[Big Mac]

How do higher gas prices impact your automotive habits?

For me personally, when prices at the pump are at new highs, I try to drive less and be even more conservative on the gas pedal, which probably annoys the people who drive in back of me on city streets. I also try to fill up more when I think prices are going to go higher very soon.; instead of my usual practice of only getting a half a tank, I'll buy closer to a full tank. I'm fortunate that I don't have long commutes to work because I shudder to think how hard it must be for average people who travel long distances ever day. Also, I never really considered a four cylinder engine in the past because I crave at least a V6, but I'll give serious consideration to a smaller engine when I go for my next car.

Responding to AKcrab's request: $3.87 is about the low around here.

[AKcrab]

I pretty much only drive from home to work and back, no matter what the gas price. My other 1/2 however, like to go on "jaunts". The price of gas doesn't seem to faze her in the slightest.

Might be interesting if people post how much gas costs where they are right now.

$3.86 for the cheap stuff here.

[sek929]

I usually use the gas pedal gingerly, as my truck gets less-than-stellar mileage.

~$3.40 here for 87.

[el chupacabra]

I dont even check the price of gas; so it wont effect my driving habits at all. I have a pretty efficient car though so none of it really matters to me. Worrying about gas while driving can be stressful, I figure saving time, and going out, is more important than gas cost. And believe it or not speeding just a little can really cut the time you spend driving since 1 second is the difference between making the next light and missing the next light... or missing all of them.

[brassplayersrock²]

I don't care to say how much I drive a week in miles, roughly, it's a lot. FUEL here is $3.85 for the cheap stuff.

[gradient]

It hasn't affected my driving, thought it's affected my wallet a bit. Doesn't the US have pretty much the cheapest gas amongst first world countries, though? Heck, gas here is $1.28/litre which converts to $4.97/gallon. Crap.

[Athens]

It don't, high gas prices just affect my spending habits everywhere else.

$1.31L (87) as of 10 minutes ago

Im tempted to start filling up in Bellingham, WA which converts to about 89 cents L

[Face Ache]

$6.24/gallon around here.

I drive like I stole it (VW GTI).

[PB2K]

Not yet. I don't look at gas prices although it's hard not to notice it becomes more expensive every day. I just think that instead of paying 90€ for a full tank I pay 93€. Otherwise it would be very depressing i NEED a car.

Dutch prive a litre for Euro95 is 1,72€

[ghporter]

Gas is generally more affordable here than in a lot of other places, even in Texas, but it's getting uncomfortably close to those unpleasant days of 2008 when it cost about $4/gal for 87 octane here. According to today's survey, 87 octane is going for as little as $3.29 (not too far from where I work, in fact), and as much as $3.55 east of downtown (let's sock it to the lower income folks!).

In January I changed jobs and wound up with a shorter commute in both time and mileage (I had been driving almost 20 miles each way-now it's more like 6.5), so I'm already ahead of the curve, but I'm also paying attention to things like technique-I haven't been as likely to zoom past someone who's not very quick off the line when a light changes, things like that.

My biggest problem with paying for gas here is that my state isn't following the law about local gas taxes. The Legislature (bless their hearts) has spent plenty of time in the past several sessions finding ways to divert gas tax revenues from their intended use-highway maintenance and expansion-to go to other things that have nothing to do with cars or roads. To be fair, they've also hijacked "sporting goods tax" revenue and put it to use somewhere other than supporting our state parks, so they've been pretty even handed in their larceny... But that's another discussion.

[turtle777]

I drive MORE. It supports the economy and GDP.

-t

[mattyb]

The idiot French drivers have slowed down. A lot.

In France diesel is cheaper than petrol. Of course I chose a petrol 2.0L.

[Andy8]

HKD$16 per litre here this week.

[CreepDogg]

I drive a 4-year-old Mini with 26000 miles on it, so, not much impact. Thankfully.

It does take premium, though. Damn supercharger. $3.89 for a fill-up yesterday.

[osiris]

This doesn't impact my driving habits because my engine runs on love, baby.

[Thorzdad]

We already drive as minimally as possible, but there's little we can do about my wife's 60-mile (one way) daily commute. We'd love to get her a more efficient car, but the cash-flow just doesn't allow it.

[Laminar]

60mpg.

It has to be good, my car gets 18.

[andi*pandi]

I already have a short commute, otherwise I might lobby for more work at home time.

Right now cost isn't stopping me from going where I need to go. Price is $3.57 at the Mobil on the way to work. Car is roughly 18-20 mpg.

My folks were planning a long camper trip up north this summer, price of gas may convince them to fly and rent a car/motel etc up here, it may be cheaper.

[imitchellg5]

I'd love to be able to ditch my car completely, but unfortunately due to this city's convoluted public transportation system it takes over 3 hours to make the 20 miles to work.

[Shaddim]

None, though the total at the pump yesterday made me do a double take. $55.80, really? That Tesla is starting to look attractive again.

[mattyb]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

60mpg.

It has to be good, my car gets 18.

I wanted to get a bike, and was trying a few, visiting shops etc. Then along comes the latest accident figures on the TV. Mrs. Mattyb used the 'you have kids now' argument.

In France, where they drive like idiots, you're 27 times more likely to have an accident on a bike than in a car. I have a feeling that having the right to ride a 50cc at 14 years old on public roads is a MAJOR factor.

[Laminar]

I'm LOLing at Leaf owners right now.

Jalopnik: Obsessed With The Cult Of Cars

[The Final Dakar]

It's funny, when you've cut most of your shopping to the internet and get 34+ mpg, there's not much more you can do. Worse, I've been thinking about replacing my car for a year now, and part of the reason I've been loath to look around is I know whatever I do, I'm going to take a hit to my mpg.

Anyway, thank god my commute is only 20 minutes, mostly interstate.

[Eug]

I still jackrabbit drive (quick off the lights, etc.), but I drive a hybrid. I've been on hybrids for the past decade.

When I first got one in 2001, everyone thought it was a waste of cash, but now they think it's the bees knees. Ironically, in some ways I'd be less likely to buy one now, because for the two I got this past decade, I got lots of tax incentives. Now I'd have to pay full price.

For my first Prius in 2001, I got a big tax rebate. For my second Prius in 2004, I got a smaller tax rebate but I got it twice: I leased it first, and then I bought out the lease, and because of a loophole in the law I was allowed to claim the same tax rebate twice. In 2011, I'd get no rebates.

My fillups are usually in the 8 US gallon / 30 L range or perhaps a bit more, so with gas at ~$1.20/L I'm still usually well under $40.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

I'm LOLing at Leaf owners right now.

Jalopnik: Obsessed With The Cult Of Cars

Yeah, that's why you don't go straight electric.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Yeah, that's why you don't go straight electric.

That's exactly what I said to several uber-green persons and their response is that we North Americans are just spoiled in our driving habits.

Maybe we are spoiled, but it would be VERY difficult for me to get a car with a 75 mile range. (75 miles for jackrabbit drivers like me.) Actually it's really more like 50 miles, because you need to give yourself a bit of a cushion.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

.; instead of my usual practice of only getting a half a tank, ...

Wait, what? Why?

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by Eug 

That's exactly what I said to several uber-green persons and their response is that we North Americans are just spoiled in our driving habits.

Maybe we are spoiled, but it would be VERY difficult for me to get a car with a 75 mile range. (75 miles for jackrabbit drivers like me.) Actually it's really more like 50 miles, because you need to give yourself a bit of a cushion.

Geographically, North America simply isn't set up like other areas of the world such as Europe for electric. For me, sure I could do just fine going electric between school and work, but if I had to go up to Denver, which I often do, I couldn't make it.

[SSharon]

I haven't changed my driving habits at all and I don't intend to. Being in NJ I have cheaper gas than most of the country. I think I paid $3.33 the other day.

My Camry is aging and doesn't get great mileage anymore, but I'm happy with the 23-26mpg it gets. My wife's Camry is newer and gets 30mpg on the highway. I drive about 20 miles/day and she drives 30 miles/day.

We don't take my car on trips any more so I drive about 6000 miles a year on my car. That's about 260 gallons of gas. Even if gas goes up by a $1/gallon that is only another $260/year. Basically the same amount as fixing my brakes, getting a new windshield, or 3.5 months of iPhone ownership. If I add in another 350 gallons of gas for my wife's car (10000 miles at 28mpg) my total out of pocket cost is $350+260 per year. I'll just negotiate an extra $1000 off the next car I buy and call it even.

[Eug]

I wonder if my 2004 Prius will make it another 4 years without any big issues. I'm a little over 100000 km right now. I'd figure I'd be at around 160000 km in 2015. That's a little over 100000 miles.

[Eug]

This was posted by a smug Prius owner, at 102500 miles.


Sorry, I don't have a bigger version.

That Hummer really does eat gas...

[sek929]

How much more does the Prius cost compared to another small efficient 4 cyl car? Comparing a hybrid compact to large SUVs does not really make a fair comparison. I'd like to see the costs related to a new Honda Civic 4 banger over 100,000 miles versus the Prius. I'm willing to bet money that the Prius' slight MPG advantage over the Civic doesn't pay itself off over that mileage.

[The Final Dakar]

My first thought when I saw the "competition" on that graphic as well.

[Spheric Harlot]

Indeed.

Add in the eco-footprint of manufacturing the hybrid-high-tech, and any regular* vehicle running on LPG instead of petrol will probably come out not only cheaper, but a lot more environment-friendly, as well.


* "regular" as in "normal in Europe", not "normal in the USA"

[RAILhead]

I couldn't care less how much gas costs, so it doesn't affect me at all.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by sek929 

How much more does the Prius cost compared to another small efficient 4 cyl car? Comparing a hybrid compact to large SUVs does not really make a fair comparison. I'd like to see the costs related to a new Honda Civic 4 banger over 100,000 miles versus the Prius. I'm willing to bet money that the Prius' slight MPG advantage over the Civic doesn't pay itself off over that mileage.

My Prius is technically called a (small) mid-size actually. Externally it's probably pretty similar in size to a Civic, but OTOH, internally it's probably somewhere in between a Civic and an Accord, in terms of leg room, so it's debatable if you want to call it a small mid-size or a large compact.

But no, you probably wouldn't save any money buying a Prius in 2011 because there is an up-front cost premium, and no more tax rebates. Well, a few people might, if their job is to drive around the city all day long, but that's not most of us.

OTOH, I wanted a hatchback anyway, and I got lots of rebates. Plus the Prius comes with standard features like the Smart Key System, and keyless push-button start, etc., which compensates somewhat for the extra cost.

My GF has a Toyota Yaris, which is a sub-compact, and I definitely do get better gas mileage than she does real world, and the Yaris is rated significantly better than the Civic for gas mileage.

Gas mileage (city/highway L/100 km):

Accord Sedan: 9.0/5.8
Civic Sedan: 8.2/5.7
Yaris Hatchback: 7.0/5.7
Prius: 3.7/4.0

None of these are gonna be accurate, esp. in Canadian winters and with jackrabbit driving, but I'd estimate I get about 25% better gas mileage than the Yaris.

P.S. FWIW, to my surprise it seems the Prius costs less to service than other cars of its class. eg. Brake pads seem to last a very long time.

[The Final Dakar]

Kilometers?

[Eug]

And litres too. Not liters, but litres.

[The Final Dakar]

Just imagine I put three of those gifs in a row here.

I have feeling the US Government will crumble before we ever convert to metric.

[boy8cookie]

$4.01 for premium here... I'm still winning every race to the next stop light though.

per gallon, btw.

[The Final Dakar]

How much are tsunamis per gallon?

too soon?

Originally Posted by el chupacabra 

I dont even check the price of gas; so it wont effect my driving habits at all. I have a pretty efficient car though so none of it really matters to me.

It should matter. Driving style matters much more than simply "having a fuel efficient car." If you are an aggressive driver, you won't get near the fuel economy the specs claim.

Worrying about gas while driving can be stressful, I figure saving time, and going out, is more important than gas cost. And believe it or not speeding just a little can really cut the time you spend driving since 1 second is the difference between making the next light and missing the next light... or missing all of them.

Speeding just a little can also mean that you catch up to the next light while it's still red and have to stop, than being able to coast right through because it just turned green right before you got there. It works both ways and evens out in the end. You don't get home any quicker, and you used more gas doing it.

I see people speeding past me on the way to and from work every day. I always catch up to them one or two lights later.

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

Wait, what? Why?

One reason is half a tank is lighter - you use less gas carrying around your gas.

[Eug]

I managed to get over 825 km on one tank of gas on my first Prius, and then almost 800 km on one tank of gas on my second Prius. (That was on the highway.) However, it was a pain to do that.

I know of a few people who have hit the 1000 km mark, but it must be extremely irritating to them and everyone around them when they do that, since people don't normally drive that way.

[Spheric Harlot]

How much is a tankful?

I routinely got 1000 km on a single tank of diesel in my VW van - that was an 80L tank, though.

Still, I thought 8L/100 km was a pretty good average for a 1.6 metric-ton van.

[Eug]

Weirdly enough, the tank size varies, which is kinda annoying. They put a bladder in the tank so that it shrinks a bit as the gas is consumed. This reduces evaporation.

When I hit 786 it was just over 40 L I think, but I'd have to check. When I hit 825 km my fill up was in the low 40s. So, the gas mileage was 5.x L/100 km, with the air conditioning on. I think my driving speed was usually around 110 - 120 km/hr.

Normally when I fill up (when I get the low fuel warning) it's about 30-35 L, but there is still a fair amount of fuel left over at that point obviously. For real life big city driving I get more like 500 (or 600 km if there's highway driving thrown in) per tank in the summer, again with 30-35 L per fill up. However, like I said, I'm a jackrabbit driver.

[Athens]

Originally Posted by sek929 

How much more does the Prius cost compared to another small efficient 4 cyl car? Comparing a hybrid compact to large SUVs does not really make a fair comparison. I'd like to see the costs related to a new Honda Civic 4 banger over 100,000 miles versus the Prius. I'm willing to bet money that the Prius' slight MPG advantage over the Civic doesn't pay itself off over that mileage.

Factor in Cost of Car (Prius is a bit more)
Cost of replacing batteries after 8 years (would like to know how long you can go with out replacing them
Driving habbits, if you gun it in a prius your using motor more often then battery not saving you anything.

Overall I found keeping my 24 year old honda tip top shape was cheaper then going the new car route short term and long term.

[boy8cookie]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

How much are tsunamis per gallon?

too soon?

I saved a lot of gas by riding my surf board to work today.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by Eug 

I wonder if my 2004 Prius will make it another 4 years without any big issues. I'm a little over 100000 km right now. I'd figure I'd be at around 160000 km in 2015. That's a little over 100000 miles.

Why wouldn't it make it?

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Why wouldn't it make it?

Unknown long-term battery behavior ?

-t