better than yours, my government is better than yours, my laws are better than yours, my troubles are bigger than yours.. etc. etc.

Seems all different versions of "my noodle is bigger than yours".

Childlike attitude.

Is not surprising lot of people with this attitude come from the same country.  

Not personal mode off

BTW, i like the Dodge Viper, is a beauty!!  

But the Ferrari F50, or the Lamborghini  bigtoeach, theese are The sportcars.

Explain me, why are you so nationalistic about cars in a nation where is a Status Symbol to own an European car??  

p.s.
The fact is not how big willie are, but how you use it.  
Remember: Italians do it better !!  

[JG5_Jerry]

Joke:

A taxpayer was on his way home from work, when he came to a dead halt in traffic and thought to himself, "Wow, this traffic seems worse than usual. Nothing's moving." He noticed a police officer walking back and
forth between the lines of cars, so he rolled down his window and asked, "Officer what's the hold up?" The officer replied:
"The Prime Minister is just so depressed about all the fuel blockades and that his whiter than white image has been tarnished, that he stopped his car in the middle of the motorway under protest, and he's threatening
to douse himself in gasoline and set himself on fire. He says everybody hates him and he doesn't have the money to pay for Euans drinking habit. We're taking up a collection for him." The tax payer said: "Oh really? How much do you have so far?" The officer said: "About three hundred gallons, but a
lot of folks are still siphoning."

 




------------------
C/O, JG5 'Eismeer' (EAW)

 http://www.madasafish.com/jerry/jg5/

[StSanta]

You go ahead and drive, I sure will, a bigass car with a bigass engine, once I get the money.

But pay for the pollution. Smog ain't too healthy, and acid rain not too good to forests.

As long as a non renewable source of energy is cheaper than a renewable one, don't squeak about it.

Europeans are just as much in a hurry as Americans are, and that is a bad fluff'ng thing.

Cheap gas prices ain't a right.

------------------
StSanta
JG54 "Grünherz"
"If you died a stones throw from your wingie; you did no wrong". - Hangtime

[blur]

After giving this issue some thought I've come up with only two options:

1) Put tax money into alternate energy solutions, mass transport, etc.

2) Put tax money into over-bloated military which will guarantee the Middle East stays in line.

The first solution is difficult because of corporate influence over government.

The second solution is expensive but it works.
Walk softly and command an armored division is what I always say.  

[Toad]

From:"Gas Prices Spur Outrage", KC Star, Sept. 13, 2000"

Here's a list of Fuel Prices/Tax/Total by Nation (by gallon). Source is listed as the Associated Press, so if you disagree, call THOSE left-wing socialist biased media-mongers, not me!  

Great Britain $1.25/$3.06/$4.31

Norway $1.25/$3.05/$4.30

Finland $1.42/$2.76/$4.18

Netherlands $1.33/$2.57/$3.90

France $1.14/$2.67/$3.81

Belgium $1.26/$2.46/$3.72

Italy $1.32/$2.36/$3.68

Sweden $1.22/$2.46/$3.68

Denmark $1.20/$2.44/$3.64

Germany $1.08/$2.42/$3.50

Austria $1.25/$1.96/$3.21

Ireland $1.34/$1.85/$3.19

Portugal $1.59/$1.41/$3.00

Luxembourg $1.25/$1.60/$2.85

Greece $1.35/$1.47/$2.82

Spain $1.17/$1.62/$2.79

United States $1.17/$0.37/$1.54

So, let's see....

Highest/Lowest GAS price:

Portugal, $1.59/ Germany $1.08

Highest/Lowest TAX:

Great Britain, $3.06/ US $0.37


StSanta: "Cheap gas prices ain't a right."

True. It seems the world market has pretty well determined the price of GAS all by itself, without "rights" being involved. It's generally between $1.59 and $1.08 for most countries, and the US doesn't have the lowest price.

The TAX on gas appears to be the item that deals with "rights"....taxpayer's rights!   The US does have the lowest taxes....hmmmm, go figure!

The ultimate, final price of a gallon of gas obviously depends on what your particular government decides it can get away with in taxes without causing a rebellion.

Looks like the Brits have found their limit!

[Jigster]

 

Originally posted by Naso:
LOL, Jig, maybe you dont see there European vehicles towing boats, here they do it, easy.

Not personal mode on (dont feel offended, pls)

Amazing me this attitude: my cars are better than yours, my army is better than yours, my government is better than yours, my laws are better than yours, my troubles are bigger than yours.. etc. etc.

Seems all different versions of "my noodle is bigger than yours".

Childlike attitude.

Is not surprising lot of people with this attitude come from the same country.  

Not personal mode off

BTW, i like the Dodge Viper, is a beauty!!  

But the Ferrari F50, or the Lamborghini  bigtoeach, theese are The sportcars.

Explain me, why are you so nationalistic about cars in a nation where is a Status Symbol to own an European car??  

p.s.
The fact is not how big willie are, but how you use it.  
Remember: Italians do it better !!  

LOL sorry if I came off nationlistic  

But in all honesty I needed a vehicle like that to make a living. There has been times when I'd have to ride an ATV that 12 miles because bridges etc would wash out up there. That ain't no fun when it's 19 degrees out side (pretty damn cold for Texas)  

But I think the problem is so many Americans treat their cars like children. And it's our (pardon me, sorry) baised opinion that we spend much more time tinkering and messing with our cars then European counter-parts. I did, and do alot of restoration on old vehicles, but it's had to drive 'em when ya work on them   I have several old 1940 era John Deere Tractors and a Farmall 'Super A' that I've restored from the ground up and I take perhaps a little to much pride from the fact I did that all myself.  

All us Americanos are dweebs anyway.

[Jigster]

 

Originally posted by StSanta:
You go ahead and drive, I sure will, a bigass car with a bigass engine, once I get the money.

But pay for the pollution. Smog ain't too healthy, and acid rain not too good to forests.

As long as a non renewable source of energy is cheaper than a renewable one, don't squeak about it.

Europeans are just as much in a hurry as Americans are, and that is a bad fluff'ng thing.

Cheap gas prices ain't a right.

I'm never in a hurry  

Btw I have mid-size crawler that runs off methane, and light-duty tractor that runs off a hydrogen fuel cell. That alone makes up for the gas guzzler (I end up using the alot more   )

Once we get rid of oil companys Hydrogen will prolly become the renewable fuel source.

But to close down the oil refineries would be to kill the lively hood of alot of people,
like where I currently live, Baytown, home of the biggest refinery in the US, Exxon. And there lies the problem.

- Jig

[Replicant]

Public Transport is a joke in the UK.  If I didn't drive the 5.5 miles to work then the next quickest option would be to walk!  No train, very infrequent buses.  A friend that lives 18 miles from where I work would have to travel 65 miles by train (not a direct route to nearest train station), then catch a bus to work, which in all would take about 4 hours!  A joke!

As for the Defence side of things in the UK.  Well when Blair entered Parliament he annouced many wishes and he fulfilled some of those.  BUT we later found out that he robbed the BILLIONS from the emergency war fund to pay for everything!  No wonder out Navy can't go to sea, our planes are falling apart, and our Army has some really crap equipment!    

Oh well, I'm just glad that Blair has been given a bloody nose.  We've been waiting for a bypass to our town for 45 years and we still haven't got it!!  (now if he spend some of those fuel tax on roads... transport... blah...)

That's my moan over!  

Regards

'Nexx'

[This message has been edited by Replicant (edited 09-15-2000).]

[J_A_B]

Europeans have high gas prices--and small countries.  They don't need cars like Americans do.

The problem is, Europeans don't realize how B-I-G the USA is.  BIG means low population density--and low population density is why public transportation will never solve the USA's sutomobile dependency.

I live 20 miles from work, 25 miles from school, 40 miles from a major hospital, 11 miles from a major shopping area, and 14 miles from my girlfriend.  It is common for me to put over 120 miles on my car in a single day (200 km).  I make slightly over minimum wage as a college student working my part-time job.  Do the math.

If gas costed $5/gallon like it does in Europe, I would go broke very fast, even if I could afford a new car which gets good gas mileage (cars cost a lot, and I don't have a lot of money.)  At $5/gallon, driving the car I have no choice but to drive, I would have to spend about 25 bucks a day just driving...which is almost what I make in my part-time after college job.  Gas prices like Europe has would crush the American economy.

I WISH I could ride public transportation.  However, there is no such thing in rural areas--it isn't practical.  Would you send a bus to pick up three people?   Who all have different destinations?  Nope. Much of Americas population is very spread out.


And, I live in a small town, not "out in the boonies"  

Europeans, consider this:

Some of my relatives live in West Virginia.  There, the normal commute to work is about 50 miles each way.  And, the roads are so bad, a 4 wheel drive vehicle is a MUST, especially in winter.  4 wheel drive vehicles don't exactly get good gas mileage, either.   Also keep in mind that West Virginia is not a wealthy state.  Most of the people are, by your standards, "below average" in income. No chance to buy a "modern car" which costs a lot.  A pickup truck is the norm.  There is NO WAY public transportation could serve these people, the population density is VERY low.  There is NO WAY expensive gas would help them....it would utterly destroy their lives.  These poeple need cars to survive.

Before Europeans say "Americans should use public transportation, it would solve their silly dependency on cars", they need to get a grasp of how BIG the USA is.  This one country is larger than all of Europe, by FAR.

A single store in America, such as a "Super K-mart", is actually larger than an entire city block in many European cities.

American needs cars, for good or bad.  It's the only way a country this big could possibly work.  Yes, they are a mixed blessing, with more than their fair share of drawbacks.  But, there is NO practical alternative.  This country is simply too big and spread out.

J_A_B

[Jigster]

I had a friend that retired a while ago, and he had one of the very rare '69 Boss 429 Ford Mustangs (an extremely powerful and fast car lemme tell ya   ) Anyway he had family in Germany and at some point or another he had the car shipped over there. He told me about his whirl on the autobahn.

I believe this was back before they reduced the speed limit because he said he was rarely under 170 mph (and a gear left on the street fighter trans) And wass
 getting passed all the time.

Well I thought it was funny till he got back on the next day where a Ferrari came up along side at (i think) was an intersection by an on ramp. They guy "challanged" him by doing a lil revving up. Now the way he tells it is he stomped that Boss 429 and left the Ferrari in a white cloud of smoke and never left off till he was running around 200 when he looked back...and never saw the other guy. Several minutes later the other guy comes whizzing by him.

Now what's really silly is he met the guy later (and they've since become pretty good friends) because the dude was a exec at Bayer Corp where my friend use to work.

Classic example of the American Muscle vs the European Speed Demons  

- Jig

[Jigster]

 

Originally posted by Naso:
LOL, Jig, maybe you dont see there European vehicles towing boats, here they do it, easy.

Not personal mode on (dont feel offended, pls)

Amazing me this attitude: my cars are better than yours, my army is better than yours, my government is better than yours, my laws are better than yours, my troubles are bigger than yours.. etc. etc.

Seems all different versions of "my noodle is bigger than yours".

Childlike attitude.

Is not surprising lot of people with this attitude come from the same country.    

Not personal mode off

BTW, i like the Dodge Viper, is a beauty!!    

But the Ferrari F50, or the Lamborghini  bigtoeach, theese are The sportcars.

Explain me, why are you so nationalistic about cars in a nation where is a Status Symbol to own an European car??    

p.s.
The fact is not how big willie are, but how you use it.    
Remember: Italians do it better !!    

Btw given the porked US laws (unless you live in Montana) US is all about acceleration, not top speed (although the Viper is good at both, I have a cousin who I suspect in some kinda illegal activity, that has a Viper and I've been through the first 3 gears in it   )

The reason those cars are status symbols are they cost so dang much   They are sweet cars, but your not gonna see very many Americans pay that much for a car when they can buy 10 steet drag cars for the price of one  

- Jig

[This message has been edited by Jigster (edited 09-15-2000).]

[Dowding]

Replicant - Lets just hope the conservatives don't get in power - they must take alot of responsibility over the state of public transport; all these shrecking private companies looking after shareholder's interests - screw anybody who wants a decent service. The way they see it, provided you meet very, very basic standards (as far as the developed world goes), they can charge as much for as little as they see fit.

God I hate the conservatives more than I dislike 'New' Labour. And William Hague went to my school as a kid, BTW. All the treachers who taught him, say he was one weird bloke. Slimy bastard.

[This message has been edited by Dowding (edited 09-16-2000).]