$3-$4 a Gallon for Premium Gas + 18 mpg Mustang

Why is there suddenly this surge of comments like "If gas goes to $3-4 per gallon, no one will be able to afford to drive a GT?"

Come on...you can fork over $25k+ on a Mustang, but can't afford fuel? You can dish out money for unnecessary modifications, but can't afford fuel?

A comment saying that it will be expensive to drive all cars if gas goes to $3-4 per gallon would be much more relevant. The Mustang GT is just getting bad press here when the difference between driving it and your average car might be $100-$200 per year in gas.

spanky442 said:

I say we all run out and buy civics! Who's with me?

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*hits you with a shoe*

Stangston said:

Why is there suddenly this surge of comments like "If gas goes to $3-4 per gallon, no one will be able to afford to drive a GT?"

Come on...you can fork over $25k+ on a Mustang, but can't afford fuel? You can dish out money for unnecessary modifications, but can't afford fuel?

A comment saying that it will be expensive to drive all cars if gas goes to $3-4 per gallon would be much more relevant. The Mustang GT is just getting bad press here when the difference between driving it and your average car might be $100-$200 per year in gas.

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Um actually...if you do the math it may very well be that people would not be able to afford it. Gasoline has become a huge expense for me. I drive about 1800 miles a month now where as i used to drive 1000 or so. My gas bill is typically 120 bucks a month. That is a huge gas bill for one vehicle. Think about that with 2-3 vehicles / family and vehicles that have big engines and lower fuel economy (due mostly to excess weight).

Gasoline is getting out of hand. You can't just simply compare 25,000 to a 120 gas bill...you have to consider over time thats ALOT of money and a HIGH % of your income in many peoples case.

BTW, the difference between a honda civic that gets about 28 mpg in town and a supercharged mustang that gets 15 in town is just about 100% increase. Meaning an average gas for a honda might be 1750 for a year and your mustang it might be 3500

kirkyg

I think it's good. Adjusted for inflation, gas prices at their current rates aren't much more than they were in the 50s and 60s. I think it's stupid that gas prices are so low that yuppies can afford to drive to work in Suburbans and buy bottled water from France. I'd like to see people carpooling, using public transportation or more fuel efficient cars for commuting, and start buying products--especially food--that are more local to them. Let's stop trucking in so much cr@p from China.

Check out the environmental impact of food transportation:

http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/foodmiles.html

Meanwhile our whole country is getting fat--kids don't even walk to school anymore--in part cause parents are afraid they'll be hit by cars! Too much tax money is spent maintaining roads and we don't spend enough on devloping public transportation.

I personally will always drive big gas hog Detroit V8s, but I don't use my cars to get to work and don't put many miles on them a year. So for me more expensive gas just means less traffic, and less chance of being killed by some idiot in a Hummer. If you need to drive long distances to work, get something that gets good gas mileage. Use your hot rod for evening/weekend fun, taking the kids to the drive in, etc.

66Satellite said:

I think it's good. Adjusted for inflation, gas prices at their current rates aren't much more than they were in the 50s and 60s. I think it's stupid that gas prices are so low that yuppies can afford to drive to work in Suburbans and buy bottled water from France. I'd like to see people carpooling, using public transportation or more fuel efficient cars for commuting, and start buying products--especially food--that are more local to them. Let's stop trucking in so much cr@p from China.

Check out the environmental impact of food transportation:

http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/foodmiles.html

Meanwhile our whole country is getting fat--kids don't even walk to school anymore--in part cause parents are afraid they'll be hit by cars! Too much tax money is spent maintaining roads and we don't spend enough on devloping public transportation.

I personally will always drive big gas hog Detroit V8s, but I don't use my cars to get to work and don't put many miles on them a year. So for me more expensive gas just means less traffic, and less chance of being killed by some idiot in a Hummer. If you need to drive long distances to work, get something that gets good gas mileage. Use your hot rod for evening/weekend fun, taking the kids to the drive in, etc.

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Gas prices have increased about 40% in 18 months. Inflation has been between 1.25-2.00%. Yea its just normal inflation causing gas to go up...

kirkyg

kirkyg said:

Gas prices have increased about 40% in 18 months. Inflation has been between 1.25-2.00%. Yea its just normal inflation causing gas to go up...

kirkyg

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I wrote: Adjusted for inflation, gas prices at their current rates aren't much more than they were in the 50s and 60s.

Here's a chart for you. Adjusted for inflation I doubt we're even back to late 70s/early 80s levels.

http://www.narprail.org/gas.htm

66Satellite said:

I wrote: Adjusted for inflation, gas prices at their current rates aren't much more than they were in the 50s and 60s.

Here's a chart for you. Adjusted for inflation I doubt we're even back to late 70s/early 80s levels.

http://www.narprail.org/gas.htm

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That doesn't show me the data proving it is right along with inflation. I would need to see a chart of / barrel oil vs % increase inflation / year. the reason im saying this is because its WAY too easy to skew numbers without actually showing you the computation of the adjustment for inflation.

kirkyg

66Satellite said:

I think it's good. Adjusted for inflation, gas prices at their current rates aren't much more than they were in the 50s and 60s. I think it's stupid that gas prices are so low that yuppies can afford to drive to work in Suburbans and buy bottled water from France. I'd like to see people carpooling, using public transportation or more fuel efficient cars for commuting, and start buying products--especially food--that are more local to them. Let's stop trucking in so much cr@p from China.

Check out the environmental impact of food transportation:

http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/foodmiles.html

Meanwhile our whole country is getting fat--kids don't even walk to school anymore--in part cause parents are afraid they'll be hit by cars! Too much tax money is spent maintaining roads and we don't spend enough on devloping public transportation.

I personally will always drive big gas hog Detroit V8s, but I don't use my cars to get to work and don't put many miles on them a year. So for me more expensive gas just means less traffic, and less chance of being killed by some idiot in a Hummer. If you need to drive long distances to work, get something that gets good gas mileage. Use your hot rod for evening/weekend fun, taking the kids to the drive in, etc.

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That's great that you want to drive only on weekends. But many of the places I have worked either start too early or are not near buslines. So I should have a prius since environmentalists think I should pay more for the privilege of driving? No thanks. If people wanted to public transportation it would be made available. But I have rarely seen buses filled to capacity so that people have to wait for the next bus. 99.95% have plenty of room to spare. Or light rail. I have ridden on it in Portland Oregon. Only for concerts or holidays is it ever very full. And the ferries up here in washingotn are supplemented by the state. Why the hell should my tax dollars support someone elses transportation. And they are going to build lightrail in seattle. It will go nowhere near me. Nowhere near where the bulk of my travels will be. But I pay for it everytime I buy tabs for my car.

And let's talk about the problem with food transportation affecting the environment. If the local people were able to offer better prices. Then noone would pay to have the food trucked in from farther away. But when you consider that other places are making it better financially to buy from them. Why not use them. If I could buy food from the store 10 miles away cheaper than the store one bolck down. Why should I spend more at the neighbor.

66Satellite said:

I wrote: Adjusted for inflation, gas prices at their current rates aren't much more than they were in the 50s and 60s.

Here's a chart for you. Adjusted for inflation I doubt we're even back to late 70s/early 80s levels.

http://www.narprail.org/gas.htm

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That was 50 years ago, At one point electricity was only for the rich, does that mean that if electric prices back up to those rates it is OK?

Gasoline in the US is a bargain! Quit your whining!

How many of you guys pi$$ & moan about spending $1.75 for a gallon of gas then go inside the Mini-Mart and spend $1.75 for a quart bottle of water?

In 1972 regular leaded gas was about $.39 gal. Adjusted for inflation it would be $1.73 today. I just filled up with regular unleaded for $1.69 today. (CPI intex). Over the past 10 years the US has been getting gasoline at bargain basement prices due to the artificially strong dollar. Right now you're just starting to get a dose of reality. Get used to it, because our HUGE trade deficit is finally having an effect.

In 1972 a fully loaded Mach 1 (all options 351C-4V, 4 speed, PB, PW, PS, AC, AM/FM stereo, tinted windows, light group, Magnum 500 wheels, sport interior, gage package, spoiler, stripes, largest tires, HD cooling, HD battery, Ram Air, dual mirrors, console, deluxe seat belts, etc, etc) stickered for $4,814. That would be $21,329 today. So cars have gone up a lot more than gasoline.

Z28x said:

That was 50 years ago, At one point electricity was only for the rich, does that mean that if electric prices back up to those rates it is OK?

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Lol, people are always talking about how cheap gas was in the 50s and 60s. My point was that it's basically just as cheap now.

kirkyg said:

Um actually...if you do the math it may very well be that people would not be able to afford it. Gasoline has become a huge expense for me. I drive about 1800 miles a month now where as i used to drive 1000 or so. My gas bill is typically 120 bucks a month. That is a huge gas bill for one vehicle. Think about that with 2-3 vehicles / family and vehicles that have big engines and lower fuel economy (due mostly to excess weight).

Gasoline is getting out of hand. You can't just simply compare 25,000 to a 120 gas bill...you have to consider over time thats ALOT of money and a HIGH % of your income in many peoples case.

BTW, the difference between a honda civic that gets about 28 mpg in town and a supercharged mustang that gets 15 in town is just about 100% increase. Meaning an average gas for a honda might be 1750 for a year and your mustang it might be 3500

kirkyg

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The math was conveniently provided for you in one of my earlier posts within this thread. And it's a very valid post, because how many people say "Those Grand Ams are going to be flooding the dealers if gas prices approach $3-4 per gallon?"

Again, if people can't afford to drive a Mustang GT because of gas prices (of all things!), then chances are that they can't afford to drive ANY car.

Also, the key to any good comparison are averages. I could say that a Honda Civic pulling a trailer gets worse gas mileage than my Mustang GT, and that I drive 200,000 miles per year, but how valid is that? Grand Am 3.4L overall fuel economy 24.5mpg. Mustang GT overall fuel economy 21mpg. The average driver would be spending about $110 more in a year driving his/her Mustang GT than a Grand Am, or $204 if gas was $3 per gallon.

A better comparison yet would be the national average fuel economy of all vehicles compared to a Mustang GT. I don't know that information, so I picked a common car.


So I agree with 351CJ, let's stop the whining about gas prices with a Mustang GT, as there is no issue there. If the 2005 fuel economy is on par with the current model (and I predict it'll be a bit better), then no problem. Complaints are valid if the new GT gets 10mpg, but it won't.

I would imagine most people owning a GT put less than 10k on it yearly (I put 7000/year on mine, and it's my only car), as it's often a toy/supplement car. This makes gas prices even more trivial.

66Satellite, I love the comment about equivalent gas prices. My grandpa is outraged at the current gas prices going into the stories "When i was younger, gas was a nickel per gallon..." He also made a couple dollars per week, so there's virtually no difference. Ugh...but I try to look shocked.

I just got my monthly gasoline bill statement from Mobil/Exxon. I spent $234 for gasoline for 2 cars for the month of February. And we ONLY use 87 octane for both of our vehicles. We own a 2002 V6 Mustang and a 2001 V6 Hyundai Santa Fe. Both of these cars are economical and get over 23 mpg average mileage. The month before, I only spent $193 for gasoline for 2 cars. So, the cost difference has gone up $41 more. I don't know about you guys, but $41 MORE for gasoline is a BIG increase. If gasoline goes up to $3 a gallon, it will increase another $30 for the month on top of the current $40 increase. And if it goes up to $4 a gallon we are talking about paying an EXTRA $125 to $150 MORE a month for gasoline than what I am paying right now. That's a BIG increase. And that's ONLY for 2 cars which are NOT gas guzzlers. Imagine how much more it would cost for gasoline if both of my cars were gas guzzlers. The cost would go BEYOND $200 more than what I am currently paying if that was the case. So, don't say that paying $200+ more for gasoline per month is a small expense. It isn't if you have car payments and insurance and other bills. Especially when one makes $12 and $15 an hour gross from his/her job. It's going to hurt and make most Americans go deeper into debt. This is NOT good. I suggest that this country do something quickly before the Arab ragheads destroy America and our economy by charging us high prices for their oil. I have had enough of the Arabs and of their BS. They already killed 3,000 innocent Americans on September 11th and they are now increasing oil prices to destroy us and our economy. It's time to pay them back for what they are doing to us. This is intolerable. Only a dumbed down America with stupid citizens would let someone do something like this to us. It's time that we took our country back from foreign dependencies.

Ron, I can understand what you're trying to say, but you need to be careful. You seem to be inferring that all Arabs are bad people when it's only a select few. How would you feel if you were an Arabic American reading your post?

I am sorry, but I was just trying to get a point across here.

What I am inferring to is that the Arabs are the ones who are causing the economic problems which this country is currently having. I am not saying that all Arabs are bad. But what I am trying to imply here is that they are the ones who are causing America to have economic problems. They are the ones who control oil production and the oil prices. They also control the global oil prices. And everything costs more when the oil rich Arab countries increase their oil prices. Americans have to pay more money for everything because the Arabs increase their oil prices. And many Americans are hurting financially because of this. I know because I personally know Americans who are having hard financial times because gasoline prices and everything else has gone up. And the wages of Americans have NOT gone up to offset the increase in oil prices. I hope that you understand this. I don't like being dependent on a bunch of Mickey Mouse Rouge Middle Eastern raghead countries who want to dictate to us what they will charge us for oil.

And to answer your last question. I am glad that I am not an Arab or an Arab American. I would be ashamed if I ever were either of the two. Arabs are all Anti-American, Anti-Christian and Anti-Jewish. I don't know one Arab or one Arab American who isn't any or all three of these things. I am not trying to be sensitive in here when talking about the Arabs or the Arab Americans, but these things which I mentioned in here are 100% true facts. Americans should be aware of these things. Americans should not be sensitive to these things. I hope that you can understand this. We were sensitive in the past and this caused 3,000 innocent American people to die on September 11th. We allowed them to kill 3,000+ of our own American countrymen because we were being sensitive to them and we didn't impose adequate security to prevent 16 Arabs from ramming 2 airliners into the twin Trade Center towers, 1 airliner into the Pentagon and another last airliner into the ground in Pennsylvania which was headed for the White House. I don't know about you, but I sure don't trust anyone who is an Arab after what happened on September 11th. I would be stupid if I ever do so. I am very angry that there are many stupid Americans in this country who don't see and who don't understand this. The only time when they will understand is when we have another September 11th occur. Maybe that's when people will wake up. But by then it's going to be too late. My heart cries out to America and to all the innocent people who lost their lives on September 11th and to their families and to all the American heroes who are serving in the Middle East and in Iraq, and in Afghanistan and in the rest of the Middle Eastern $hithole countries for freedom and peace. My heart also cries out to the American heroes who have lost their lives in the Middle East while protecting these Mickey Mouse countries and while trying to bring peace to the Middle East. Most Americans don't see and don't understand this though. Please do some research and look to see who decreases oil production and who increases oil prices. And please look to see who killed the 3,000+ innocent people on September 11th and who is currently daily killing our American heroes serving in Iraq and in the Middle East. It aint the Swedes, the Itallians or the Irish. It aint the French or the Germans or the English. It's the Arabs.

Ron there are so many other things causing problems with the economy. Prices of barrels of oil is nearly an afterthought. Like the high unemployment rates. Trying to get rid of overtime. I mean let's be real honest. All the oil the arabs supply could be eliminated if we just wanted more efficient vehicles. But we are only now trying to improve fuel consumption on SUV's. And how many people take good care of their cars. My brother and I are the only ones in my family that really care about our cars. My mom went in for tire rotation and left having bought a new car. My sister ignored an oil leak. Until it blew the motor. My other brother has done nearly the same thing to his car. Several of my none mustang owning friends don't bother upkeep on their cars.

SVT Driver,

I agree with you. We should be more responsible as Americans. That's another problem within our American society here. People are not responsible. That's why we are in the predicament that we're in right now. Nobody owes anybody in this country anything. But many Americans feel that everybody owes them something. That's wrong. That's why our country is so screwed up and that's why so many Americans are irresponsible people. America must become strong again and Americans should have morals. We lack morals in this country. That's why America is going down the $hithole and that's why people like the Arabs the Chinese the Japanese and the Koreans are screwing us and our economy. If America can regain its morals we will be able to be a strong America once again and we will be able to defeat foreign enterprise and foreign influence in this country. We will be able to bring back American industry into America and keep it here. America is no place for foreign industry. Foreign industry has put a noose on America's throat and on the throats of all Americans living in this country. We should be dependent on our own industries and not on foreign industries. Let foreign industries stay in foreign countries where they belong. We have our own resources and economy. We should not be dependent on foreign resources and on foreign economies. Bring back the America which I grew up in during the 50's and 60's. I miss that America. I don't know if you miss it too.

SVTdriver said:

I mean let's be real honest. All the oil the arabs supply could be eliminated if we just wanted more efficient vehicles. But we are only now trying to improve fuel consumption on SUV's.

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Who doesn't want more efficent vehicles? I don't see anyone going "That Explorer only gets 19 highway, that is too high for me." I want a Cobra that Gets 100mpg and puts out 400HP and costs the same as it does now, but the Technology isn't there yet. Once the personal fusion reactor is invented we will all be able to drive cross contry in our electric cars for the cost of an orange peel. But until then we will have to make due with what we have. In 20 years Hydrogen cars should be affordable and hydrogen should be avalible at most stations. In the mean time diesel is a good solution. A Toyota RAV4 gets about 24 miles per gallon in the USA powered by gasoline. Running on diesel in Europe, it gets 39 mpg. A gas six-cylinder BMW X5 gets about 18 mpg, but its European diesel cousin gets 29 mpg.

Ron Jeremy:


Sorry dude, most of your imported oil and gas comes from Canada, and an awful lot of electricity and almost all [imported]natural gas.

Man I love living in Kansas. Regular is only $1.70 here