Neoteric Biofuels Inc wrote:
> <snip>
> Some days the owners do, of course, need these things, but almost all
> the ones I saw were empty and the funny thing is, a 4 cylinder
> turbodiesel got me and 120+ litres of fuel (when I left here), tools,
> clothing, computer and digital video studio there and back, at temps as
> low as -15C, and at over 50 mpg (average speed around 100 km/h)
The perceived "need" and the reality are frequently two different
things. I lived in Terrace, which is in west central B.C. --an area that
receives tremendous quantities of snow--for a little over two years. I drove
around in a rear wheel drive 1985 Pontiac Parisienne through snow and ice
every winter and only got stuck twice. (Both times on a slippery incline
very close to the school where I taught. My students loved to make fun of my
innate "Californian" inability to drive in the snow. . .) In those
conditions, I kept a candle in the glove box, blankets and a shovel in the
trunk, but never needed four wheel drive. Even on a trip up to Cranberry
Junction during deep winter, all season radials were more than sufficient to
get me around.
My lovely wife had a 2.8 liter 5 speed Camaro at that time. We kept a
pair of cylinder heads in the back of that thing and NEVER got stuck!
Now that I live in the mild climate east of Vancouver, I drive a 2.3
liter 5 speed Ford Ranger. It's two wheel drive and remarkably good in the
slippery snow we get down here. Of course, it helps to drive cautiously in
inclement weather! (The big four wheel drive trucks and SUVs seem to be the
first ones in the ditch whenever it snows. . .)
The Ranger delivers no better 10 kilometers per liter no matter how
carefully I drive it. Personally, I find this fuel economy pretty pathetic,
given that my propane powered Pontiac with a 5.7 liter V 8 used to get better
than 6 km / liter with an automatic transmission, and it carried around
nearly 1 tonne of additional mass! But the truck is very practical and I'm
having a hard time letting it go. . . (Why buy a car when you can have a
truck???)
Replacing the Ranger with a full sized diesel is an option I've
considered. But I don't need 4 wheel drive, and the diesel trucks in my
price range are in MUCH rattier condition than my Ranger. To find something
comparable, I'd have to spend over $20 000. I can buy a LOT of gasoline for
that! (Although I don't need anything full sized, I drove a 6.3 turbo diesel
a couple of months ago and LOVED the throttle response--it was like my '73
Chevelle all over again. . .)
Small trucks with diesels used to be easier to find than they are now.
Personally, I'd like one of those 4 door turbo diesel Rangers built in
Indonesia! Apparently, however, it's impossible to import them into Canada,
and Ford seems unwilling to build them here. Instead, we get the Explorer
SporTrac, with it's completely USELESS box and ONLY a gasoline engine.
Too bad!
robert luis rabello
"The Edge of Justice"
Adventure for Your Mind
http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/9782
Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
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