With gas prices on the rise....

[jmo]

I think I need to sell the car and get one of these!

[kvart]

Engines based on the two-stroke cycle use two strokes (one up, one down) for every power stroke. Since there are no dedicated intake or exhaust strokes, alternative methods must be used to scavenge the cylinders. The most common method in spark-ignition two-strokes is to use the downward motion of the piston to pressurize fresh charge in the crankcase, which is then blown through the cylinder through ports in the cylinder walls. Spark-ignition two-strokes are small and light (for their power output), and mechanically very simple. Common applications include snowmobiles, lawnmowers, chain saws, jet skis, mopeds, outboard motors and some motorcycles. Unfortunately, they are also generally louder, less efficient, and far more polluting than their four-stroke counterparts, and they do not scale well to larger sizes

If you really want to save fuel, consider water injection.....
http://users.frii.com/maphill/wi.html

[JackW]

On topic here but likely belongs in the joke section...

http://www.markfiore.com/animation/petro.html













(yes still post whoring...)

[hewhocaves]

i was thinking something more along the lines of a one horsepower vehicle... like a horse.

gas prices jumped today in morgantown from 2.74 to 2.88. One station lagged behind at 2.69 - guess where everyone went to get gas?

all within the space of a square mile!

[Nico]

Yesterday I went across the border to Laredo TX to do some shopping.. Premium gas at an Exxon station was at a whooping 2.99.

here's my alternative: http://www.theaircar.com

[hewhocaves]

in a somewhat related topic... my mom and i were discussing the price of heating her home this coming winter (she has oil). One thing led to another and I started telling her about some of the wonderful things they are doing with solar power these days. There's a neat solar convection panel that's essentially a low-tech heating unit (with regulator). Don't know what your'e supposed to do in the evening, though. Probably good for keeping the garage at least about 50 in the dead of winter.

more mainstream solar is better. we figured we could provide her with enough electricity to run her house simply by filling the south facing roof of her house with panels. actually, because she's heating with oil, she'd had substantial leftover electricity - though we didn't check to see if that might some day be able to power an electic car.

it would be cool though - to get enough energy from your roof to completely live off of!

john

p.s. gas is still 2.85 in morgantown. its about 2.75 on the way to pittsbuirgh, though.