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Coal Mountain, WV Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Gas, Gas, Gas! [lemko]

by pixdad on Thu Jun 19 18:35:03 PDT 2008

Hey lemko, good to hear from you. I grew up in Shamokin, so I can appreciate what you are saying. I was up at Hometown the other day as they are building 57 wind mills! 18 miles across the top of the mountain. But, they are building them on top of some of the finest coal in the world! It could be used safely and cleanly, but not with our "leaders". Like I said, Sad!!!!

Rut-Roh

by larsb on Fri Feb 01 08:38:11 PST 2008

West's water threatened by GW One of the studies published in the journal Science found that nearly 60% of the changes in river flow, snow pack and winter temperatures in the West over the past 50 years are due to warming caused by human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. "We're headed for a potential disaster because of the lack of snowpack," says lead author Tim Barnett, a marine research physicist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. "In California, we don't have enough reservoirs, so we rely heavily on the Sierra snowpack for our water." Already, the changes of the past five decades have meant less snow pack and more rain in the mountains, rivers that run dry by summer, and overall drier summers in the region. Barnett says the climate models used in the study were conservative, using only the low end of the temperature changes predicted due to global warming. Better start working on desalination plants now !!!

Re: Growing up? [markvanh]

by cdptrap on Wed Jul 25 10:19:19 PDT 2007

I like most of markvanh's post except for the "misquote" and the lack of correct information. We don't have to agree but we have to at least know the basics about the HSD and the HH before we can start debating meaningfully. Secondly, there are claims in the posts that have no facts and no substantiating arguments. Wow, Toyota ditched regenerative braking? .... A new all-electric mode-- that doesn't work? Where are all the facts supporting these claims? Edmund said "...almost no regen braking in D..." but that refers to "sensation", not technology. On the '06, at higher speed, regen happens but the car coasts longer than our Sienna van. At lower speed, the car slows noticeably once foot is off the gas. Edmund did not clearly state when they made the observation. Regen is a critical part of the HSD. Without it, the battery pack is dead weight. I am surprised by this strange claim in the midst of a nice post. The specs say the new HH has a 45KWh battery pack... some all-electric vehicles can get over 100 mile range from that much battery. Are we talking about a car that can pull 5000 lbs at 55-MPH up and down mountain roads loaded with 7 people going 100 miles on full electric? Or is it the dinky 2-person but ultra efficient Honda Insight EV (Prius EV?) going 100 miles on one charge? Comparing Apples to Apples? The wattage needed to do the all the work of the '08 HH will likely require a giant battery pack turning the car into a monster bigger than the HUMMER. Is that practical? We all want our plug-in but at more realistic pace. The 2008 HH is a big step in the right direction. No other manufacturers have caught up yet in its class. Porsche is making a new hybrid Cayene that may eventually match the HH in performance and emission. We will see. On a side note, plug-in EV is not as simple as idealists think if we want wide spread acceptance. There is the infrastructure issue. Where do I plug in today after my EV has gone 100 miles if I am driving from Watsonville to Redding? I will be stuck in Willow along I5. And if we all jump to EV, where is the power coming from? Coal burning plants in Nevada? or giant solar farms in the Imperial valley? Can't have the car without the tires, so to speak.

The time is getting more RIPE?

by ruking1 on Thu Jul 19 11:02:14 PDT 2007

To me (as far as the so called oil crisis has been depict/ed) the central issue is to have more of the passenger vehicle fleet on alternate fuels. The ethanol from bio tech from longstanding waste processes another example. Diesel has been the so called next logic step in that is is a consequential resultant percentage product of the refinement of a barrel of oil. As more vol and percentage of folks make the switch, they can use diesel derived from heretofore wasted portions (i.e., tallow from the meat packing industry) of long standing processes and R and D into new processes (diesel; from the Saudi Arabia of COAL (i.e., Rocky Mountain States, from hydroponic algae growth.)

Checking in again and ...

by 210delray on Wed Apr 11 18:21:41 PDT 2007

...we're STILL talking about CR and the domestics vs. imports? Or should I say GM vs. Toyota? Same old, same old. OK, maybe it's time for my Camry vs. G6 comparo. As you may remember from my past posts, I have both a 2004 Camry LE 4 cyl 4A and a 2005 Camry XLE 4 cyl 5A. This is really by family happenstance that I have two nearly identical cars (see my profile for details if that matters). We took a vacation to the Southwest last month. Gorgeous scenery and very nice weather; not too many tourists either. So if you're an empty nester or otherwise have no school-age kids, go in spring or fall. We flew to Vegas and rented a 2007 Pontiac G6 sedan from Alamo. The Alamo experience has its own sorry sideline, but I'll deal with the car itself, not the rental company. We drove over 1600 miles total, on 2-lanes and interstates (and a few unpaved roads -- sssh!), flat land and mountains, so we gave it a good workout. Of course, in traditional rental car fashion, it's a base G6 without even ABS. Side curtain airbags standard (wonderful), and it did have a sunroof(!), 3.5 V6, and alloys. Coal-bin black cloth interior. Manual seats (except power height adjuster for driver.) Pluses: nice V6 power, competent A/C with the intuitive manual rotary climate controls (3 simple knobs - pioneered in the US by the '86 Taurus). Good ride, good handling. Steering felt artificially heavy at first, but we quickly got used to it. Nice sized trunk, comfy front seats with good side bolstering. Engine compartment well laid out for checking oil, adding water to the EMPTY washer reservoir, etc. Sunroof actually quieter when fully open than when tilted up, the opposite of my '04 Camry! (We had it open a lot.) Even a padded (soft-touch) dash (except for the center stack)! So in terms of the basics, give GM a thumbs up! BTW, we never used the radio. Minuses: 4-speed auto with no discernible engine braking when placed into 3rd on steep high-speed downgrades. Like my former '90 Sable, you can't manually select 2nd for lower speed downgrades. No "PRNDL" indicator on the dash. Red gauge lighting -- okay, but not really my preference. "MPH" illuminated in red on the speedo -- makes you think a warning light is on, especially at night. Too-small side glass (when can we have big windows back)? Have to use the trip computer to reset the twin trip meters -- can't I have the push button on the speedo instead? Tiny YELLOW indicators on the climate control to indicate recirc vs. fresh air, and a/c on. Why not green? Yellow's fine for the rear defogger. Passenger seat like sitting in a tub -- way down low. My wife and I couldn't reach items temporarily placed on the dash from the passenger seat, with the seat all the way back for max legroom. Cruise control didn't hold speeds as steadily as in our Camrys, and those dainty little buttons for "set" and "resume" have to go! On the details, give GM a thumbs down! Overall winner -- Camry. Ok -- have at it (flameproof suit on).

First longterm driving experience

by kdhspyder on Wed Jun 14 09:31:33 PDT 2006

Even though selling them, it's quite common not to have a lot of 'seat time' in the various vehicles we sell. It is the client afterall who should be experiencing the vehicle. Well yesterday I had the opportunity to spend 10+ hours driving a TCH in all kind of traffic and conditions, except rain. Starting from sealevel on the E Coast I was able to take a beautiful Sand/Bisque 'loaded' version up over the Blue Ridge Mountains into and across the Appalachians into the heartland. Like delivering coal to Newcastle so to speak. This vehicle is much much different than my Prius. WAY different. Did I mention that the driving experience was different? Until now it has been normally 'known' that driving in a relaxed manner is best for fuel economy in the HSD vehicles. This is still likely true but there is something different with the TCH. Driving west from sealevel to the mountains and down again - at 70-75 mph - staying ahead of the 18-wheelers while negotiating several long 7% grades the overall fuel economy was 39 mpg over 650+ miles!!! That's better than the EPA Hwy value and almost equal to the EPA City value. What shocked me was it was done at 70 mph on average and with seemingly little effort. Taking the Blue Ridge Mountains with CSN+Y's 'Four Way Street' was beautiful in midafternoon. While not being an audiophile did I mention that the sound system is fantastic!!! Pachibel's Canon at sunset over KY seemed appropriate too. With the vehicle being nearly silent all the time it was just the music and the road. The displays are the best I've seen in any Toyota. In the loaded version with the navi I had the map set to a 50 mi view on the right, the ECO-DRIVE indicator ( above 40 mpg most of the time ) in the center and could watch the instantaneous fuel economy analog dial on the left ( as it fluctuted between 30 and 60 mpg ). At night with the opticon gauges lit in front it was even clearer still. They are truly the best. The Navi system was precise and very easy to interface with outside of learning some of the specific commands. Take the time it's fun to do it. The seating was very comfortable even at 10+ hours of straight driving. In another forum alpha01 responded to a poster about visibility being an issue on the driver's part. The poster complained about the headrests being too big and uncomfortable. After 10 hours I had no complaints at all and actually found them very relaxing and a perfect fit for me. However the B-pillar seems to be twice as wide as the previous Camry's I've owned ( likely due to IIHS issues ) and it does take some getting used to if you have been driving Camry's for a while. If I didn't need the ultra-efficiency of the Prius I'd be in a TCH in an instant. Did I mention that I was thoroughly impressed with everything about the new TCH. ;) Congratulations to all the new owners. :D