How do you Brits do it?

[Schwarzeritter]

It depends ofcourse where you are but fuel and car insurence aren't cheap in Japan as well.
I remember I whent thru a phase were I was like F--- this I am driving here or there, but it was not time efficiant. I still drive a lot more then the average Japanese person by far. But then agian I don't drink, or smoke so I sort of view it as a trade of vices. ( haha )

Sweden is not so bad, however parking in centeral Gothenberg is ok, better then Tokyo but also a pain. Germany is sort of the same, I remember being on the Autobhan and was very young and suddenly shocked by the traffic on the Autobhan, haha. France is greatin the South not much fun as you get into major cities. Italy is not so bad.

Here in California were pretty high, so was Hawaii as a recall. But in Calif the North and South have areas where fuel is just simply more expensive, and it is not always pragmatic or logical. Like out in around PalmSprings fuel is much less then if I were to compair it to say my home town of PaloAlto, then again you get out of the bayarea around outter sacramento and fuel drops, some parts of Sanjose have really cheap fuel. Mind you Shell and Mobile always are a bit more expensive no matter. Then again I also noticed seasonal changes in both prices and fuel blends.

But I dod remember when fuel suddenly did the jump well I was young and like SWEET MOTHER OF, simply because in the US I had never experinced fuel being that high. As a small child I remember paying for my parents and pumping the fuel because I thought it was cool, I also thought lot of things were cool as a small child ( haha )

[WinRice]

Went to Germany a couple of years ago and was blowing down the autobahn at full tilt in my rental diesel, when I passed a guy driving a 1970's Chevy Blazer with 38" tires on it.

I was thinking to myself, "How in the world does this guy afford to drive around the block with these fuel prices?"

[WPOZZZ]

Look at it this way, at $8 a gallon, there would be a lot less idiots on the road. After Katrina, gas in Hawaii was closing in on $5 a gallon for 92. On the outer islands, I think it may have hit $5.

[DonE]

Originally Posted by JBL930

Where did you visit Don?

We rented (sorry, hired) a car and drove from Penzance to Dover and everywhere in between. We stayed in Milton Keynes and I visited the RBR F1 factory. No one was really there because of summer break, but those who were there were great and gave us posters, mugs, coasters, etc. Also went to Petronas MB factory in Brackley but they weren't as open.

We put 2500 miles on the car - a 2.0L turbo Vauxhall four-door. And who said GM can't build an economic well-built car. Actually, I did - I was referring to cars build in the US.

[DonE]

Originally Posted by proffighter

After I saw Michael Moore's last report about the US health system, I would prefer to pay 10USD per gallon than getting sick in the US!!!

Ya, listen to Michael Moore. Great information source - not.

If you get sick here, you will have some of the best care in the world and you will not be turned away. You will however, have to pay for it some way, over time. Wow, new concept - pay as you go. Not pay and pay and pay.... Don't want to bear 100% of the risk? Buy insurance before you travel. I know, tough concepts for socialists.

[tj930]

The other week I heard the first recession news that made me smile and cheer: Councils in Oxfordshire have run out of money and are no longer able to fund "Safety" Cameras (i.e. Speed Cameras) - other Councils are set to follow suit - the 'war on the motorist' is over.

So the big bluff has been called - if speed cameras are the single cause of decreased numbers of annual Road Deaths over the past 50 years, we're going to see an immediate spike from circa 2,800 to over 6,000 deaths again this year.. Anybody with a brain between their ears knows that this isn't going to happen...

[DA VINCI]

Yeah, It's time to dial up the boost...

[drmatera]

Hmm, I would have thought the money generated from the "tickets" would have paid the bill on the cameras. Maybe it's the general wasting of tax payers money that needs to be canceled, not "safety" programs. Although I am totally against those cameras

[930gt-40r]

Screw speed cameras, screw health insurance, and really screw socialism... Now who is ready to pick up the tab on my school loans so I could keep my 930? Uncle Sam, where are you????

Now back to England... I went to London for the CES show- get off the plane and immeadiatly shoot over to the mag stand for a pack of smokes. Well... $13 USD to buy a pack of "Marb Red eqivalents"- I felt bad as if I was from a 3rd world country as my currency was crap compared to the GBP... Loved London to death though- had a great time there.

[RarlyL8]

Do the stoplight cameras record running red lights or speeding (or both)?

I'm all for stopping the red light runners. Our town is plagued by this to the point that you must wait for a column of red light runners to clear your full green before you can go. Folks die quite commonly as red lights are simply not enforced. I stopped quickly for a short yellow once and nearly got rear-ended ... by a cop.

Is there any government on the planet that only allows term-limited politicians who cannot benefit from their office?

[smurfbus]

Originally Posted by tj930

The other week I heard the first recession news that made me smile and cheer: Councils in Oxfordshire have run out of money and are no longer able to fund "Safety" Cameras (i.e. Speed Cameras) - other Councils are set to follow suit - the 'war on the motorist' is over.

So the big bluff has been called - if speed cameras are the single cause of decreased numbers of annual Road Deaths over the past 50 years, we're going to see an immediate spike from circa 2,800 to over 6,000 deaths again this year.. Anybody with a brain between their ears knows that this isn't going to happen...

Just wait when they find out that zero tolerance is the new budget maker. I think people have adjusted their driving to brake at the cameras and then speed again so no profit. Average speed cameras are the ticket for earnings and really hard to get by speeding without a ticket. Trapster is handy so no suprises from flashlights come by.

Stoplight cameras are good and I'm all for them.

[gilach]

a friend of mine who lives in London told me it costs him 500 pounds to fill his veyron at the track!!!! i think that includes a bottle or two of johnny walker blue-20 pound a gallon seems a little exorbitant, much like his car :-)

[JBL930]

Sounds like a nice trip Don!

Brian, they've got loads of different cameras to scam you over here, from your standard speed cameras, to average speed cameras, cameras to take pics if you stop in the wrong place, fine you if you go into a congestion charge zone, some lights have cameras if you run a red light etc etc.... It's a bit of a joke really!

Gilach, i think your mate is telling you tall stories!

[DonE]

While in London, my wife was craving a Starbucks, so before we went into Harrods, we went across the street and watched the world go by. In the span of 15 minutes, I watched two new butt-ugly 4 door Porsches go by, two Veyron's, one SLS AMG, one Enzo and two Lambo's (who cares what models - pure sex on wheels no matter the model).

Apparently, the global economic crisis has not deeply impacted Knightsbridge in central London.

Below is a street shot of one of the Veyron's with, get this, a chrome-like door. Badda-bling.

[NathanUK]

Maybe they were Bankers...

[911-32]

Re the Veyron - they are young middle eastern billionaires who come to London to avoid the hottest part of the middle east summer. They load their cars into their private jets and then cruise round Knightsbridge for a couple of months. You cannot see from the photo, but they are still on middle east number plates. Its been well publicised as the residents dislike the noise from the (rather tame) "street racing". There was a pic in the papers of a powder blue Lambo and a powder blue Konnegseig (spelling?) that were clamped for illegal parking recently. Apparently these guys park anywhere as they know they can't get ticketed on the foreign plates - or presumably they just don't care. Its certainly not bankers - who in London anyway, are generally fairly private people with families who avoid the most ostentatious displays of wealth.