Robert,
In Sweden it is a lot of snow and the season from Stockholm and up can be 6 month. When I learned to drive 45 years ago, somebody told me "on slippery roads, drive like you have eggs between feet and pedal and a woman in you arms, no force and gentle movements". A very good advice that I never forgot and practice in both situations. Hakan At 11:22 PM 2/27/2003 -0800, you wrote: >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: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
