Revamp For Car Sticker Mileage Figures

That’s why Consumer Reports does its own mileage test on every car it reviews.

Champion and Koeppen took a spin in a Honda minivan that the EPA says gets 20 miles per gallon in the city and 28 on the highway. As measured by a device the magazine attaches to engines, it got 28 on the highway, but only 12.3 in city driving conditions.

Champion calls that a “huge” disappointment: “You’re gonna be putting almost twice as much gasoline in the car as you thought you would.”

He adds that the EPA’s city numbers were off in almost every vehicle Consumer Reports tested last year. The EPA rated the Ford Focus sedan at 26; Consumer Reports got 17. The Toyota Camry? EPA got 24. Consumer Reports, 16. The Chevy Trailblazer EXT: 15 as opposed to 9.

But, points out Koeppen, some of the most startling differences were found in hybrids.

For instance, the popular Toyota Prius, which the EPA estimates gets 60 miles per gallon in city driving, only got 35 when the magazine put it to the test.

I don’t know.  I like to think I’m a Lamborghini; being so rare and valuable as I am — as if anybody was aware of it.

I’m a Chevrolet Corvette!

You’re a classic – powerful, athletic, and competitive. You’re all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

This is a serious post.  I was sitting here earlier this evening reading and getting ready to answer some posts on a couple of motorcycle forums I have been frequenting (and stirring up trouble according to some) since about the time I bought my Volusia.

As I was forming my thoughts for the posts, I got a phone call that I was needed at my brother’s home.  The police were there, looking for my nephew who shot two people tonight.  The details are sketchy, and as I write this, I’m tired and not able to truly form good enough sentences to really convey things fully.

But, suffice to say….. things have been in turmoil this evening.

Pyramid or PR stunt? Critics blast Bosnian find

Amateur archaeologist dismisses controversy, says he’ll be proven right

This has potential, but they still don’t get it.  A 100 mile range and $100k cost won’t cut it for a lot of consumers.

http://tinyurl.com/lnpfm

Blondestar Commercial

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2681355?htv=12

Jewel Has A New Album!!

Jewel’s new album Goodbye Alice in Wonderland is being released tomorrow!  And it’s reported to more like her earlier work, instead of like 0304.  I’ve listened to a track or two on her website and it certainly seems more like the Jewel I most like.

Not only is she talented and smart…. she’s pretty and darned attractive.  She has that certain something that could melt my heart.  Wow.

Gas Price Hysteria

With all of the gnashing of teeth about how much money the oil companies are making, and all the screams that it must be price gouging; I decided to put my googling skills to work and see what the Political Truth is.

Several things had occurred to me about the topic, including that the government is collecting more from the gasoline sales than the profits the oil companies are making.  Another aspect is that a company is expected to make profit.  They don’t go into business for the purpose of charity.  It shouldn’t be anybody’s business how much money a company makes.  It most certainly shouldn’t be restricted by the government.  If I run a business and customers are willing to pay my prices, that is a free market doing what it does best.  If the customer isn’t willing to pay the price, I won’t be able to make a living and I will either adjust my prices or go out of business.  It’s capitalism working the way it’s intended.

I was pretty sure that oil company profits were not out of line with any other market or company, so that was another thing I searched for.  Most reports show about 13% profit.  Just think about it: you have a product of which huge numbers are sold.  So, simply reporting the total profits doesn’t tell us anything. 

To make things worse, the media — and the sundry other scoundrels who try to attack the oil companies — will often report the profits in multi-year terms rather than in single year terms.Why?  Well… it gives you the impression that those evil oil companies are so far out of line with the rest of the world,  that they are breaking the back of the little guy and doing it purposefully with only the bottom line as their inspiration.

What happens when we apply the same standards to other companies?  In fact, why don’t we?  Why don’t we, for instance, see screams that Wal-Mart is “price gouging” when they make $11 billion profit in one year?  If it’s a big deal and some great evil at work when an oil company merger increases that company’s profits by roughly 30 percent, then why isn’t it a big deal and some great evil at work when Wal-Mart increases their profit by 26%?  Why don’t we scream that Amazon.com is price gouging when they record $350 million profit on $8 billion in revenue with a 23% increase in one year?

In reality, the oil company profits are not out of line, the government makes more profit than the companies themselves do, and the media are largely a dishonest pack of hyenas that will use any means they can to increase their **own** bottom line at your expense.

A couple of things I found while googling:

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/4/26/90121.shtml

 http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2005/10/gas_taxes_excee.html