Here in the Chicago region the average gas price is now around $3.35/gal. Yet an interview I heard on radio this morning seemed to indicate that most respondents plan to continue driving at their same pace no matter what. What do you think the tipping point would be when people would begin to change their habits? When it was around $2.50 many said that it would be $3/gal. Now that it is approaching $3.50, many are saying the tipping point would be $4/gal. I am beginning to think that we won't see an appreciable drop in consumption until maybe $7/gal. What do you think?

Originally Posted by Brian Beecher

Here in the Chicago region the average gas price is now around $3.35/gal. Yet an interview I heard on radio this morning seemed to indicate that most respondents plan to continue driving at their same pace no matter what. What do you think the tipping point would be when people would begin to change their habits? When it was around $2.50 many said that it would be $3/gal. Now that it is approaching $3.50, many are saying the tipping point would be $4/gal. I am beginning to think that we won't see an appreciable drop in consumption until maybe $7/gal. What do you think?

$6-7 per gallon sounds about right, but even then it depends.

Regular gas is now going for $3.399 at the corner petrol station, but my consumption pattern is already pretty small. My commute to work is 3-1/2 miles each way; I drive across town maybe once a week, and down into Portland in the evenings on weekends. Even with a V8 Mustang, I only burn about 8 gallons of gas per week on average.

If the price of gas were to double, I might tend to hang out more in Vancouver than P-town, but... maybe not. Spending $60 per week rather than $30 on gasoline wouldn't exactly break me... unless the prices of everything else started shooting up, like they did in '79. For example, if a $30 dinner at Jake's Grill jumped up to $60, that would give me a great deal of pause. A general inflationary spiral might cause me to stay home more, driving less because there no place to drive to that isn't prohibitively expensive.

Originally Posted by Roadbldr '59

$6-7 per gallon sounds about right, but even then it depends.

Supposidly, a lot of alternitive fuel scorces become competitive at that price. No doubt big oil will seek to level it off at about 4.50-5.00 a gallon. But then again, the genie may be out of the bottle and out of their control now.

If the price of gas were to double, I might tend to hang out more in Vancouver than P-town, but... maybe not. Spending $60 per week rather than $30 on gasoline wouldn't exactly break me... unless the prices of everything else started shooting up, like they did in '79. For example, if a $30 dinner at Jake's Grill jumped up to $60, that would give me a great deal of pause. A general inflationary spiral might cause me to stay home more, driving less because there no place to drive to that isn't prohibitively expensive.

I remember the gas lines of 1978-79. As the youngest driver in the family, one of my after school chores was to take any car that needed gas down to the line and get it. High school in the late 70's was such a joke that I rarely had homework dispite taking college prep courses. What little homework I did have, I was usually able to do while sitting in the gas line.

If only my biggest problem into the 4t was writing a rough draft for an English Lit. paper. :

Originally Posted by herbal tee

Supposidly, a lot of alternitive fuel scorces become competitive at that price. No doubt big oil will seek to level it off at about 4.50-5.00 a gallon. But then again, the genie may be out of the bottle and out of their control now.


I remember the gas lines of 1978-79. As the youngest driver in the family, one of my after school chores was to take any car that needed gas down to the line and get it. High school in the late 70's was such a joke that I rarely had homework dispite taking college prep courses. What little homework I did have, I was usually able to do while sitting in the gas line.

If only my biggest problem into the 4t was writing a rough draft for an English Lit. paper. :

My brother and I made a fun time of it... getting up at 3:00am, parking in front of the gas station and waiting for the line to open at 7:30. And we usually weren't the first car in line... more like third or fourth. Lots of hot chocolate/coffee, and early-morning conversations about hot girls and disco.

Originally Posted by Brian Beecher

Here in the Chicago region the average gas price is now around $3.35/gal. Yet an interview I heard on radio this morning seemed to indicate that most respondents plan to continue driving at their same pace no matter what. What do you think the tipping point would be when people would begin to change their habits? When it was around $2.50 many said that it would be $3/gal. Now that it is approaching $3.50, many are saying the tipping point would be $4/gal. I am beginning to think that we won't see an appreciable drop in consumption until maybe $7/gal. What do you think?

Restaurants are starting to feel the pinch. If prices stay at these levels, folks will cut back on unnecessary trips. $3.24 sw chicago 'burbs.

According to what I heard on the radio yesterday, not so. Very few people interviewed planned to cut back on their driving at all. Won't such cockiness only serve to increase prices even more per the law of supply and demand? On the Osgood File it was mentioned that gasoline usage rose 1.5 percent over last year. And if we could cut our consumption by as little as 2 to 3 percent, the price could come down as much as 50c/gal. But it is still unlikely that gas prices will stay at these levels for no other reason that it has become such a political football. Will we not bother with conservation until something happens which renders us no choice?

Originally Posted by Brian Beecher

According to what I heard on the radio yesterday, not so. Very few people interviewed planned to cut back on their driving at all. Won't such cockiness only serve to increase prices even more per the law of supply and demand? On the Osgood File it was mentioned that gasoline usage rose 1.5 percent over last year. And if we could cut our consumption by as little as 2 to 3 percent, the price could come down as much as 50c/gal. But it is still unlikely that gas prices will stay at these levels for no other reason that it has become such a political football. Will we not bother with conservation until something happens which renders us no choice?

I'm actually driving more, but the car that I drive gets surperb mileage (I'm averaging close to 47 mpg). When I had my clunker, my SO would rent a car when he visited and our tooling around Virginia would put mileage on his rental, not my clunker. Now we use my Prius.

Originally Posted by Marx & Lennon

As Click and Clack, the Car Guys noted: no car 'needs' premium these days. The on-board computer just recalibrates the timing to accomodate lower octand fuels - at a perfomance penalty, of course.

My 2000 Durango still knocks if I don't put premium in it. I thought it would adjust, but apparently doesn't.

Will knocking hurt the engine? that's something I never figured out.

Originally Posted by The Wonkette

I'm actually driving more, but the car that I drive gets surperb mileage (I'm averaging close to 47 mpg). When I had my clunker, my SO would rent a car when he visited and our tooling around Virginia would put mileage on his rental, not my clunker. Now we use my Prius.

I'm driving more as well. I walk to work, but my new SO lives 20 miles away. And my car gets horrible mileage (< 20mpg). Ah well, at least she's closer than my ex and kids (1600 miles away.)

I should remember to get a fuel-efficient vehicle when I visit them next week.

I just bought a Honda Civic, which should average about 10 mpg better than the Mitsubishi it is replacing.

Originally Posted by antichrist

Will knocking hurt the engine? that's something I never figured out.

Oh god yes. The 'knock' you hear is from a pre-ignition. What's happening is that the fuel in the cylinder(s) is beginning to detonate before the piston has reached the top of it's stroke -- that is, while it is still traveling upwards. What that means is that you are getting a regular reversing-torque shock load on the crankshaft. Which is very bad for it.

Granted, these days crankshafts are designed to take a lot of abuse; so you're probably not going to get an instantaneous, or even a couple-month, failure. But fatigue damage is a funny thing; running for even a couple of weeks with a knock will have already noticeably weakened your crankshaft (and connecting rod and cylinder liner and valves and even piston facing). They may not actually break quickly from just that; but then again they may. And one way or another, the lifespan of those components is reduced, so depending on how long you plan on keeping the car, you're more or less guaranteed to have to pay for a rebuild.

(If your car isn't adjusting to clear out the knock, you should really have it checked out. The computer is almost certainly just fine, but computer controls are only good if all the various sensor inputs are accurate. Pressure sensors on engines can be really squirrely; for the cost of a couple-dollar sensor, you could fix the problem. And if the knock-adjustment problem is a sensor, there's a good chance that more is going wrong than just the symptom you described. You'd almost certainly improve your fuel economy...)

I wonder how much gasoline and oil and energy it takes to manufacture a new car from start to finish...?

Probably LOTS.

Maybe a dependable used car is still worth shelling out the cash for. Even if it is slightly less nicely smelling.

We just got a 99 Corolla. It does fine.

Originally Posted by Ricercar71

I wonder how much gasoline and oil and energy it takes to manufacture a new car from start to finish...?

Probably LOTS.

Maybe a dependable used car is still worth shelling out the cash for. Even if it is slightly less nicely smelling.

We just got a 99 Corolla. It does fine.

It seems like the crooks agree. The Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue area now has the 6th highest rate of car theft in the country, and the top 10 most stolen cars are:

1. 1991 Honda Accord
2. 1995 Honda Civic
3. 1989 Toyota Camry
4. 1990 Acura Integra
5. 1986 Toyota pickup
6. 1994 Nissan Sentra
7. 1994 Saturn SL
8. 1993 Dodge Caravan
9. 1988 Honda Prelude
10. 1993 Jeep Cherokee

It boggled my mind to see an 18-year old car so high on the list, but I'm sure the thieves have a very precise idea of how valuable they are.

Originally Posted by Finch

It seems like the crooks agree. The Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue area now has the 6th highest rate of car theft in the country, and the top 10 most stolen cars are:

1. 1991 Honda Accord
2. 1995 Honda Civic
3. 1989 Toyota Camry
4. 1990 Acura Integra
5. 1986 Toyota pickup
6. 1994 Nissan Sentra
7. 1994 Saturn SL
8. 1993 Dodge Caravan
9. 1988 Honda Prelude
10. 1993 Jeep Cherokee

It boggled my mind to see an 18-year old car so high on the list, but I'm sure the thieves have a very precise idea of how valuable they are.

I believe it. Overall Seattle proper has a much lower crime rate compared with other cities of similar size like Washington DC and Boston... even Portland has a higher violent crime rate. Except, it seems, in one area... auto theft/vandalism. When I lived there I had cars vandalized no less than four times... twice right in front of my house in West Seattle.

What did i drive my first six years there? A 1990 Acura Integra!

I just filled my tank at $3.459 per gallon for my road trip to Sacramento tomorrow... in expectation that the price tomorrow will rise to about $3.60. The entire trip will require between $150 and $200 worth of fuel.

$3.399 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. No idea what it is in Albuquerque today; I haven't filled up from my trip yet. However, it's Saturday, when prices are likeliest to peak; ask me again in midweek.

Originally Posted by Justin '77

Oh god yes. The 'knock' you hear is from a pre-ignition. What's happening is that the fuel in the cylinder(s) is beginning to detonate before the piston has reached the top of it's stroke -- that is, while it is still traveling upwards. What that means is that you are getting a regular reversing-torque shock load on the crankshaft. Which is very bad for it.

Granted, these days crankshafts are designed to take a lot of abuse; so you're probably not going to get an instantaneous, or even a couple-month, failure. But fatigue damage is a funny thing; running for even a couple of weeks with a knock will have already noticeably weakened your crankshaft (and connecting rod and cylinder liner and valves and even piston facing). They may not actually break quickly from just that; but then again they may. And one way or another, the lifespan of those components is reduced, so depending on how long you plan on keeping the car, you're more or less guaranteed to have to pay for a rebuild.

(If your car isn't adjusting to clear out the knock, you should really have it checked out. The computer is almost certainly just fine, but computer controls are only good if all the various sensor inputs are accurate. Pressure sensors on engines can be really squirrely; for the cost of a couple-dollar sensor, you could fix the problem. And if the knock-adjustment problem is a sensor, there's a good chance that more is going wrong than just the symptom you described. You'd almost certainly improve your fuel economy...)

That's what I thought. Thanks. It's got a million miles so I don't want to be too hard on it, nor dump much money in it right now. 91 fuel it is (and has been since I noticed the knock).

I saw a blurb on the news that nationally, the price of gas was at an all-time high.

In Arlington, Virginia, gas is running around $3.00; there are still places that sell for $2.99 or even lower. We're not at the peaks of post-Katrina. However, I understand that folks on the West Coast are paying through their noses.

Originally Posted by The Wonkette

In Arlington, Virginia, gas is running around $3.00; there are still places that sell for $2.99 or even lower. We're not at the peaks of post-Katrina. However, I understand that folks on the West Coast are paying through their noses.

We're a bit above the post-Katrina highs -- $3.39 now vs. $3.19 back then.

Originally Posted by The Wonkette

I saw a blurb on the news that nationally, the price of gas was at an all-time high.

In Arlington, Virginia, gas is running around $3.00; there are still places that sell for $2.99 or even lower. We're not at the peaks of post-Katrina. However, I understand that folks on the West Coast are paying through their noses.

Both the stations I pass on the way in to work were at $2.999 today. One of them has been there for several days now so I don't expect it to stay there much longer.

Between $3.35 and $3.49 here, depending on location.

The top two stories on the Seattle P-I's web site right now:

Gasoline prices hit a record

More homeowners in area facing possible foreclosures

Co-inky-dink? I think not.

Originally Posted by The Wonkette

I saw a blurb on the news that nationally, the price of gas was at an all-time high.

In Arlington, Virginia, gas is running around $3.00; there are still places that sell for $2.99 or even lower. We're not at the peaks of post-Katrina. However, I understand that folks on the West Coast are paying through their noses.

You betcha. On my trip to California this past weekend I paid between $3.49 and $3.69 per gallon. The total trip cost me about $170 in fuel alone... and this was only to Sacramento and back!

$3.47 sw Chicago 'burbs, Whiting must be down.

$ 3.129 to 3.159 North of the Mesabi. MN (D-F-L) Legislature tried to add .05 tax, and now will try to override veto by Gov. Pawlenty (R).