Fuel prices - Getting me down...

Xcellor

Unfortunately I am in the position where

1) I must have a car because no public transport that is suitable goes to my place of work.
2) Can't afford an eco car or a decent diesel car.
3) Each week I am shelling out 65+ euros now to fill up.

Since oil is nowhere near the 140$ mark and we are already paying the same amount as we were when it was at its peak what the hell is going to happen when an economic recovery happens in the rest of the world. The dollar strength against euro is meaning I can see the prices hitting 1.50 a litre very shortly.

I didn't mind paying the exta levy on fuel when the price was 1.10 mark but this is becoming ridiculous!!!

X

mike65

Hmmm, the best you can do is learn to be ultra economical in your driving style smooth both gaining and shedding speed, read the road so braking is hardly required, change gear at the optimum engine speed and so on (and clear the boot out!).

There is no way prices will drop again as far as I can see. This is it.

You'd get a decent diesel for €3000.

Xcellor

RoverJames wrote: »

You'd get a decent diesel for €3000.

What would you recommend?

inforfun

Fuel prices ......

Oil might be cheaper than they were at their peak but the US$ got stronger compared to those days. And oil is payed in US$
And if we take away the 13 cent (8c budget april 2009 + 5c carbon tax of budget dec 2009) you would pay around €1,20.

celticbest

From what I've heard the Government takes 69% of the cost of a Litre of Petrol at the pumps in tax...!!

Xcellor

mike65 wrote: »

Hmmm, the best you can do is learn to be ultra economical in your driving style smooth both gaining and shedding speed, read the road so braking is hardly required, change gear at the optimum engine speed and so on (and clear the boot out!).

There is no way prices will drop again as far as I can see. This is it.

Driving becomes like a chore. Since I have aquired my first two penalty points I do intend on being more careful with my speed. No more 85phh in 60 kph zones etc.

I think motorists are shafted. High fuel prices, high road tax, sh*t roads, sh*t public transport outside of dublin. If there was another choice I would take it........

Xcellor

Xcellor wrote: »

What would you recommend?

406HDi
307HDi
Rover 75
Rover 45
Xantia or C5



All cheap and all do over 40mpg easy, over 50mpg on a run.

BlackWizard

Another choice? Emigrate

A cheap diesel car or van might be an option. Work out your fuel economy and see if a diesel will save you much.

BrianD3

If you are driving on open roads then there is scope for saving fuel by driving more slowly. I have already reduced my "target" speed on N roads from an indicated 110 km/h to an indicated 100 km/h. Makes a difference. I'm now getting 44 mpg average from my petrol Laguna

Also as already stated, concentrate on reading the road, maintaining momentum without braking, taking advantage of downhill stretches etc. For instance if you are driving down a hill with a bend at the bottom of it, try lifting completely off the throttle at the top of the hill, you'll use little or no fuel on the descent and may not have to brake for the bend. This will save fuel compared to leaving your foot on the throttle, gaining too much speed on the descent and then having to brake for the bend.

JHMEG

Get a motorbike. 120 mpg isn't unheard of.

inforfun

Xcellor wrote: »

...... sh*t public transport outside of dublin. ........

It is not exactly fabulous in Dublin either.
Recently i started to go to work by car, in the past i had a bus connection that i considered decent enough.

Well, the money i spent on fuel now for the trip to work and back home is exactly the same as what i was paying for the bus.
Only difference is that i now leave 20 minutes later and am home 30 minutes faster. And this is on a 10km trip.
Also i can now get to work and back home in a proper manner and time on irish bank holidays when i have to work.
Being able to do my shopping there where the offers are in stead of in the local Spar.

Of course i had to buy the car, get insurance and motor tax but apart from that i can honestly say i have more money left at the end of the month than when i did not have a car. And it is more than the €100 a month insurance and motor tax cost me.

antomorro-sei

I just bought a Corsa diesel a few weeks ago, and I'm averaging around 45mpg. And thats not driving economically at all

challengemaster

celticbest wrote: »

From what I've heard the Government takes 69% of the cost of a Litre of Petrol at the pumps in tax...!!

Last I heard it was €14 out of every €20 put in...

inforfun wrote: »

It is not exactly fabulous in Dublin either.

Sure it is! you just have to live in "Out of service", you'll never miss a bus...:pac:

Eoin

challengemaster wrote: »

Last I heard it was €14 out of every €20 put in...:

Which is 70%, so you're both pretty much right!

OldmanMondeo

Xcellor wrote: »

3) Each week I am shelling out 65+ euros now to fill up.

I filled my Diesel yesterday, around 125c per litre, €61 to fill. Have to fill every week....

Fuel prices are disgraceful. The carbon tax should be dropped as it looks like we will meet our target without having to purchase anymore credits...

jayok

JHMEG wrote: »

Get a motorbike. 120 mpg isn't unheard of.

Yep, I've a 400cc and I'm getting around 60mpg on city driving.

Pot Noodle =

eoin wrote: »

Which is 70%, so you're both pretty much right!

:eek: The Bstards Take Take all the time

dnme

OP

Is cycling an option? I often cycle (Athenry to Galway),

Good for you
Very Cheap
Bike to work scheme
You're never late
You get fit
No penalty points
Runs on bananas

JHMEG

jayok wrote: »

Yep, I've a 400cc and I'm getting around 60mpg on city driving.

Hmm, I would have thought more... that's not far off what my car gets (52). I knew a lad on quite a long commute, said he was getting 120mpg out of his 125.

galwaytt

JHMEG wrote: »

Get a motorbike. 120 mpg isn't unheard of.

Ordinarily, and as a daily bike rider, I'd applaud this. But there hasn't been a bike of that ability for many years.

Unless you buy an Enfield (India), you won't get close. The race to big power, just like in diesel cars, means that you can't have all the gain with no pain.

My 1450 Harley does about 40mpg. My Aprilia 500 scooter, about 46mpg. My wife's old BeeEmm F650 would regularly do 65 - 70mpg. My Vespa might - might, do.......70mpg. Maybe.

Japanese commuters might do 50's, and sportsbikes and big tourers are now in the 30's.

My Suzuki RGV250 does 25mpg. :eek:

Plus ca change, and all that.

Now, a diesel bike, that would be interesting !

galwaytt

dnme wrote: »

OP

Is cycling an option? I often cycle (Athenry to Galway),

Good for you
Very Cheap
Bike to work scheme
You're never late
You get fit
No penalty points
Runs on bananas

You cycle Athenry to Galway everyday, rain and shine ?? :eek: Holy Schweppes.......what route do you take ?

..in which case.....

Good for you - Yep
Very Cheap - Can be
Bike to work scheme - mmmm, dont' get me started....
You're never late - ah now, come on, pull the other one.....
You get fit - indeed
No penalty points - only if you obey the Rules....
Runs on bananas - as disctinct from Peanuts ?

Seweryn

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

Fuel prices are disgraceful.

I think that fossil fuels are still very cheap. Just think outside the box... A galon of fuel alows you to travel 50km in a comfortable car. Just imagine if you have to push that car for that distance - it would be equivalent of about 2 months of human labour. And what do you pay for it? 5 Euro? There is no country in the world where you get 2 months of labour for that money. We all forget how the fossil fuels changed our lives...
Anyway, oil prices will only go one way from now (with small seasonal fluctuations) and we should be prepared for it.

dnme

galwaytt wrote: »

You cycle Athenry to Galway everyday, rain and shine ?? :eek: Holy Schweppes.......what route do you take ?

..in which case.....

Good for you - Yep
Very Cheap - Can be
Bike to work scheme - mmmm, dont' get me started....
You're never late - ah now, come on, pull the other one.....
You get fit - indeed
No penalty points - only if you obey the Rules....
Runs on bananas - as disctinct from Peanuts ?

Monivea road. I dont do it everyday, if its fine and I feel like it, it sure does subsidise my travel expenses.

By "Never late" what I mean is that I know exactly how long my journey time will be, I am not going to get stuck in traffic jams, or school runs, or lane closures etc.

Its a 30 mile round trip, but if I lived a bit closer, say within 7-8 miles of a destination, I would cycle all the time. Rain is not an issue these days as decent cycle gear is waterproof and breathable etc. Also have waterproof panniers for bringing stuff like laptop, papers, clothes etc.

Vertakill

Xcellor wrote: »

Driving becomes like a chore. Since I have aquired my first two penalty points I do intend on being more careful with my speed. No more 85phh in 60 kph zones etc.

Doesn't sound like you are/were driving very economically to begin with!

JHMEG

galwaytt wrote: »

Ordinarily, and as a daily bike rider, I'd applaud this. But there hasn't been a bike of that ability for many years.

I'm genuinely surprised to hear how economical bikes are not. I knew a guy years ago who said he could do Dundalk to Waterford on one tank... maybe he was b.s.ing.

CamperMan

look at the Audi A2 1.4 diesel.. amazing MPG figures

Akrasia

JHMEG wrote: »

Hmm, I would have thought more... that's not far off what my car gets (52). I knew a lad on quite a long commute, said he was getting 120mpg out of his 125.

yeah, but how much was he spending on two stroke oil...

Akrasia

JHMEG wrote: »

I'm genuinely surprised to hear how economical bikes are not. I knew a guy years ago who said he could do Dundalk to Waterford on one tank... maybe he was b.s.ing.

I used to get 200 kilometres from less than 7 pounds worth of petrol (at about 95p a litre) on an FZR 250. (it didn't have a petrol guage so I used the trip meter, reset it everytime I filled up and when it got to 200 kilometres i knew I had to re-fuel

Worked out at about 80mpg (and I wasn't driving anywhere near as economically as i could)

deman

BlackWizard wrote: »

Another choice? Emigrate

I guess these countries aren't an option then...

Belgium -141.2
Finland -144.1
Germany -143.5
Greece -143.1
Netherlands-157.3
Italy -138.9
France -139.0
Portugal -133.6

I suppose you could move to one of these...

Austria -122.4
Luxembourg-118.2
Spain -118.0 (and accept low wages)
Slovenia -120.4 (and accept low wages)

Personally, if I was able to get petrol at 1.25-1.30 per litre, I'd be pleased.

mooman

deman wrote: »

I guess these countries aren't an option then...

Belgium -141.2
Finland -144.1
Germany -143.5
Greece -143.1
Netherlands-157.3
Italy -138.9
France -139.0
Portugal -133.6

I suppose you could move to one of these...

Austria -122.4
Luxembourg-118.2
Spain -118.0 (and accept low wages)
Slovenia -120.4 (and accept low wages)

Personally, if I was able to get petrol at 1.25-1.30 per litre, I'd be pleased.

USA- €0.55/litre, I know where I'm headed:D

deman

mooman wrote: »

USA- €0.55/litre, I know where I'm headed:D

And the Americans are complaining about that price.

Simon Jester

mooman wrote: »

USA- €0.55/litre, I know where I'm headed:D

Iran €0.10 per L

See ya;)

JHMEG

Simon Jester wrote: »

Iran €0.10 per L

See ya;)

No beer in Iran, and no Hooters either...

MunsterCycling

mooman wrote: »

USA- €0.55/litre, I know where I'm headed:D

They are the problem in the first place, just waste fuel without thinking

Juwwi

Seweryn wrote: »

I think that fossil fuels are still very cheap. Just think outside the box... A galon of fuel alows you to travel 50km in a comfortable car. Just imagine if you have to push that car for that distance - it would be equivalent of about 2 months of human labour. And what do you pay for it? 5 Euro? There is no country in the world where you get 2 months of labour for that money. We all forget how the fossil fuels changed our lives...
Anyway, oil prices will only go one way from now (with small seasonal fluctuations) and we should be prepared for it.

why would u push ur car to work.

Seweryn

robbie1977 wrote: »

why would u push ur car to work.

I wouldn't. I am just trying to explain how huge amount of energy condensed in liquid fuels we get for so tiny amount of money.

Run_to_da_hills

galwaytt wrote: »

Now, a diesel bike, that would be interesting !

Enfield India once produced the Taurus Diesel, believe it was a Robin 325cc industrial single cylinder fitted. At only slightly over 6hp with max speed of 50mph it couldn't pull it self out of a wet paper bag but could do well in excess of 100 MPG.

Until such time as the Japs come up with a fuel injected turbo multi I will not have any faith or interest in diesel motorbikes.

Fishtits

Spent time in France recently, unleaded was often 1.50+ per litre, no wonder the diesel is king over there.

Once in the middle east added 97 litres of "benzine" to the tank, handed over a Dollar and got change...

Fishtits

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Until such time as the Japs come up with a fuel injected turbo multi I will not have any faith or interest in diesel motorbikes.

There is some incredible prototype/research diesel stuff going on at the moment in Europe (diesel design HQ BTW). Petrol engines will be a thing of the past within 15 years IMHO, that includes bikes.

Run_to_da_hills

Fishtits wrote: »

There is some incredible prototype/research diesel stuff going on at the moment in Europe (diesel design HQ BTW). Petrol engines will be a thing of the past within 15 years IMHO, that includes bikes.

They would want to and the sooner the better. A set of Iridium plugs costs about e50 for my Gixr 750. :eek:

P.C.

JHMEG wrote: »

I'm genuinely surprised to hear how economical bikes are not. I knew a guy years ago who said he could do Dundalk to Waterford on one tank... maybe he was b.s.ing.

Easy.
And I would get half way back.

Last Saturday I got 238 miles* (385 km) and when I filled up, I only managed to get 18.5 liters into the tank.










* and I was not conservative with the throttle - rev counter saw the wrong side of 8K for most of the 238 miles.

mooman

MunsterCycling wrote: »

They are the problem in the first place, just waste fuel without thinking

I'd rather be part of the problem than picking up their tab:D

jayok

JHMEG wrote: »

I'm genuinely surprised to hear how economical bikes are not. I knew a guy years ago who said he could do Dundalk to Waterford on one tank... maybe he was b.s.ing.

To be fair, some of the Honda's 125 out there (4 stroke) will get about 100mpg for commuting. My 60 mpg, is the worst of the city driving start/stop, also the bike is an automatic (this makes some bikers vomit at the thoughts) so the CVT doesn't help economy.

From my own limited experience with bikes, they will rev higher that a car at the same speed. For example at 120km/hr my 400cc will being doing about 6K RPM, my car will be doing about 2.3K RPM - i.e. working a lot less. If you take the driving style and some of the performance bikes, spinning the engine to 10K is going to drink fuel no matter what.

As for diesel bikes, this was tried before and the additional weight, delivery of power, etc really went against the whole notion of a bike. The next step for motorbike (as Honda have it) is the hybrid electric types. I believe that Honda are on the verge of releasing their first one in the next few months.

91011

mooman wrote: »

USA- €0.55/litre, I know where I'm headed:D

current average usa price per US gallon unleaded is $3.30 including sales tax - gasbuddy.com

a us gallon has 3.8 litres

rate of exchange 1.32

euro price per litre = 66c

a lot cheaper than here, but then if you have a crash & have to go to hospital in the usa.....be prepared to pay thousands of dollars

unkel

Simon Jester wrote: »

Iran €0.10 per L

See ya;)

Pfft. Venezuela €0.03 per L. And at least there's drink & girls over there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e9Y023-mnc