We're not net exporters of oil, we're exporting refined products. We still import oil.

If gas went up specifically on Jan 1 it was because of tax changes, but oil prices fluctuate and affect gas prices.

 

US ends ethanol tax subsidies

Fuels Take Top US Export Spot From Aircraft | News | Manufacturing.net

We are getting rid of our supplies which is raising our demand so we pay even more. Lower prices help people afford to pay their bills. It makes jobs and the biggest freedom is being able to drive which is gone. A few months ago they said the refiners were shutting down so the supply was low and that is why the price of gas went up. Which is it.

 

It's al coming out of our pockets and into theirs. Isn't that the way it always goes???

 

Twice a year refineries are taken off-line to convert from summer to winter gas or vice versa, and that temporarily reduces supply so prices sometimes go up for a short period of time.

Whether we're a slight net importer or slight net exporter of refined fuels isn't changing the supply-demand equation much. And it's not like exporting some gasoline is taking it away from us, it's a global market either way.

Look at it this way- there are 42 gallons in a barrel of oil. A barrel's roughly $100. So if they turned that 42 gallons into 42 gallons of gas (they don't, they make other stuff too, but the output's still roughly 40 gallons of something) the cost just of the oil is almost $2.50. Add in taxes and that's almost all the cost of what you're paying at the pump. The cost of refining isn't much.

If you want to get technical, the price difference between oil and gas, known as the crack spread, is only a couple of percent.

Gas is expensive because oil's expensive and because we tax it. And oil's expensive because the world uses a whole lot of it and there's not much to spare.

 

Reasoning about the troop withdrawal one would think that alone would lessen the demand for oil... I remember controlling a tiny helicopter landing zone that a hot shot pilot of a CH-46 had dropped a load of food, ammo and equipment on with some seriously injuring at least one Marine.. There was a back up of other resupply choppers and one was piloted by a colonel that chewed my ass, after informing me that his bird was older than I was, That it was costing the government $450 an hour for every helicopter that was in the air needing to drop their load.. That was a shitload of money in 1968, imagine how much that it would be today... Yeah SilverBullet is right, we are going to take it where the sun don't shine again... I mean, it is the American way, right?

 

Ya but my job and many others relies on cheap energy to keep prices down. I did go a little overboard on the ethanol tax subsides but 5 cents is 5 cents. I am more up set on the exporting gas that would lower the cost of the items I use. Food,gas, and every thing else we use.

So when I default and go on welfare like others and dont give a care any more what do you think happens........ Costs go up and hard to find what you need including food.

 

Cheap energy is a thing of the past ... Cheap anything, for that matter. I'm retired and work off a tight budget. For now it's enough, but that's likely to change.

I have friends who are hitting their 50's and some have lost their jobs.. bills to pay and families to keep going.
Unless construction jobs reappear and major manufacturing takes hold it's not going to get better soon.

State/local governments are cutting forces adding to the unemployment lines. 200,000 jobs just announced is nothing - and there most likely service jobs. People need solid employment, our country needs it.

Large construction projects all that bailout hullabaloo was about a few years back, where all that go?? Infrastructure, roads, all for naught.

American labor can build more than houses, and no body is doing that these days... Maker's Mark by the wood stove here I come.

 

Ya, I agree and its too late to get mad now...

 

Oh yea, I almost forgot. The pres is going to down size the military. Now we get to see all the GI's, who've given there best, coming out with no place to go. That's good, eh?

I'm not so much mad as SAD and I just burned the bacon.

 

I could say something but I wont. They deserve a good job and help they need at any cost....

 

Turns out I like burnt bacon... forgot all about that.

 

Ha.. funny finding this thread as I was about to start one on the same topic. Instead, my details.

I am in suburban ny/ct much of the time. "Local" is pretty much just that - neighborhoods with stop signs, county roads with occasional lights, "downtown" village/city area with lights or stop signs. Generally outside of the immediate house area or shopping areas the stops/lights will run a mile or more apart. Speed limits are typically 30mph, 40 on some access roads paralleling hiways.

That said, when I got my new fit in Sept I was getting between 25.5 and 26.5 locally with the stock tires. I was a bit disappointed as my 2004 wrx got its rated 20 city no matter what.

In late Oct. I put on snows (there was a sale and as I spend the winters in VT I wanted them on the car before driving up there.) I got some studded Hakka Nordman 4's. Of course this purchase all but assured a warm Nov/Dec (skipping the Oct 30 snow storm) and I was getting 24.5/25.5 local. This was expected due to the studs. Of note, and this somewhat odd, I have seen no negative effect while on hiway - I was getting 33-35 with the stock and have twice now seen 34 with the studs on. Go figure.

Well this past week it finally got cold here in the burbs. And my local mpg have dropped now to under 22 - the guage has 21.6. So far it has been +/- 0.5 mpg on the majority of my fillups so I consider it a decent indicator. This is pretty abysmall and I have to say I feel ripped off a bit. Even if I add back 2 mpg for the studs, I'd still be looking at most 24mpg and likely less. This is driving an empty car, unless you count my 35lb dog copilot. Tires are at 35 psi and I get name brand gas from the same station.

I have a suspicion that the Fit may require a longer warm up than other cars. I've noticed as the temps have dropped that the idle starts and remains for sometime around 1500 rpm before dropping down to more normal levels. After the next fill up I may see if letting the car warm up for longer. With my WRX, I usually waited for 30 to 60 secs unless the temps were more than -5.

 

Letting the car warm up standing still is reducing your mileage- as long as the engine's running to get warm, might as well use that to get some distance.

Stepping hard on the gas, which is easy to do in the Fit, also kills mileage. I live where there are stop signs or lights almost every block and that kills mileage too, it's only when I get on the highway that it goes way up.

 

With my stock Dunlops, the dealer says the tire pressure should be 33 cold, 36 hot. Can I get opinions on this? Anyone else have the Dunlop SPs? Base model, 175/65R15.

 

I'd be precautionary with that statement. As far as MPG is concerned it may be true, but for the end value, it might not be. A cold engine running at 1500 rpm idling is not equivalent to an cold engine running at 1500 rpm up a hill in 2nd gear. The stress on a cold engine moving down the road is much greater than one idling. Unless the car has gotten a decent heat-soak, you'll lose in the long run with a shorter life and repairs. Of course, this topic is about MPG and, yes, you may improve that if you don't wait for the engine to warm up.

 

Today's fuel injected computer controlled cars really don't benefit/need a cold start warm-up. Get in, start it up and drive on. Common sense tells you not to race off. The most warm-up I give my FIT is the time it takes to scrape window ice/snow off, then I'm off. Does this effect MPG??? Probably, but letting a car sit to 'warm-up' is a waste of fuel.

I've settled on 36PSI cold all around, with the OEM dun's and my new DWS's. It returns a better MPG and improves handling, though there's a lot of opinions on the forum. For a while this summer I was setting them at 36hot after a 60min run on the turnpike. That equated to 34cold for me, so you might very well be right on.

 

Idling is the worst for your engine to warm it up. Even apples-to-apples forgetting about MPG, You're better off getting off and going.

You can think of idling as your engine operating at it's bare minimum settings to avoid dying, it's not necessarily the set-in-stone optimal "warming up" engine speed. You'd actually be better off to get going and with gentle throttle of street driving so your engine will actually get to operating temp somewhat faster, (plus for the MPG folks, you've used that energy to gain some distance).

An analogy is if you've ever watched Bear Grylls on Man v Wild, if he jumps into a river naked for whatever reason, he doesn't just stand around shivering to warm up, he get's moving or does some push ups.

Not a perfect analogy as a human is not the same as an engine, but the point is that idle is not somehow a magical warmup engine speed and any other higher speed is causing damage. If you take a look at like "severe" maintenance schedules, what do they often list as a condition for "severe"? Idling...

Only if your car is unsafe to drive are you achieving something by warming up: such as you need the heat to defrost to see.

Now in an ancient older car things were not computer controlled, and the car would only properly operate at operating temperature. Then, you needed to warm up the car in park before the car would even functionally go.

 

ok, i had a 2009 fit s auto and averaged 35-39mpg the whole two yrs i owned it! traded it in on a 2011 and have had it since april 2011. ive got roughly 12k on the car now, from day one ive never achieved over 23-25 mpg. yes its accurate, its a 10 gallon tank, i get 230-240miles per full tank! im in houston, so its a mix of city/country driving. i dont mash on the gas, in fact i try babying it to improve mileage. ive tried various tire pressure levels to find no change as well. been to honda on the matter several times, all i get is excuses. its not broke in yet, its the weather, its the roads, its my driving style, blah blah blah. all bs! i feel like turning it in with the keys and telling them its not meeting its factory promises, im not paying for it! but yeah that just destroys my credit and makes them more money in the longrun. i dont understand this, any insight as to what may be wrong. the only difference i see between this 11 and my 09 is this 11 has the traction control button thingy wich seems to make absolutely noooooo difference when on! whats goin on with my fit????

 

Actually, before rings or valves seat properly from warming up, you will have a lot of oil blow-by which will foul plugs and cover the upper part of the combustion chamber. The high ignition heat from the explosions will cause the oil to harden and stick to the combustion surfaces, as well as the valves. This will not happen when the engine heats up slowly with less combustion cycles and lower fuel used during the warm-up period.

 

Let's look close at what beezel said: 30 - 60 seconds... that's about as long as it takes to hook-up a seat belt and check the mirrors. Nothing wrong with that at all. To wait till the engine reaches operating temp is a whole other issue and bad practice. A car's engine will reach operating temp faster by driving it and today's cars w/ temperature related computer controls for timing and air/fuel mix are perfectly capable of managing themselves.