gas prices effecting build plans?

Boss 351 · May 3, 2007

I'm about to bring a block to a machine shop for my 347 assembly... now I want to build a 306 with low compression ratio and go turbo??? Gas is basically 4.00 USD a gallon here... I am looking at buying a diesel Jetta or something as a daily driver though.

I did manage 27mpg with my stock 5.0 on the highway with overinflated tires, driving BELOW the speed limit and such... City driving is another story, the 2:73's are killing me.

85_SS_302_Coupe · May 3, 2007

I'd stick with the 347 plans but maybe opt for the turbo if you have the cash for that. If it's not your daily driver then i wouldn't let gas prices effect how you spend the thousands you're likely to put into your car.

Strype · May 3, 2007

I'm thinking of getting rid of the 01GT for this exact reason... Gas is eating me up. I might buy some poopbox econo pos for dd

85_SS_302_Coupe · May 3, 2007

Strype said:
I'm thinking of getting rid of the 01GT for this exact reason... Gas is eating me up. I might buy some poopbox econo pos for dd

That's the key....drive something slow and boring and good on gas for your DD....that makes driving the fun car even better. But in the end if you let gas prices limit your build then you'll never be satisfied.

Also think about this.....with a turbo you can make gobs of power with relatively good mileage. Then, opt for a more highway friendly gear like 3.27s or so, and get a T56 for the double overdrive. Chances are you'll probably run similar mileage as you are before the build up but you'll have tons of kickass on tap when you want it. Also do little things like lighten your car up any way you can. That helps a lot too.

FastFord58 · May 3, 2007

If you can't afford the gas, you can't afford the car.

fox-gt · May 3, 2007

I'm thinking of bumping my timing down so I can run 87 again. I'm filling up every three days with 93 right now.

Boss 351 · May 3, 2007

My car is light, I can use a fiberglass hood, although I can't see how much lighter a fiberglass hood can be? I mean the factory hood is pretty much a feather imo. I have some 3:55 gearing that needs to get installed.

A cheap on gas daily is the key I guess... I think a 15mpg difference in city driving will basically pay the extra plates and insurance... saving the daily grinde on the Mustang will pay for itself also. Daily driving is hard on (almost) 20 year old cars lol

wythors · May 3, 2007

FastFord58 said:
If you can't afford the gas, you can't afford the car.

:Word:

Think before you leap.

Gas in the US is at an average price of $3/gal right now. Let's say you buy a beater Honda Accord for $1500. That's the equivalent to 500 gallons of gas for your Mustang. Let's do a little math. Work with me on the numbers please.

Mustang = 18mpg
Beater Accord = 28 mpg
Each car driven 12,000 miles per year.
Cost to drive the Mustang at $3/gal = $2000.00
Cost to drive the Accord = $1285.71
Difference = $714.29

You'd have to drive the Accord exclusively for over two years just to recoup the purchase price in savings in gas, to say nothing of insurance and licensing. And this is for a cheap used car. People that go out and buy a new $30000 hybrid are actually paying more to get better mileage. As good as it is for the environment, it's false economy for the "little guy". You may pay less at the pump on a weekly basis, but it will take a long time to reap the benefits versus keeping the car you've got now.

Oh, and regarding the original question, gas prices never enter into what I do to my car. My motto is "There's more to life than gas mileage".

Aliate X · May 3, 2007

just buy a beater and its fine.

Shakerhood · May 4, 2007

My Stang is only for cruisin on nice days so I dont worry too much about gas for it.

millhouse · May 4, 2007

wythors said:
:Word:

Think before you leap.

Gas in the US is at an average price of $3/gal right now. Let's say you buy a beater Honda Accord for $1500. That's the equivalent to 500 gallons of gas for your Mustang. Let's do a little math. Work with me on the numbers please.

Mustang = 18mpg
Beater Accord = 28 mpg
Each car driven 12,000 miles per year.
Cost to drive the Mustang at $3/gal = $2000.00
Cost to drive the Accord = $1285.71
Difference = $714.29

You'd have to drive the Accord exclusively for over two years just to recoup the purchase price in savings in gas, to say nothing of insurance and licensing. And this is for a cheap used car. People that go out and buy a new $30000 hybrid are actually paying more to get better mileage. As good as it is for the environment, it's false economy for the "little guy". You may pay less at the pump on a weekly basis, but it will take a long time to reap the benefits versus keeping the car you've got now.

Oh, and regarding the original question, gas prices never enter into what I do to my car. My motto is "There's more to life than gas mileage".

Those number are fine and dandy if you limit yourself to 12k miles per year. Bump them up to 26k per year and you'll see why I went out and purchased a new economy car (Pontiac G5).

Astro Van = 15mpg
Pontiac G5 = 34mpg
Each driven 26k miles per year
Cost to drive the Astro Van @ $3/gal = $5200
Cost to Drive the G5 @ $3/gal ~ $2300
Cost difference = 2900 or ~ $242/month

Taking my car payment into consideration (~$290) and the extra monthly cost to insure over the van (~$30) you can see that in all reality I'm only spending ~ $78/month on a brand spanking new vehicle.

Boss 351 · May 4, 2007

the big plus for me is NOT have to drive my coupe to work everyday... The roads are bad, it rains every other day... ahhh I want to keep the stang for a long time.

If I can't afford a nice clean Diesel Jetta or Golf, I'll get a POS Geo Metro for driving to work.

85_SS_302_Coupe · May 4, 2007

Buying a new car to combat gas prices is not only ridiculous but exactly what they want you to do. You'll spend more money on the new car and new car insurance than you will the extra 30-50 cents in gas durring the gas hike.

millhouse · May 4, 2007

85_SS_302_Coupe said:
Buying a new car to combat gas prices is not only ridiculous but exactly what they want you to do. You'll spend more money on the new car and new car insurance than you will the extra 30-50 cents in gas durring the gas hike.

Did you actually read the numbers I put out? How is it ridiculous to spend what amounts to be ~ $ 78/month for a new car with 100k mile warranty? These gas hikes seem to be a yearly occurrence and seemed destined to continue on an upwards spiral. The offset in cost is a viable option for many that currently get horrible economy.

85_SS_302_Coupe · May 4, 2007

millhouse said:
Did you actually read the numbers I put out? How is it ridiculous to spend what amounts to be ~ $ 78/month for a new car with 100k mile warranty? These gas hikes seem to be a yearly occurrence and seemed destined to continue on an upwards spiral. The offset in cost is a viable option for many that currently get horrible economy.

You're buying a new car for $78 a month? Including insurance? If so then by all means knock yourself out. I've never heard of a car loan that low....maybe on a moped or something. I figure a typical car loan is going to set you back about $300 a month or so, and i'm not spending that much extra in gas every month to drive a low mileage vehicle (not that i drive my coupe, but my Cherokee actually gets about the same mileage as the 'stang does).

Also....this whole thing about hybrids being better for the economy is wool over the eyes of the whole damn nation. If you add up the millions of these econoboxes being built, add up the factory polution it takes to make them, whatever emissions the millions of them put out, and then down the road in 20 years or so when they're all junked and scrapped how much polution they put out then....add all that up and then compare that to whatever emissions my coupe is putting out over the next 20 years. Restoring cars is way better for the environment than any hybrid.

millhouse · May 4, 2007

85_SS_302_Coupe said:
You're buying a new car for $78 a month? Including insurance? If so then by all means knock yourself out. I've never heard of a car loan that low....maybe on a moped or something. I figure a typical car loan is going to set you back about $300 a month or so, and i'm not spending that much extra in gas every month to drive a low mileage vehicle (not that i drive my coupe, but my Cherokee actually gets about the same mileage as the 'stang does).

Also....this whole thing about hybrids being better for the economy is wool over the eyes of the whole damn nation. If you add up the millions of these econoboxes being built, add up the factory polution it takes to make them, whatever emissions the millions of them put out, and then down the road in 20 years or so when they're all junked and scrapped how much polution they put out then....add all that up and then compare that to whatever emissions my coupe is putting out over the next 20 years. Restoring cars is way better for the environment than any hybrid.

Take a peek a few posts up and you'll see where I derived my numbers from…and as I said before, it's not a viable option for those who do not rake the miles up.

As far as the hybrids go…the only negative I can see to them is the extra batteries that require. Sure, producing any of today's vehicles require energy…and pollution from the plants is bound to occur. With that said however you can't say that the pollution put out by the plant's to produce today's efficient vehicles is so great that we would be better off just driving yesterdays (greater polluting) vehicles. I am currently unable to state the source…and am feeling a bit to lazy to do the research right now…but I have read studies which show that today's efficient vehicles are actually aiding the reduction of smog in many "high smog" cities.

Boss 351 · May 4, 2007

234km /week for work = 30 liters on average, 35.40 per week on fuel @ 1.18 liter
My stock mustang can get 12 liters for 100km

A Geo Metro can do 6 liters for 100km
234km /week for work = 14 liters on average, 16.52 per week on fuel @ 1.18 liter
19.88/week average saving... = 85.48 a month

cost of average geo metro in good shape = 1400
extra insurance = 240
maintenance budget yearly = 600 (don't know the reliability of these cars)
extra plates = 235
2475 first year with purchase
fuel savings = 1025.76
maintenance savings on the stang (not having to use it everyday - guess) = 500
2475 - 1025.75 - 500 = 949.25 cost of additional car

second year cost of ownership of metro = 1075.00
savings in fuel (assuming it stays at 1.18) = 1025.76
total savings = -49.24
so it will cost me an extra 50 bucks a year to own a crappy little 3 cylinder to drive to work, not too bad. If gas prices go to 1.60 (like they say it will) then I will recalculate:
1.60 pump prices (per liter) = 1320.96 fuel savings
savings then would be 245.96 a year

not much of a saving for sure... but like I said I won't have to use my Mustang everyday. and the important thing is that I give less money to the big bad oil guys

I don't get those hybrids, they don't get much better fuel economy than an old Geo-Metro... For the price of those new gadget cars, they should do 150mpg or better!

NKau · May 4, 2007

wythors said:
"There's more to life than gas mileage".

Amen to that.

88_GT_5_oh · May 4, 2007

says the guys who have low gas prices..........

honestly i don't let it affect my plans for the stang cause i don't drive it enough and only in the summer. my truck gets decent mileage so i don't have to worry about it much

gas prices effecting build plans?

Boss 351

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85_SS_302_Coupe

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Strype

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85_SS_302_Coupe

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FastFord58

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fox-gt

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Boss 351

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wythors

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Shakerhood

millhouse

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85_SS_302_Coupe

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millhouse

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NKau

88_GT_5_oh

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