Would You Give Up Your Cars for a Cleaner Environment?
 

Many of you have seen the BP commercial about how BP came out with low sulfur fuels 6 years early and how the women equates giving up her car is like giving up a hershey bar - ain't gonna happen.

Would you give up your cars to save the world?

I would; right now the economic alternatives just aren't there.

Hybrid technology is a bandaid I think...not that it's a bad one...it will lead to better ones I'm sure.

It's a very interesting time right now.

No.
But then I usually have my head in the sand. Just ask Super...
:)

As for the horrible L.A. traffic, maybe another question should be "Would you give up your car to have more time to yourself?" To that, I answer "Yes."

I do take the bus as often as I can - took it 4 days this week.

;-)

mike:

FOr over twenty years, summer and winter, living in Roachester NY I took the bus as often as I could. I would buy a monthly bus pass. Drove the car less than 4k a year. Worked out fine. Time to read the paper, no worries about parking, lower insurance and actually less cost overall, considering metro parking fees and gas. Used a pool car for meetings and such. Cool!!

Out here in AZ, I actually drive even less. Everything I need is within a half mile or so and except for two months in the SUmmer when it is a tad warm, well within walking distance!!

If a public transit system is within ten minutes walk, a car is simply a convenience.

Are U fking CRAZY....GIVE UP MY BELOVED 911...HERESY...BURN HIM AT THE STAKE....huh Wayne.....

I am frankly getting tired of these ******* a$$ed Threads......

The infernal combustioned engine vehicles are on there way to oblivion by 2020 or so....oh sure there will be alot of old clunkers still threading the highways of America, and the Heavy Moving will still be done by them but something else is on the way....even if it's just a Hybrid...I'm afraid Peak Oil production is just a few scant years away...and then you'll see the Crickets back in action in LB and West Texas again....Who ever thought $60 a Barrel oil....now when it hits $100....your going to here a howl from all U SUV lovin Muthers.... have a nice day now ya here!

I would give up my car as daily transportation, but I'd want to keep it for sport.

No, but I would kill my best friend to become immortal.

No, I would always want to have a car, but I would drive it just for fun and not for 5-days-week necessity.

Come to think of it, that's what I mostly do. I take BART or bus to work, the P-car gets driven on weekends. I do usually drive a beater car the 1+ mile to the BART station, although sometimes I walk it. I might walk more (great for losing weight) or look into riding my bike (steep hill, though).

If a region has good (comfortable, reliable, safe, convenient) public transit, then as car traffic gets worse, more people will pick the alternative of public transit. And it won't be a hardship at all, actually it is a pleasure. Sit cursing in traffic/pay $20 for parking or read/snooze on a BART train? Hardly a tough choice to me.

The problem is that most mass transit systems are underfunded and can't extend out as far as they should. Even in the SF Bay that's true.

I would use public transport were it available in my area. Lived in Europe for many years and used it daily there, but they know how to work it so that its accessable and worth using. As well, with gas at over $5 a gallon in most European countries, its well worth using public transport there.

Would never get rid of a few of my toys. The 911, a motorcycle and airplane aint going anywhere but I would use public if they ever work it out to help things out.

That said until the idiot on the corner with a hummer and 'burb or the jerk across the street with a "lifted truck" does something then my taking public transport will do little to help. The above A$$'s are wasting the worlds natural resources far worse than I am with my car. I get 20+ mpg in every vehicle I own, and 3 of them get 35+ mpg, so comparing them to these jerks getting 8-10 mpg is not apples to apples.

JoeA

Joe, I'm with you.

I ended up with a Prius when the 911 went away (still have the 944), and feel like I am doing my part. I have lots of road bikes, and commute on them when I can (yes, even to Vegas from LA).

Round trip to Vegas from LAX: (midweek with air on, and at semi-legal speeds, avg time 4 hours).

Mercedes 420SEL 19 gallons Supreme each way.
Porsche 944 16 gallons Super each way.
Honda VF1000R (no air) 12 gallons Super each way.
Honda VFR750F (no air) 13 gallons Super each way.
Honda CBR1000R (same) 15 gallons Super each way.

Toyota Prius 6 gallons Regular 89 octane each way.

It has Sat radio, nav system, the A/C works better than any other car, it is comfortable and does whatever speed I want. The limiter is set at 116. The Cd is better than the 911. You eventually get used to the way it looks, haha, everytime you fill it up for $20. Best mileage is at 64 to 67 with cruise control on. I usually set it for 82 or 83 so as not to get run over by the trucks. Out the door $25k.

It still makes sense for a commuter car.

Been thinking about this a little more... Now that I live in town, I expect to put less than 1,000 miles on the 944, and less than 6,000 on the dodge. I plan on taking the bus when I need to go downtown, just because it's easier and there's a bus stop 1 block from my house.

For the next month, I'm still driving 300 miles each week back to the old house, which is sucky. Once that's over, I should be in better shape.

Michael,

I still ride the bike a lot as well but not during the summer. Its just too hot out here (was 112 yesterday) but 9 months out of the year it cannot be beat.

Doing the commute for you would work fine and assume that you drop the wheels and go flying when you hit Vegas? I have an airport car as well (Honda Accord, gets 35 mpg) and let the good ones sit at home.

What kills me is that my "good" cars take premium and thats over $2.50 a gallon these days. Do not need to drive in style that much and the airport car is getting used more and more.

Left you a msg on the "area 51" thread...

Joe A

Absolutely not.

I believe that "big business" does way more damage to the environment than citizens do. When they stop polluting, I'll think about it.

Seeing as that will not happen anytime soon and I have no kids, so long as I can squeeze 25 more years out of this rock, I don't care.

Dan

Honestly I don't think we need to give up our cars 100%. There are things that I absolutely need my car for very often. I can't transport my sports gear via public transportation. I can't transport my RC Airplanes via public transport...so...I must always have something right?

Well - I'd be happy to have something that didn't require or at least didn't require as much fossil fuels.

Also - I don't think ANYONE is asking ANYONE to give up their cars 100% - but taking the bus is more liberating than most folks realize.

I will never give up my 930, but even at this stage of things it will never be my daily driver again.

From this point on for many reasons I am doing my best to cut down on unnecessary travel and keep my personal vehicle MPG above 30 MPG.

As if that is not enough I am also going into a field whose purpose is to protect the environment.

The argument that we need to give up our porsches in order to protect the environment is as lame as arguing that you need to give up sex to prevent overpopulation.

First, I would keep a car (or some kind of personal transportation) for those trips public transportation didn't serve - and for recreation. But, I would love to be able to use public transportation on a regular basis. The problem is, in this area, public transportation is so inefficient. I talked to one guy who tried it, and he said he gave it up because he had to spend 2 1/2 hrs. on the bus or trolley each way to get where he had to go. Here they spend 90% of the transprotation money on public transportation and 10% on roads & freeways. 98% of the people use the roads and freeways and 2% use public transportation.

No, but I would give up my environment for a cleaner car.

give up this?http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1121547104.jpg


When I can drive to work and not see a Ford Excursion going down the road with only one person in it I might concider the possibility. nnnaaaaaaawwwwwww ain't gonna happen

Same here. Pretty much the only reason I use my porsches for daily driving is safety. The high speed abilities of a porsche are just wasted on the street. But I genuinely believe that porsches are safer than other cars (in fact, after I bought my first p-car, I was deeply shocked at how wildly uncontrolled all other cars felt in comparison). I tell ya, the first company that comes up with an environmentally friendly car that handles like my 944 is gonna get a big check from me.

That said, I have been looking into getting a diesel...preferably from mercedes or some other top end company...and trying out the biodeisel approach. I have a friend who is going deep into that world and I am very seriously intrigued.

Oh yeah, and because of the huge torque that you can get from a diesel, a biodiesel sports car is not at all out of the question. If anybody on this BBS wants to try such a thing, I'll gladly throw some R&D cash at it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1121551316.jpg

This gets 30mpg with the ac on and 32 with the windows open. I think it is friendly to the environment. It also serves as my daily driver. 30% chance of rain is 100% chance the SC will stay in the garage

I am impressed at the number of posters who are sensitive re: oil dependence and the (not onlyh natural but also) economic environems.

Hats off!!

OK, different spin, would you give up your car to stick it to the big fuel cos and the middle beast and the crooks in Africa that ensalve the poor?

If we all had to give up our cars tommorrow, I would not mind, as long as there was good public transport.

That being said, I think it is horse **** to make people feel guilty about driving cars when industry, in particular coal fired power plants, dumps far more pollution into the atmosphere.

I would not give up my car nor my bike, but if we had a rapid transit system (like a monorail or something) I would be more than happy to take it to work everyday. 92 octane at the nearest Chevron just hit $2.75 a gallon...

If I had an alternative way to get to work every day with perhaps even +15 minute commute times, heck yea I would do it most days.

The current reality is that public transport options (I'm guessing but can't be far off) would be 2X or more the one-way car drive time, which is already 30-40 mins at best and 90 mins at seriously degraded times.

If somebody would install a system (express luxury bus, train, helicopter, or whatever) that would get me to work more quickly than my car, with reasonable comfort so I could read or work or whatever, hell I would be willing to pay quite a bit for that.

I couldn't give up my car but I see a future where I'll be limited to driving it on the track.

I'm putting EFI on my 930 purely for environmental reasons, the performance gain is just a bonus. :D

Even a $2.20 or more per gallon, I don't think Americans are going to conserve fuel. I think the government should start increasing gas taxes maybe 10% a year until it's high enough for people to start wanting more fuel efficent vehicles.

I also wish there was a 1/2 ton full size truck with a small turbo diesel, such as a 4 liter V-6. I bet such a vehicle would get over 20mpg as apposed to my truck which gets 12mpg.

Suppose we gradually raised gas taxes and put that money into mass transit. Cities which currently have poor mass transit systems and choking traffic (LA, Seattle, for example) could develop good mass transit systems, and people could read and snooze on a comfortable train instead of suffering for 1 hour in traffic. The increases could be slower for regions where mass transit is not so feasible (rural areas, for instance).

Alternatively, maybe we could increase taxes or CAFE standards to favor more fuel-efficient vehicles. If 10% or 20% of demand for big fuel-sucking truck-based SUVs shifts to mid-sized fuel-efficient car-based SUVs, that would be significant.

I'd like to see the federal government actively looking at things like this. The government has done nothing to reduce gasoline consumption. We've spent over $300 billion on MidEast wars, oil has climbed to $60, and the only energy policy I hear from Washington is encouraging new nuclear power plants. I think more nuclear power is a good idea, but that will mostly replace coal, not oil.

Does increasing gas tax actually work to discourage people from driving, though? I get the idea, but I don't think on a large scale people alter their driving habits because of the price of gas.

Maybe not, but I suspect comfortable and convenient mass transit does. (See the anecdotal responses in this thread.) The increased tax could fund more and better mass transit.

Well, we didn't do what the environmentalists said we had to last time and I think we're dealing with this Ice Age pretty well if I do say so myself.

Wow - I'm impressed. But with long waiting lists (cabbies gobble them up like crazy) - is there actually anyway to deal with them on a Prius? Or do you just bend over and smile as you sign the paperwork and cut the check?

When cities were ankle deep in horse crap - cars were seen as cleaner...

I'm with Struther and Janus. Yeah I would drive some else or ride on a mass tarnsit. But I would not give up the fossil burner for fun.

Same here. Commuting from North County to SD is a joke if you're using public transport. 2.5 hours each way using a train/trolley/bus combo vs. 1 hour in my truck (15mpg) vs. 30 minutes on motorcycle (45 mpg).

Our household garage is the OPEC dream, a big azz SUV and a F150. Luckily the SUV is a low mileage kid shuttle and grocery getter for wife that goes to the pumps once every 2 weeks. The truck is invaluable however makes no sense as a commuter. We won't give up using a car (no realistic PT option) but are open to alternatives.

Here is a better idea. Instead of subsidizing farmers to grow NOTHING (it happens), why don't we pay them to plant TREES on that empty farm land? Would serve as a nice Co2 buffer, maintain the top soil and provide usable lumber at a later date.

...nah sounds to reasonable.

And sure I'd take mass transit if it were available. The bikes would be just for occasional kicks.

I know farmers that intentionally sabotage their crops to get gubmint dough. You can't just "plant trees" though as it's a year by year thing.

So make a lump sum payment to plant trees and discontinue all other year to year subsidies. Then let's see how fast they jump at the opportunity to become a X-mas tree farm.

Thanks dhoward, I'll take it from here. Anybody else want to assign me as their spokes person?SmileWavy

We are in love with our personal transportation, here in America. And especially us Porsche gearheads. The vast majority of vehicles on the road have a single occupant. And they out-weigh a 1956 Buick Roadmaster. I'll give up my Porsche when they pry it from my cold dead hands, by the way.

Nevertheless, I would deeply love to see mass transit facilities and schedules/routes increased/improved. I would very much like to have a reasonably convenient mass transit commuting option. I'd like someone else to do the driving, and I could catch up on some reading. And it'd be cheaper.