I'm going to have to start taking the train to work

We call them petrol stations in england. Why the hell dont u guys?

thesexofit said:

Because it's gasoline

Petrol is 29 baht (76 cents US) a litre here. For US gallons that's about $2.88 per gallon. When I first came to Thailand I think it was about 17 baht (45 cents US) a litre.

thesexofit said:

pecan, pekhan, tomatoe,tomahto....same thing.

so cooking oil is no good?

unlucky7 said:

only if you have a vehicle equipped to run on vegetable oil. I'm not sure what would happen if you put cooking oil in a regular car.....most likely something disastrous

AnckSuNamun said:

ok

I am getting one of these!

ShySlantedEye1 said:

the idea of it is cool, flying down the highway feeling the breeze on your face.....but I'm so accident prone that that's an accident waiting to happen. It's kinda scary when you think about it though...being on that little bike sandwiched in between super sized SUV's on an interstate. I don't think I could ride on an interstate. It would save a lot of gas money though. My dad's been ridin' his Harley a lot lately to save money.

add on
[Edited 5/4/06 18:47pm]

I have been in so many near death incidents, I stop counting. I am just trying to save money. Gas is almost $3.50.
[Edited 5/4/06 18:46pm]

We are lucky in the fact that my wife and I drive into work together...
in her 4-cylinder Saturn Vue.

AnckSuNamun said:

I recall seeing a segment on Top Gear (British car program) where I think they filled a standard Volvo with some kind of used cooking oil from a Mexican restaurant and the thing just ran and ran and ran.

Ok, found this about what Top Gear did:


To make 100ml:

97ml used vegetable oil (filtered through jay-cloth and sieve to remove sediment). Used vegetable oil is recommended - it works better than new vegetable oil.

3ml white spirit (without kerosene - very important).

This lot costs about 3p/litre.

You need to declare this to Customs & Excise - who will charge you 26p/litre tax. Total cost 29p/litre.

Top Gear successfully tested an old Volvo saloon with a completely empty tank and fuel system (had to prime the fuel system first to remove the air).


Turns out that in the UK at least you have to pay duty on any fuel alternative. Also, only indirect injection diesel engines seem to get on with veggie oil, though it appears they have no problems at all. There's also something called biodiesel which is being offered as 5% of the mix at French petrol pumps. This appears to be similar to some kind of prepared cooking oil. So it sounds like it works with the right engine with no trouble at all and at a cheaper cost (a diesel Renault Clio can get over 60mpg), but it's not exactly the most convenient thing to do.

But it does work, we know that much.

...


[Edited 5/4/06 20:18pm]

Fauxie said:

really? that's awesome. I highly doubt that would work on my car though. On my tank is a message in bold letters saying "UNLEADED FUEL ONLY"

AnckSuNamun said:

See my edit. Diesel only and while it's not rocket science, it seems you do need to do a little more than just pour vegetable oil in your tank.

Fauxie said:

might as well pay the extra money for regular gas

AnckSuNamun said:

Yeah, I know.

Now if you didn't have to declare it to customs and excise, then you'd be saving heaps and it'd definitely be worth it.

It appears that it is worth it if you just take it to a reputable company who will convert it properly and instruct you how to do it all correctly. You have a small start-up tank with diesel and the regular tank uses the veggie oil. I'm sure some people have got on really well with this, but for most I think it'd be a hassle they're just not willing to deal with.

If only governments and car companies really got behind this, it'd be so much easier. Politics.

Fauxie said:

not likely at all

AnckSuNamun said:

Not in our lifetime.

AnckSuNamun said:

that's okay...flex-fuel cars will hopefully become more common in the u.s.

on yahoo.com if you go to the auto section they already have a section up for hybrid cars (thank gawd!!!)...it seems there are about 10 models out there, from compact to suv, ford to lexus! i'm really trying to put my foot in my crachety old dad's babckside to get rid of his gas guzzler suv and try one of these the next time around.

basically, what got me interested was seeing a really cool documentary on cnn called "we were warned...": it showed the fact the the world demand for oil is outstripping the supply, especially now that you have china and india (with a combined poulation of TWO BILLION PEOPLE), with economies rising through the roof and baby they've got money to burn---they now need oil to support their cash cow economies of two billion inhabitants, so....we're going to have to pay more for oil whether we like it or not because we have competition now. add that to the fact that we're not really prepared to handle our country in a state of crisis (hi, katrina, anyone?), they constructed a hypothetical mock-up of what could happen if we ever had another natural disaster on the scale of Katrina, and got hit by a terrorist attack in its wake while we were most vunerable; we could get through that all fine and well, BUT the problem is that it would throw the markets out of whack,or worse, our supply of oil from the middle east would be cut off entirely if we engae in some big war conflict....there would be no friggin' gas available at the pump, and to get the last of whatever was left, roads would be backed up for miles and miles until each station sold it's last drop. then they showed all the happy people in brazil, (presently!) running 85% of their cars on sugar cane (and a bit of corn), with everyone being all excited that brazil will phase out 100% of gas-fueled cars within 8 years...it made me feel like a total dunce for not realizing that access to oil is not a right anymore

BlackBuddy said:

I don't blame you! I just wish we had a solution for our friends in California! The LA Kids are really getting hit hard because they NEED their cars to get around

Ottensen said:

I'm in Southern California near L.A. There's a train system called Metrolink

BlackBuddy said:

That´s interesting...and funny because my English teacher was from Santa Monica and we used to argue whether LA had a subway or not. There´s this scene in "Predator 2" where they use the LA subway if I recall correctly and that´s why I asked her. We both couldn´t really say for sure whether LA had a metro or not.And she told me that you REALLY need a car in LA.

( To quote Ice-T, ca.1986: .."..you gotta have a car if you live in LA." from the Mele Mel, Ice-T 12" Cars )....by the way , Ice had to use the bus system too back in 1985 when his old Porsche was falling into pieces.

She said maybe certain parts of LA.
I wonder how drastically the quality of air would increase if LA took a week long break from cars.The results would probably be amazing to see considering the smog people have to deal with in LA.

KoolEaze said:

L.A. does not have a subway system like New York. It's a rail system that isn't underground. Only the Red Line through MetroRail is a subway. It's not elevated either, like Chicago. The rail services, mostly, L.A. county and commuters from other counties. In 1985 the rail system didn't exist, just the bus. It was built in the 90's and it's still expanding


http://www.mta.net/riding...rip-02.htm


http://www.metrolinktrains.com/
[Edited 5/6/06 22:05pm]

Have you seen the price of shoe leather these days.. get yrs of walking in them..... sorry to hear that the amercians have to pay such a hugh cost for thier petrol. roll on the hydrogen engine the by product is water. At least that will stop the Drought in the UK!!!!!

whatta
now this is what I call a bike, the Night Rod 2006