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Westerly, RI Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Environmental rules delay to STOP ECO power [larsb]

by gagrice on Mon Jun 30 08:34:08 PDT 2008

Last I checked on small wind generators, they require a nominal 9 MPH wind. We are rarely subjected to 9 MPH winds. Most of the time we sit with about a 3 MPH westerly breeze. When the winds come it is out of the East and upwards of 35 MPH. Gladly that is only a few times a year. Our roof would be a much better choice for solar. My wife does not want to spend the money as the payback is way past our likely lifespan. Tax incentives are very poor for residential. Only commercial solar get the big bucks. So what's new with our Government? Then you have to deal with the county building people. I spent 3 years trying to get a permit to build a 20X25 foot garage on my 5 acres. Finally gave up and just built it. Here is what it would require to put in wind generation on my place. Skystream 3.7™ is designed to make wind power accessible to more people than ever before. If your site fits the following criteria, chances are Skystream 3.7 will work for you: * At least 10 MPH average wind speed (best results at 12 MPH or more) * Your property is greater than .5 acre and is unobstructed * The local zoning allows a structure that is at least 42′ tall * Your local utility has an existing interconnection agreement (Your Skystream dealer can help determine this). The first two would eliminate me. My acre is covered with trees. Big oak and 100' eucalyptus. Not sure about zoning. It would take a minimum of 2-3 years to get any kind of permit here. Several $1000s in environmental impact studies are the starting point. I think I will stick with SDG&E. They had plenty of reserve in the last heat wave. The rest of CA has restricted the utilities to the point they are facing rolling blackouts this summer. We are fortunate to have a tribe of Indians that are located in a perfect place for a HUGE wind farm. And they are happy to sell the power to us. The Kumeyaay Wind farm annually produces power sufficient for about 30,000 homes and saves approximately 110,000 tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions, compared with equivalent fossil fuel generation. It helps San Diego Gas & Electric meet its target of supplying at least 20 percent of its customers' electricity from renewable sources by 2010.

Re: #130?? LOW POWER ALSO?!! [tgwiii]

by tgwiii on Tue Mar 25 19:18:01 PDT 2008

O.K. O.K. YER NOT GONNA BELIEVE THIS 1...I posted #130 "LOW POWER ALSO" .......That the B2300 4 cylinder 5 Speed Overdrive 2WD would only go 80 @ about 3000 RPM....That was about a month after I bought it.. Where I live the top speed limit is 45..... So last week on Monday the 19 of March I drove down to Washington. DC....A cool clear day with a North-Westerly flow maybe 10 or 15 MPH. There was alota traffic so I didn't really get to run, until the second hour on the road in Eastern Rhode Island which is a little hilly. On one of the hills I am going 75 as I start to climb and as I go up the hill , it is slowly gaining a bit almost to 80, going downI am up to 90 and as it levels off I am still gaining 91, 92, 93-94!! slowly it crept up to 95 on the flat and I ran for a couple of miles in the 93-95 range B4 I chicken out....and let her drop down to a safer 75.....in the 65 zone I was in...And on the way back I had quite a bit of acceleration (for a 4) from 80 to 85 and was able to run at 95 for six miles---------------One more thing, The steering & handling were just as good at 100 as at 60..... That stuff about bad steering in the 90s seems 2B wrong!!! WHAT DID I DO TO IT------to get 15 MPH more on top-end??? The ONLY things that were different from "floored at 80" ....were......Change the cap from a Leer (with a sag in the roof) to an A.R.E., ditched the bedliner........and put 37 Lbs, of air in the tires, up from 30...Nothing more!! I know, I know......That could not be it....Yeah I agree, Was it Clara on the Psychics network and her over the phone Ouija Tune Up?? Naw, I don't think so..............I think that the catalytic converter was a little clogged up and the bumpy roads on the Island & the 10% Brazilian alcohol in the Extra Mart gas I use cleaned our the carbon......But I'm open 4 suggestions WTF!! Now the truck is perfect for me.........Great gas mileage, comfortable to sleep in the nice tinted windows A.R.E. cap and keeps up with 95% of the traffic...for $1500. What a deal.. My drive to DC and back--NO problems--between 75 & 95 the whole way-except cross Bronx...What do you think??? Tom

Re: Why we can't stop talking about the Genesis.... [tjc78]

by captain2 on Wed Mar 05 12:13:17 PST 2008

every since I turned 20K on the clock I seem to be getting about 1 - 2 MPG better than I have been did the 'prevailing westerlies' become 'easterlies'? ;)

Re: gagrice... [iluvmysephia1]

by gagrice on Sun Nov 18 20:00:00 PST 2007

I would think this guy carries some credibility to his statement on the "scam" of global warming. I can tell you this about him. He is the meteorologist on KUSI TV here in San Diego. It is kind of a retirement job for him. He has been a TV weatherman since 1953, including 7 years as the weatherman on ABC's "Good Morning America". An example: After the horrendous winds that fanned the recent fires in Southern California, all the major weather services were predicting another similar Santa Ana condition was to follow in the next week. John Coleman came on his show on KUSI and said no we were in for higher humidity and Westerly winds through that period. Coleman was the ONLY weather service that called it right. We have had these warnings every week since the fire of more strong Easterly winds. None have materialized. It is just like the phony predictions of worse hurricanes following Katrina. It is only wishful thinking by the sensationalist news media in this country.

Re: Um... [tjc78] by captain2 [gamleged] [shipo] [captain2]

by shipo on Wed Dec 20 10:24:28 PST 2006

"If your point is that torque steer MUST exist as a matter of the laws of physics..." Yes, that is part and parcel of what I was attempting to say. "Engineering suspension geometries, throttle programs (as in the new TL-S), or even monkeyng around with tire sizes (the GP) all can serve to hide TS very well." Admittedly torque steer has been much mitigated since FWD cars first hit the scene (geez, my ~85 hp 1979 VW Scirocco had gobs of torque steer), however, it hasen't been altogether eliminated. I've test driven two Acura TLs (one was a TL-S), and both had 6-Speed manual transmissions. In both cars I was able to generate torque steer turning left onto a freeway ramp from a traffic light controlled surface street where two lanes turn onto the ramp but the ramp itself only has one actual lane. In my RWD sedan I'm able to nail the throttle and get to the open ramp with the front wheels doing the turning and the rear wheels doing the accelerating. Simple, straight forward and effective. The same torque steer thing held true for the 2007 Altima that I drove last week. The second scenario where I've uncovered very noticeable and annoying torque steer on all three cars is a little more difficult to explain. There is a fairly long grade that I routinely traverse that has a huge amount of heavy truck traffic. Given the roughly westerly facing orientation of said grade, the tarmac is exposed to the hot afternoon summer sun and gets somewhat soft. Combined with all of the truck traffic, the tarmac has become deeply rutted. Not rough ruts mind you, more like a deep (maybe 6" deep at the deepest) and smooth "U" shaped trenches where the tires typically roll, not at all unlike an old country lane where there are two ruts for tires and grass growing in between. When climbing that hill in all three cars and holding steady speed the FWD/rut combination causes the cars to alternately attempt to climb first one side of the trench, and then once corrected for with the steering, the car to attempt to climb the opposite side. Said another way, it was impossible to drive any of the three straight up that grade without wandering left-right-left within the lane itself. I've had that problem in every FWD vehicle I've driven up that grade, and yet I've never had even a hint of wandering in any RWD car or truck that I've had on the same piece of road. Best Regards, Shipo

Re: Luxury Lounge [designman]

by blckislandguy on Mon Sep 25 19:42:25 PDT 2006

OK, here's the short course. There is nothing on BI now for under 1.5 mil that you could spend the night in without getting rained on. A buildable lot (albeit all lots are at least two acres and EVERY lot on BI has an ocean view) is 1 mil min. Unlike say Cape Cod, Myrtle Beach, the Berkshires, etc. I just don't see these prices coming down because there is very little land left to build on and BI is still very desireable to many because it is laid back without Nantucket pretensions or the gold chains of the Jersey Shore. Where are the second home buys going to be in the NY Metro area? For openers, the New York State side of the Berkshires looks cheap. It is much less money than the Mass side, still quite rural, etc. A real sleeper area is the South County of RI. Only 2 hours plus from the GW Bridge, Westerly and surrounding beach areas are nice and still affordable. If I had the flex hours of a professor, consultant, etc. and absolutely wanted to be directly on the ocean I'd go to Maine where ocean front homes are still "only" 1 mil once you get up north of Pemaquid. To give you an idea how charming Maine is, the entrance sign to the Maine Turnpike as you leave NH reads: "Maine: the way life should be". Mo one thinks its corny. Everyone believes it. In fact, several BI people have cashed out and moved there.