[mitchntx]

Katrina is gonna cause a $.20 spike in fuel costs .....

[v7guy]

Filled up last night before I went to work when I saw it was tearing through there and picking up speed, after I saw that several refineries had shut down, or diminshed productivity I knew the shit was going to hit the fan.

Still, $40 to fill her up makes me say ouch.

[Ojustracing]

Yeah Already done as of last night. It might be more than .20 if the oil platforms, refinaries become Junk. Enjoy a great end of the summer driving season. John

[Teutonic Speedra...]

Enjoy a great end of the summer driving season. John

Good thing I've only got two more scheduled track days this year......but I don't think the prices next year are going to be any better. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

[BigEnos]

This is fantastic, right before I tow my car to Topeka. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/mad.gif) (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/nutkick.gif) (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/bs.gif)

Round trip is gonna be over $500 at this point just for gas.

[severous01]

i'm surprised that all you track gurus arent running alcohol as a daily thing. it's easy to set it up that way and it's cheaper. alcohol is only 1.75 a gal here. if i lived closer to the track i'd be running it all the time

[trackbird]

Alcohol contains less energy per unit than gasoline. You have to use considerably more of it (as in "tons" more), this negates some of the savings. And, alcohol fuel systems need drained and cleaned when not in use since they tend to accumlate water and nasty gunk. So, flushing the tank every week or so would cut into those savings. And, alcohol is hard on lines and fittings and causes them to have a very different (short?) lifespan. This is all off the top of my head (since I left Jegs years ago, I haven't had to field alcohol questions these days), but I think I'll stick to gasoline.

[bubba353z]

Isn't it about 2 to 1 - takes twice as much alcohol to make the same power as gasoline?

Doesn't it also wash down the cylinders?

[rmackintosh]

....my local gas stations are charging $3.29 a gallon TODAY for DEISEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

(IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif) (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

Gotta fill her up to go racing this weekend..... (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

[ProjectJ]

Yeah, I've always gone with the 2:1 figure. I'm sure it's not exact, but I'd say it's a safe guess given that on a carbureted car, you'll typically only need to increase your jet sizes about 50-75% (...usually)when converting to alcohol from gasoline.

Wash-down is a problem if you don't use a secondary lube in the fuel, like the "top-lube" we sell.

[pknowles]

I told the wife on my way out the door to top off the truck today because I also heard that gas is likely to go up because of the storm. I filled the truck up last week for $80 at a very cheap, but name brand station. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/nutkick.gif)

[98_1LE]

I spent $60 at QT yesterday.

[axoid]

Yeah, I've always gone with the 2:1 figure. I'm sure it's not exact, but I'd say it's a safe guess given that on a carbureted car, you'll typically only need to increase your jet sizes about 50-75% (...usually)when converting to alcohol from gasoline.

Wash-down is a problem if you don't use a secondary lube in the fuel, like the "top-lube" we sell.

I don't know about straight alcohol, but E85 (85% ethanol) only costs you about 10% on the gas mileage. It's also 100 octane, so you car run more compression or timing. I remember that Ford built a test car that could run on both E85 and standard gas and they got 10% more power out of the car on E85 and it ran cooler.

[z28barnett]

Not all alcohol is the same.

You see two main types.

Methanol - Made from natural Gas.

Ethanol - Around here know as "Moon-Shine"

So since Methanol is made from natural gas, it is a fossil fuel and a product mainly of the oil industry.

Ethanol is much less corrosive than Methanol and a denser hydrocarbon.

Methanol eats rubber, steel, aluminum, and many plastics. Cars running pure methanol need stainless Steel fuel tanks and chrome plated carbs ect.

Unless I get a big price difference, I will not run either one. Less energy for the same price is not a good deal.

I am not sure that ethanol is a good idea either. You grow corn with petro-chemical fertilizer and hall it to the Ethanol plant with diesel trucks and trains. Heat and process it to get Ethanol, more energy put in the process. Haul it by truck to service stations.

At the end of this process you may have used more oil to produce the ethanol than the energy that you will get from burning it. Bad idea, lose lose, situation.

There is no real alternative to what we are doing now.

Something really scary was a stat that I read one time about food production. They stated that we expend 3 calories (A measure of heat) of fossil fuel for every calorie of food that we eat.

Real simple, we will starve without oil. Not a good situation.

I don't have a solution, but these ideas that people are hanging their hopes on are pretty worthless, the truth of the matter is that it is alot worse than people think.

I don't like our boys dieing in Iraq, but that oil is very important.

Z28

[ProjectJ]

I remember that Ford built a test car that could run on both E85 and standard gas and they got 10% more power out of the car on E85 and it ran cooler.

Yeah, there were a number of those that came out a few years ago (maybe more). I think alot of them would run on both types of fuel (gas or E85). I guess they just didn't seem to catch on very well, as I haven't heard much about "flexible-fuel" vehicles lately.

[axoid]

I remember that Ford built a test car that could run on both E85 and standard gas and they got 10% more power out of the car on E85 and it ran cooler.

Yeah, there were a number of those that came out a few years ago (maybe more). I think alot of them would run on both types of fuel (gas or E85). I guess they just didn't seem to catch on very well, as I haven't heard much about "flexible-fuel" vehicles lately.

It's still a fairly big deal in Iowa, Minnesota and some of the grain belt states.

There is a load of oil burned in transporting and refining gasoline. Bus as it was said, there is no magic solution. Not Alcohol, Not Electricity, No Hydrogen.

[mitchntx]

Not walking ....

[nape]

The gas spike has already hit my local gas stations. $2.98 for Regular, 30 miles SW of Chicago. Add $.10 at each step above that.

[Pilot]

Not electricity? What about solar energy? Wind energy? Hydroelectric energy? Nuclear energy?

They each have their downfalls, but they CAN be completely independant from all fossil fuel resources.

[Rob Hood]

$2.82 for premium on base tonight...expect it to go up tomorrow as the in-town price jumped four cents today, from $2.91 to $2.95.

The way around this is to force the left-wing liberals out of their cars, thereby removing the "hypocrite" moniker attached to their socialist butts...and that will solve two things - gas prices will drop, and traffic congestion will go away. Make THEM ride the bus and carpool instead...