A Question For The Floor
A while ago, I bought a diesel car in hopes of converting it to run on waste-vegetable oil. Well, that conversion is expensive, and the car doesn't get great mileage in the first place and so I've been rethinking things.
Then I noticed on craigslist a very rare thing: an unmodified '90s Honda Civic VX hatchback -- a rare car indeed. These are one of the few non-hybrids to ever surpass 50 mpgs... In fact, it was this elusive specimen that I was actually searching for when I decided to go with the rumbly Mercedes.
So I'm thinking of selling the Mercedes, and getting a different car instead. So here's the question: do I replace it with an older, somewhat more ecenomical diesel car (like a 1978 240D) and get it converted, or do I go for the newer, much more ecenomical car and run it on gas??
I'll open the floor to everyone -- even to those who just have a gut reaction or intuitive response...
Though no specific cars have been decided on, here are some specifics about the ones I'm considering:
1992-1995 Honda Civic VX hatchback. cost: $3700. 5-speed manual, runs on gas. originally they were rated at 48-55 mpg. who knows what it's getting now with 150,000+ miles on it, but it's still probably pushing 50mpg. (The efficiency is the result of light wieght combined with a VTEC-E engine that optomizes atomization of fuel at low rpms.)
1976-1983 Mercedes 240D Diesel. cost: $2700 plus $1000 for conversion. 4-speed manual. With conversion, can run on waste vegetable oil, biodiesel, or diesel, interchangeably. Known to get up to 40 mpg, but realistically, 30-35 is a more likely estimate. The downside is that they are notoriously sluggish (72 hp for 3300 pounds). The upside is they can get over 500,000 miles, easy.
current car: 1984 Mercedes 300D turbodiesel. could sell for ~$4000. gets about 22-23 mpg. Diesel and Biodiesel both cost about $4.00/gal right now, which means about $60+ to go 350 mile. This equates to about 18 cents per mile, compared with about 7 cents per mile for the Honda VX. In theory, any diesel car with a conversion could get free fuel, but collecting and filtering your own waste-vegetable oil is time consuming and time is money; more likely it will run on some combination of fuels, so cost per mile is hard to estimate.
Then I noticed on craigslist a very rare thing: an unmodified '90s Honda Civic VX hatchback -- a rare car indeed. These are one of the few non-hybrids to ever surpass 50 mpgs... In fact, it was this elusive specimen that I was actually searching for when I decided to go with the rumbly Mercedes.
So I'm thinking of selling the Mercedes, and getting a different car instead. So here's the question: do I replace it with an older, somewhat more ecenomical diesel car (like a 1978 240D) and get it converted, or do I go for the newer, much more ecenomical car and run it on gas??
I'll open the floor to everyone -- even to those who just have a gut reaction or intuitive response...
Though no specific cars have been decided on, here are some specifics about the ones I'm considering:
1992-1995 Honda Civic VX hatchback. cost: $3700. 5-speed manual, runs on gas. originally they were rated at 48-55 mpg. who knows what it's getting now with 150,000+ miles on it, but it's still probably pushing 50mpg. (The efficiency is the result of light wieght combined with a VTEC-E engine that optomizes atomization of fuel at low rpms.)
1976-1983 Mercedes 240D Diesel. cost: $2700 plus $1000 for conversion. 4-speed manual. With conversion, can run on waste vegetable oil, biodiesel, or diesel, interchangeably. Known to get up to 40 mpg, but realistically, 30-35 is a more likely estimate. The downside is that they are notoriously sluggish (72 hp for 3300 pounds). The upside is they can get over 500,000 miles, easy.
current car: 1984 Mercedes 300D turbodiesel. could sell for ~$4000. gets about 22-23 mpg. Diesel and Biodiesel both cost about $4.00/gal right now, which means about $60+ to go 350 mile. This equates to about 18 cents per mile, compared with about 7 cents per mile for the Honda VX. In theory, any diesel car with a conversion could get free fuel, but collecting and filtering your own waste-vegetable oil is time consuming and time is money; more likely it will run on some combination of fuels, so cost per mile is hard to estimate.