and a Civic sedan which I’ve never had more than 3 people in.

As for the “last time you had fun” question (or hating an econobox comments) I took the Fit out to an autocross yesterday and shocked a lot of participants. Sadly, it was a horsepower course (over a mile long with most runs over 70 seconds) but I did manage to be several people in raw time. It was awesome bringing a car with two mountain bikes, a ton of stuff, and great A/C on between runs while spending a lot less on gas than a lot of them do.

I’m willing to admit the truth and change if I am wrong, I mean if carpooling suddenly looks like its not victimization by societies bullshit. I am a “good” person, the fuck with societies judgmental eyes. “good” people can kiss my ass. I mean I hate some folks behavior right now, I need to vent, and I’m very angry, and life is sweet. I love being myself. I love guilt free drives. I’d hate to change things, but I’m willing to surrender if need be.

For example, I drive in to work by myself. I don’t take the bus because the schedule is awful, and I don’t car pool because if a server blows up or some other big problem crops up I could be staying late for a while. Additionally, all of the places we shop at are on my way home so if there is anything we need I can run the errand on the way home. That means my wife isn’t loading all the kids into the minivan or Yukon and running out gas to make the trip.

I really look at the cost per mile equation. For a while I did my commutes in a plain jane Saturn SL with a 5-speed. Averaged 40+ mpg due to all the hypermiling I due. Bought it for $1510 and sold it for $2995.

At the moment we’re using two 1999 Saab 9-5’s. My wife averages in the mid-20’s and I tend to get in the high-20’s to mid-30’s. The low coefficient drag and the 4-cylinder turbo are great for economical commuting and the strong safety record also helps quite a bit.

I have used some gas guzzlers on occasion. A 2002 Mercedes S500 (which I’ve actually got to 26.5 mpg on the highway with 20″ rims) and an Olds Bravada if I ever need to tow. I also have a 77 Mercedes 350SE that I rarely drive these days along with a Yamaha XC125 that rarely sees the road due to our combining of errands.

Overall I’m happy with my choices. Sometimes I wonder whether I should have kept that Prius from a few years back or the Jetta TDI I had a few months ago. But the $6000+ profit I got from the two will pay for an awful lot of gas and our current consumption is quite reasonable (300 miles a week).

The Mrs. works just down the street from me but our hours are different and inflexible enough to make commuting together a serious PITA; her Camry usually is a one passenger vehicle which we plan on passing onto a family member, and downsizing afterwards.

Fokus SE-All three or two, rarely one-except Monday-Wednesday when it becomes Dads commuter vehicle.

“In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen seven people in a ‘Sclade”

Chances are, if you have that kind of money, but choose to buy a Cadillac Escalade*, then, you probably don’t have any friends…..

Thank you! I’ll be here all week! ^_^

* = in instead of, say, a Range Rover, BMW X5, Volvo XC90 or a Lexus RX 400h.

it’s quite funny to drive beside the uncountable suburbans (1980’s-brand new) around here with my xA full of 5 adults… especially since about 8 out of 10 have 1 person, and the other 2 have 2-3..

Oh, BTW, nobody around here tows or hauls, save from the construction workers. So we have 8-seater full-size pickups around here ALL OVER THE PLACE, neither towing nor hauling (off-road? what’s that?), mainly with 1 person. The logic is beyond me…

90% of the time, I’m solo in the car.

As far as walking, we try to eat more locally sourced organic foods. Fairly low CO2 impact. That way when we eat and burn energy walking to the store, we are saving even more fuel than otherwise. Even if we didn’t eat low-CO2 food, walking is still a far better alternative to driving, even if the store is only 2-3 minutes by car. You may also lose some weight from the walking, which will save you on your car’s gas bill ultimately.

So, am I helping or destroying the planet by walking to the store instead of driving? Inquiring minds want to know.

I have a 20mpg (combined) sports car or a 38-48mpg (combined) 10 second sports bike. Can you guess which one I run my errands on?

I actually weighed the body armor that resides on top of my normal clothes and it’s just shy of 20 pounds!!!

I feel absoutely no shame going out and eating 6 gallons of gas in a day @ 40+mpg riding the bike for fun since I only drive one day per week.

The wife drives a 25-30mpg 9 year old neon about 2-3 times per week. I don’t think our gas bill is over $150 per month even @ $4 gas.

I went from a job that was 28 miles highway each way (driving the sports car) to walking to work or (if raining) hopping on the train.

When errands need to be run, we generally go in the neon. Because of cheap OTD prices @ local dealers, low interest rates, and the fact that our next apartment will have a garage, the wife & I are looking at a vulcan 500 for $3900 or so! Should get great gas mileage, should be super fun to run errands in, but exceedingly slow…..I really just want the wifey to be able to enjoy the motorcyle too (she already has a helmet, body armor & gloves….)

I drove about 40 miles today just for fun along PCH by myself. Beautiful sunny day, from Seal Beach to Newport. It was nice, but not sure if it was worth the 8 bucks of gas.

Ridiculous. A typical day hanging out with my friends costs me around 15 bucks just for gas.