Post the last thing you bought!

[luvdunhill]

I will probably always own a AWD car. Both Audi and Subaru have saved my life, so I have one of each

[Salt Peanuts]

A new trash can for the kitchen, a footlocker w/ wheels, and one-year membership to Angie's List.

EDIT - Oh and a tank of gas @ $3.89/gallon. I love my Civic.

[Grahame]

Yeah, a lot of the auto manufacturers are coming out with the next generation of clean diesel within the next couple of years: BMW, Honda, and of course, VW and Audi. There are others, but I forget right now.

EDIT: Mercedes, I think, and Nissan, Toyota, Ford (of course), and GM (of course).Ah. (Regular gasoline cars take more fuel starting than running...for less than a minute [roughly]. More than a minute, and it becomes worth it, gas-wise, to stop the car and restart it. I presume by this that you mean, with diesels, that time limit becomes much longer, as in, long enough to fill your tank [10 minutes or so, with foam].)

This is one of the the design/engineering trade-offs/wins for a current (gas) hybrid depending on your driving regime.

If it is lots of urban stop-start driving, then storing energy from regenerative braking as you stop, killing the engine so it doesn't idle, and starting on stored energy before restarting the engine makes sense, and is a win vs just having a (gas) engine.

If your driving is mostly cruising on the highway then adding all the extra mass, complexity and cost vs a simple diesel could be considered a fail

One of the biggest wins is providing feedback to the driver as to their instantaneous/cumulative fuel consumption (e.g MPG in big digits, right in their face). Curiously some people then modify their driving style to minimize consumption/maximize m.p.g when presented with such information - e.g. the hyper-milers. Maybe presenting this as cost per mile, or cost consumed would provide an even bigger incentive.

Or there is the "Dodge" way - why invest in economy oriented R+D when you can buy customer loyalty with a "$2.99 Gas Guarantee". Just don't try thinking about the depreciation on residual value when it comes to an end. Ouch.

[deepak]

A new trash can for the kitchen, a footlocker w/ wheels, and one-year membership to Angie's List.

EDIT - Oh and a tank of gas @ $3.89/gallon. I love my Civic.

Civic is probably my next car.

[Dusty Chalk]

This is one of the the design/engineering trade-offs/wins for a current (gas) hybrid depending on your driving regime.

You know, I was taught -- at a very simplistic level -- that they are more or less orthogonal: diesel is better for distance, hybrid is better for stop-and-go. But really, it takes very little stop-and-go to be better than just plain gas, and I have no idea where the break-even point is between hybrid and diesel, but as was pointed out -- with diesel prices being so much higher than regular gas prices, diesel isn't a clear choice in what seems like a distance drive.

A cousin of mine lives near Dulles airport in Virginia and commutes to Washington, DC 5 days a week; he has a hybrid. He does just enough stop start on his way to work to keep the mileage up -- it's not just the breaking that gets converted to energy, the very act of having the motor feed the battery and then running off the battery is inherently more efficient than running directly off the motor all the time.

It's like buffering bits.

[Salt Peanuts]

Civic is probably my next car.

Nice.

I love that aside from the general wear and tear, I have had no issues what-so-ever with my Civic (~96K miles over 6.5 years). On top of that, I regularly get 40 miles/gallon (rated at 32 city/37 highway), with occasional high 40s.

[hungrych]

Well yeah, but who'd be caught dead drivin' an Audi?

[luvdunhill]

He does just enough stop start on his way to work to keep the mileage up -- it's not just the breaking that gets converted to energy, the very act of having the motor feed the battery and then running off the battery is inherently more efficient than running directly off the motor all the time.

It's like buffering bits.

isn't there a flywheel used to feed the battery when not breaking?

[Dusty Chalk]

isn't there a flywheel used to feed the battery when not breaking?

Well yes, that probably has a lot to do with it, and in your mind, you probably lumped that in with regenerative braking, and I probably didn't. But that's neither here nor there, my real point was that by toggling back and forth between running from the fuel engine vs. the electric motor, you still save gas. Even when you're maintaining a perfectly stead speed, some of that energy can still be stored into the battery, and then you can shut off the gas engine once in a while.

It sounds complicated, but they actually did a really good job of engineering it. I am kind of surprised some of the design discoveries from the hybrid haven't trickled back into regular cars, in terms of smarter starting of engines.

[riceboy]

Just brought some ESW9s

[deepak]

Nice.

I love that aside from the general wear and tear, I have had no issues what-so-ever with my Civic (~96K miles over 6.5 years). On top of that, I regularly get 40 miles/gallon (rated at 32 city/37 highway), with occasional high 40s.

My friend's gets about 35 highway in a manual plus awesome reliability, pretty sweet

[JBLoudG20]

Civic is probably my next car.

My next car is a Yamaha R1

[aardvark baguette]

With any luck, my next car is no car

[n_maher]

My next car is a Yamaha R1

I hope not. There is no earthly reason to buy a bike like that unless your goal is to kill yourself. If you want something faster that handles better get a Triumph Daytona 675. It's got more power than any human needs on the street.

[aardvark baguette]

Just found out about this via Gmail.

This is from the original master tapes

[en480c4]

The big advantage to the prius is you show the world you care about fuel economy

My favorite is a couple in town who have a Prius with the vanity plate "OURPART" and their other vehicle is an older Range Rover V8. Hahahahahahaha...

[aardvark baguette]

I remember reading about a study done of hybrid cars, the environment, etc. It found that the Prius is the number one selling hybrid, not because it is the best, but because it looks like what people expect a hybrid to be. People buy it to show how enlightened/green they are

I wont offer my opinion on the matter, just reporting what i've read. I am so not going there.

[JBLoudG20]

I hope not. There is no earthly reason to buy a bike like that unless your goal is to kill yourself. If you want something faster that handles better get a Triumph Daytona 675. It's got more power than any human needs on the street.

It'll be a while... don't worry

I also have my eyes on some Duc's, or a gixxer.

At least for a few years, I'll stick with the Kat.

[deepak]

It'll be a while... don't worry

I also have my eyes on some Duc's,

Like an 888 Limited

[laxx]

Get a Monster. I've always wanted one.

[JBLoudG20]

Like an 888 Limited

, nah I like the 848.

I suppose I can settle for the 600cc R6 as well, Nate That was the model I meant to say, not the R1. I mean shit: my bike is fucking scary fast as it is, and its a heavy beast.

[PFKMan23]

I suppose I can settle for the 600cc R6 as well, Nate That was the model I meant to say, not the R1. I mean shit: my bike is fucking scary fast as it is, and its a heavy beast.

What bike do you have again?

[grawk]

Monster's a great girls' bike.

The problem I have with ducks is they're made for italians. People WAY shorter than I am. The triumphs have a better geometry for big peoples

The daytona has always been a favorite of mine. I'm really interested in the buells, too. They seem like they're optimized for real world riding, rather than superbike racing.

And the R6 is the single scariest bike I've ever ridden. WAY too much power to weight.

[JBLoudG20]

Monster's a great girls' bike.

The problem I have with ducks is they're made for italians. People WAY shorter than I am. The triumphs have a better geometry for big peoples

The daytona has always been a favorite of mine. I'm really interested in the buells, too. They seem like they're optimized for real world riding, rather than superbike racing.

And the R6 is the single scariest bike I've ever ridden. WAY too much power to weight.

I suppose I should sit on the Duc before I lust for it. At 6'3" I may have the same problem.

[n_maher]

At 6'-3" you'll have a problem with just about any sport bike. Which gets back to my original point, no one needs even an R6/GSXR600/ZX6 etc on the street. If you want to do track days or race then fine, buy one. Otherwise you're just wasting your money on power and ability you'll never use or need. Buy something less racy and use the money you save to do something like the Code School or similar. The skills you learn will make you far faster (and safer for that matter) than a different bike.

I'd say I use about 40% of the capability of my bike generally speaking and have no real desire to explore the remaining 60%. The margins are thin enough without pushing it. Heck, I rode it in this morning and on the on ramp to the highway I decided I'd let it breath a bit. On the shift from second to third I was pushing 75 with another 3 grand towards redline. On a sport bike I'd have been pushing triple digits which is just plain stupid.