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the true cost of driving

cutterone

Well-known member
For decades, miles per gallon — mpg in its familiar shorthand — has been the only way for consumers to understand how much gasoline is going into their tank, and what it really costs. But mpg isn't cutting it any more.

Like leagues, fathoms and pecks, mpg has become a relic, a unit of measure that has lost its meaning. It's a quaint reminder of the days when a gallon of high-test cost a buck or less, and Jimmy Carter donned his fuzzy cardigan and kindly asked everyone to crank down the thermostat and conserve energy.

It's time for new rules, and new math: Miles Per Dollar, or mpd.

The formula is simple. Take the old mpg, but divide it by the price of fuel. Unlike the vague mpg, mpd is a remorseless measuring stick, its pointy end aimed directly at your wallet. When gas was cheaper than the dirt it sprang from, 20 miles per gallon seemed pretty solid. Even when gas reached a dollar a gallon, you were still getting 20 mpd, traveling 20 miles on a buck.

The problem is that, as a whole, the nation's cars and trucks aren't getting any better fuel economy than they were 20 years ago. With the price of a gallon of gas soaring to $3 and beyond, think again about that 20 mile-per-gallon car. Its mpd rating has fallen to less than seven.

For a fun new road game, just count the mile markers. Every time you reach seven, you just blew another dollar. If your family hauler gets 7 mpd (or 21 mpg) on the highway, cruising at 70 mph costs a mind-blowing $10 per hour in fuel, more than some people make at their jobs. If that doesn't make you want better mileage, I don't know what will.

Now, a skeptic might call my mpd formula flawed or complicated, because it fluctuates with the price of gasoline. But that's precisely the point. As gas prices pole vault to new heights, mpd grabs you by the collar and says, "Um, buddy, have you seen how much you're spending to drive to Dairy Queen and back?"



Drive more, spend less. . .

Vehicle / MPG / Fuel Price / Miles Per Dollar
Toyota Prius 46 $3.00 15.33

Honda Civic Hybrid 42 $3.00 14.00

smart fortwo 36 $3.00 12.00

MINI Cooper 32 $3.00 10.67

Toyota Yaris 32 $3.00 10.67


Spend more, drive less. . .

Vehicle / MPG / Fuel Price / Miles Per Dollar
Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 12 $3.00 4.00

Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG 12 $3.00 4.00

Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG 12 $3.00 4.00

Dodge Ram 1500 14 $3.00 4.67

Lincoln Mark LT 14 $3.00 4.67


It doesn't help that the government and car companies have fudged on miles-per-gallon ratings for years, confusing and misleading consumers. The Feds finally created a more realistic real-world mileage test that's in effect for 2008 models. Under the new test, a four-cylinder 2008 Honda Accord — an efficient sedan if ever there was one — gets 21 mpg in the city, 31 highway, and 24 mpg overall.

Put that Accord under my mpd microscope, and you're getting just 8 miles per dollar. At 3 bucks a gallon, the Toyota Prius, the most efficient sedan sold in America at about 45 mpg, manages a mere 15 mpd. If gas hits $4 a gallon, even a Prius will be burning through a buck every 11 miles.

Ready to go site seeing?
 

PureCountry

Well-known member
Thanks for this stuff Cutterone. The wife and I are torn on this topic right now. None of our vehicles are real efficient - what "farm truck" is? We bought a Kawasaki Mule last fall, that has seating for 6, and plan on running it most of the spring/summer/fall. Hopefully, the Suburban can stay parked alot of that time.

Our problem though isn't transporting people, it's transporting the stock. If anyone knows of a truck that will outdo that Toyota Prius for MPD, whether it has an Isuzu/Kubota diesel in it or whatever, let me know. We're getting enough cows here now, that we can't continue borrowing the neighbors' truck & trailer. We have to buy something, but anything currently out there is going to burn fuel like crazy.
 

Steve

Well-known member
The problem is that, as a whole, the nation's cars and trucks aren't getting any better fuel economy than they were 20 years ago

in 95, I bought a Jeep... it gets around 18mpg.. in 05 i bought a new version of the same ,.. it gets on it's best day 16mpg..

ten years newer.. and worse gas milage...

While I like the formula.. it ignores factors in the miles per dollar...

Price of the car,... how long it should last..

and insurance are factors that would have to be included if it is the cost per mile.....

The prious may look cheap to run... but it is costly to buy...

I could buy a ford ranger and get my cost per mile. down...
 

cutterone

Well-known member
The wife and I were shocked when you put it in this way of thinking. I think the real point is just plain conservation - no more crusin the strip, runnin in to town for just a coke, more mass transit and car pooling for city folk, and I think parents need to rethink that every kid needs a car to drive to school, ect.
Can't see how we can do much to improve big rigs, tractors and the like but we could all do better on a personal level.
 

leanin' H

Well-known member
I really love how Al Gore and the global warming folks want us to take mass transit and drive hybrids. I would love to drive my hybreds down to the nearest lightrail station (100 miles away) and load them on the train! Then i could really be helping the environment! It hurts rural people the most. We raise the groceries of the nation and its kinda impossible to pull a stock trailer with a prius. I'll bet most of the folks on this website have clotheslines and are already conserving fuel out of neccesity. But our great politicians keep finding ways to make it worse. Ethanol is sure helping corn prices and the ripple effect touches hay, barley, wheat, ect. It's great if you are selling but it sure hurts to feed it. Sorry about my rant, but if this keeps up i may have to sell the dodge diesel and get me a Yugo with a pogostick for emergencys! Wait a minute, I do have horses in the corral!!!! :roll: I've officially lost it, a Yugo! Nope, a horseback it is!! Giddyup! :D
 

Steve

Well-known member
Cutterone
The wife and I were shocked when you put it in this way of thinking. I think the real point is just plain conservation

I am not argueing for wasting energy..but what most people ignore is that even producing a new car costs energy...

I don't buy a new car ever few years.. I still have my 95.. it has about 200,000 miles on it..I only bought the new one as I have to travel alot and I need a vehicle that can tow a large heavy trailer... Buying a new car would more then likely consume more energy to build it then I could save in energy costs..

add in that I don't really need a car.. I need a truck ... the only thing I could use a prious for is going to the store,.. and I think spending alot of money (and energy) on a car I can't use is wastefull ...

So to do my part I will own the same truck for at least ten years and save all the energy needed to produce new vehicles by stratching my use of them, until they die of over abuse..

findings indicate that a hybrid consumes more energy overall than a comparable conventionally powered model. It showed that the Honda Accord Hybrid rang up an Energy Costs Per Mile of $3.29, while a gas-powered Accord was significantly cheaper at $2.18/mile. The study concludes that the average of all 2005 U.S. market vehicles was $2.28/mile.

The reasoning goes that hybrids use up more energy to manufacture, as well as consume more resources in terms of the assembly (and eventual disposal) of things like batteries and motors. By CNW's reckoning, the intrinsically lower complexity of, say, a Hummer H3 ($1.949/mile) actually results in lower total energy usage than any hybrid currently on the market, and even a standard Honda Civic

While the study's findings don't take issue with what vehicles are more financially economical to own (read: those with better mileage), it does pose some interesting questions about total energy usage in hybrids.
http://la-auto-show.autoblog.com/2006/04/01/new-study-full-size-suvs-consume-less-energy-over-lifetime-than/
 

Hanta Yo

Well-known member
leanin' H said:
I really love how Al Gore and the global warming folks want us to take mass transit and drive hybrids. I would love to drive my hybreds down to the nearest lightrail station (100 miles away) and load them on the train! Then i could really be helping the environment! It hurts rural people the most. We raise the groceries of the nation and its kinda impossible to pull a stock trailer with a prius. I'll bet most of the folks on this website have clotheslines and are already conserving fuel out of neccesity. But our great politicians keep finding ways to make it worse. Ethanol is sure helping corn prices and the ripple effect touches hay, barley, wheat, ect. It's great if you are selling but it sure hurts to feed it. Sorry about my rant, but if this keeps up i may have to sell the dodge diesel and get me a Yugo with a pogostick for emergencys! Wait a minute, I do have horses in the corral!!!! :roll: I've officially lost it, a Yugo! Nope, a horseback it is!! Giddyup! :D

:agree:

Boy, you got that one right leanin H!
I've had a clothesline for years. I like using it except when the wind is blowing dirt around :shock: Which is most of the time, here :shock:
 

PureCountry

Well-known member
The dryer fell apart on us back in November, and we had to order parts for it. So out of necessity to dry clothes in the dead of winter, I strung some rope around the basement, and we made due. When the parts came in and I got the dryer back together, I just pushed in back in its' corner and we've been using the ropes ever since. I never realized what that could save on the power bill - for consumption, a dryer is the equivalent of an alcohol-burning dragster.
 

Kato

Well-known member
Gas here is $1.05 a litre, which works out to about $4.20 U.S. at today's dollar.

How's this for economy?

We have the big Silverado for the heavy work, but whenever it's possible we drive MY CAR! 8) 8) 8) :D :D :D

1997 Geo Metro
265,000 kilometers on it.
Bought brand new for $9,999.00
Gets between 50 and 60 mpg, depending on whether it needs new spark plugs, (all 3 of them :D :D :D :D )
Never had a bad breakdown, although the transmission is only smooth when I'm driving it now. It likes me better. :wink:
Gas here is more than in the U.S., so it costs me about $25 to fill it, as opposed to over a hundred for the truck. :shock:

And the best thing I've noticed is that I don't get laughed at when I'm at the gas station anymore, where I show up every couple of weeks. :D

My first car was a 1965 VW Beetle, and I never quite got over the love of cheap little cars. :heart:
 

PureCountry

Well-known member
How many does the metro seat Kato? Our problem is 4 kids, 3 of which have to be in boosters or car seats, and all of which, I blame on the wife. :p
 

Kato

Well-known member
Two in the front, with more headroom than you'd guess. Two in back, or three if they are real good friends. :wink: That's how many seatbelts it has.

It's a really small car, but with the hatchback you can pack a lot of stuff in it. Not necessarily a lot of kids though. :?
 

Denny

Well-known member
I bought a Ford Escort this fall 1996 model with 73,000 actual one owner little old lady miles.You can put 8 buckets of corn in the trunk plus quite a bit of mineral inside.It get's 30 mpg I figure it will save $1500 this winter alone just for feeding cows.I don't have the luxary of having the cows at home.I have to drive 13 miles per day each way to feed you don't need an F250 for that most days.It works real good as a parts running car also..

My wife traded off our Yukon on a new Honda Civic last spring she got sick of a $100 every 4 days.The gas saving's alone pays the payment each month not to mention the $600 Yukon payment we don't have anymore and the insurance is cheaper.The down fault is there's not as much room in the puddle jumper.Our calves were age and source verified last year for the Japanese market so I figure they are eating my beef we can drive one of their cars.
 

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