Comments on: I’ve Told You a Million Times Not to Exaggerate

By: Kevin Murphy

Kevin Murphy — Thu, 05 May 2005 02:39:06 +0000

Well, it depends on what you mean by “almost”. One could say that $51 rounds up to $100, so it’s “almost $100″. Then again, that means my car’s fill-ups are “almost free”.

By: Pajama Pundits

Pajama Pundits — Wed, 04 May 2005 15:46:09 +0000

A to Z Linkfest #4

A Peck of Gold explains The Zen of Ten and has the perfect t-shirt for it.

At Blogoram

By: Xrlq

Xrlq — Wed, 04 May 2005 00:43:10 +0000

Funny how the Mercedes E350 requires 91 octane if you buy in the U.S. but not if you buy it Australia. The BMW site is unclear as to whether premium is a requirement or a mere recommendation. Do you know anyone who's had a warranty voided for using 87 octane gas? I'm not even sure that's legal. Assume I'm wrong, and that there are at least some street-legal, high performance cars that will not run properly on regular. How many of those models have tanks that hold 37 gallons or more?

By: Sigivald

Sigivald — Tue, 03 May 2005 22:06:02 +0000

All street-legal cars are designed to run on regular? Try telling that to Mercedes, BMW, et. al. (American carmakers assuredly make some models that need 93 octane, but they seem to be reticent to mention the required fuel grade on their websites.) High-octane fuel (ie, "premium") is required to prevent detonation in high-compression (high performance) gasoline engines. Lots of street-legal cars won't run very well (in an engine-damaging and soemtimes warranty-voiding kind of way) if you put 87 octane fuel in them. (Evidently some engines even have a high-octane and low-octane mode settable with a switch, which is Nifty.) Bottom line: Many high-performance engines are both street-legal and NOT designed for standard 87 octane fuel. (See also this.)

By: Gary and the Samoyeds

Gary and the Samoyeds — Tue, 03 May 2005 21:47:40 +0000

“If you want to spend more to pump high-octane gas into a vehicle designed to run on regular (hint: all vehicles that can be legally sold as street vehicles in the U.S.)…”

Huh? Regular is 87 octane (less in high-altitude). My owner’s manual specifically states it needs 89. My previous car needed 91.

By: Ben Pugh

Ben Pugh — Tue, 03 May 2005 05:43:48 +0000

My 1985 Suburban I drove in High School had a 40 gallon tank, so $100 in today’s gas prices is about right, especially if you are headed to altitude and need higher octane gas to avoid vapor lock.

By: Xrlq

Xrlq — Tue, 03 May 2005 05:13:17 +0000

Steverino: A Tahoe is a couple feet shorter than a Suburban, but otherwise the dimensions are the same. In fact, if you pay the GiMmiCk tax, their respective identical twins are both called Yukons. Are you sure 37 gallons is right? [UPDATE: Yup, he's right.] That’s a helluva lot more than I can put in my Tahoe, assuming it doesn’t have a 10 gallon reserve that pretends not to be there when the warning light comes on saying I’m running out. How far does a Suburban go on that much gas before you have to refuel? A tad further than Prof. Bainbridge’s car, I presume?

Flap: that sounds like a lot for a Lexus. Sure it’s not a Lexus SUV?

By: Flap

Flap — Tue, 03 May 2005 05:06:13 +0000

It costs me $50 just to fill up my Lexus here in SoCal.

Those Tahoes must have small tanks.

By: Steverino

Steverino — Tue, 03 May 2005 05:00:15 +0000

Not sure what your tank capacity is, Xlrq. $100 might be a bit much, but $75 isn’t out of the question for some SUVs. I had a Navigator with a 30 gallon tank, and I’m sure the Suburban has one to rival that. The Navigator only took premium gas, which is running near $2.80 in Reno (it was higher just a couple of weeks ago). Figure 25 gallons for a fill-up, and you’re looking at $70.

Fuel tank for a 3/4 ton Suburban is 37 gallons, so a full tank at $2.70/gallon would run about $100. But I doubt the Tahoe has the same fuel capacity, so the WSJ is off base.

This exercise in mental gymnastics is meaningless, though. You buy your own gas, nobody buys it for you. People don’t own SUVs because they like paying a lot for gas; rather, they find value in the vehicles that exceeds the cost of fuel. I don’t see what the big deal is.