Gasoline, MPG, and Driving habits!

Are we really concerned about miles per gallon and the cost of gasoline?

I work in La Porte Texas on Battleground road and I get off around 5pm. Lately, I’ve been doing my dead-level best to keep my car’s speed below 70 mph so I can run a miles-per-gallon comparison. Since I work 12 hour shifts, I can usually do this early in the morning because of fewer cars on the road, but the afternoon trip is a real circus.

My car of choice is my old faithful 1989 Honda Civic Wagon dubbed ‘the Egg’ by the Tallant boys that used and abused it for its first 14 years. Regardless of their efforts, it still runs like a top and my last calculation put me at 36.7 miles per gallon. That’s 320 miles on 8.7 gallons of gas. I paid my brother-in-law $400 for the car because it had a dented hood and the radiator was punctured. I guess tires and all I’ve put about $1500 in fixing it up over the last 4 years.

Now let’s get back to the road driving habits of my fellow commuters. I don’t see anyone slowing down. In fact at 70 mph, which is 10 mph over the posted speed limit, I am routinely passed by almost every vehicle. Remember the right lane used to be the slow lane? I say used to be, because now if you go the speed limit in the right lane, folks tailgate and I mean tailgate!

Back about 20 years ago, I would drive to work at 4:30am and sometimes I would not see another car on the road until I was on SH-225. Now, I see 5 cars in my subdivision before I get to an exit street. No one wants to be inconvenienced by carpooling.

Gas is out of control on prices and jumps 10 cents from morning to night, but I have 3 friends who just bought Nissan Armada’s! Let’s see, according to Nissan’s web site, this vehicle gets 13-18 mpg. Okay, let’s fill this baby up with (gasp) regular unleaded. 28 gallons times $2.80 equals $78.40! This money will allow you to drive 434 miles on average. My 18 year old car, which does not burn oil and has 200,000+ miles on the odometer, can drive this same distance on 11.8 gallons of gas and $33.00.

The point I’m trying to make is the “gasoline high-prices crisis” hasn’t changed our driving and car-buying habits one bit. I will no longer consider buying any vehicle if it doesn’t get at least 35 mpg. We as American consumers must demand better mileage or we will continue to support the auto industries offerings.

In Arizona last week, the highway patrol clocked a stock V-6 Hyundai Sonata at 147 mph! Guess what? It did not have a Hemi motor! How fast do we need our cars to go? Do we really need a vehicle that will go from zero to 60 in 6 seconds? I say no. ‘The Egg’ easily enters the freeway at 60-70 mph and only has a 1.5 liter motor with 106 horse power. I cross the Fred Hartman Bridge in 5th gear at 70 mph. By all American standards, I am driving an ancient vehicle. We need to rethink a few things folks.