I do agree - everyone talks about wanting to get a new car because it is green, gets better mileage etc. The reality is we wold all be better off driving a slightly older car into the ground.
.. except gas mileage does not equal pollution...
Pre-emmission control cars(or cars with nonfunctioning emmision controls) emit over double the GHGs- greenhouse gases of a modern car per gallon. A 25 mpg 510 with 1970 level emmisions controls emits essentially 12 mpg level GHG's. Your SU tuned L16 has the GHG footprint of a Hummer. http://books.google.com/books?id=u2PqUl ... rs&f=false
As for the energy to build a new car... there is some truth there, but don't think you're doing good by driving an old car- modern cars are highly recyclable and made very effiecently.
A well built EV gets 10 to 1 energy cost effiecency over a standard gas engine... 25 bucks worth of gas energy only costs you $2.50 in electricity costs at current BC energy rates. i could go inot GHG rates for different forms of Electrical generation... basically, those of you on coal electricity ... stop! Go Nuclear!
Merlin from Datsunhistory.com
"test mule? I don't need no stinkin' test mule... Bert Vorgon is my test mule"
I wasn't necessarily suggesting a 510 in my comments. I'm talking about the idea of driving your 2001 volvo until 2015 and put 200k miles on it rather than getting a new car every three years (which seems to happen here in so-cal.)
A 40 year old car is not going to win green awards by any means.
I think its great that cars are getting better - it just bums me out that we have had this 25-30 mpg ideal over the past few decades - when with a slight compromise in power, we could be achieving much higher. I understand its a phase shift in consumer thinking - hopefully that's what transpires.
James wrote:I wasn't necessarily suggesting a 510 in my comments. I'm talking about the idea of driving your 2001 volvo until 2015 and put 200k miles on it rather than getting a new car every three years (which seems to happen here in so-cal.)
A 40 year old car is not going to win green awards by any means.
I think its great that cars are getting better - it just bums me out that we have had this 25-30 mpg ideal over the past few decades - when with a slight compromise in power, we could be achieving much higher. I understand its a phase shift in consumer thinking - hopefully that's what transpires.
yup, totally agree.. when i ditched my V6 tacoma 4x4 for a 4 cyl, i got a lot of wonky looks... the 4 cyl rocks , drives better, etc... yes its not as go go go, but i never cringe at the pump anymore.
the other thing is that your trade in rarely gets crushed or junked, except when its a POS already anyways(in Bc they auto auction everything worth less than 8-10k). Pretty much every pre 1995 car in Europe is now in Africa... and it will be run quite literally into the ground.
Merlin from Datsunhistory.com
"test mule? I don't need no stinkin' test mule... Bert Vorgon is my test mule"
Jason – want to upgrade that crazy van of yours – bettering the 20HP that you have can’t be that hard, and you have all the space in the world in that thing!
Love people and use things,
because the opposite never works.
Heh, it'd be pretty cool to have it converted to a EV Byron ! The silly thing is running great now that the whistling teakettle noise has been disappeared. Man, it was problematic for awhile though, not only was the thing a cute baby blue, but, it whistled like a teakettle at full boil going down the highway !
! The silly thing is running great now that the whistling teakettle noise has been disappeared. Man, it was problematic for awhile though, not only was the thing a cute baby blue, but, it whistled like a teakettle at full boil going down the highway 
!