thats true! while I do have a spreadsheet for MPG analysis, including a row of possible cars and a row of desinations and the costs, as well as our actual driving usage and current costs for each of the cars at those miles, at the end of the day a few MPG is nor much money per month. probably less than i spend of coffee hopefully the table below doesnt get too scrambled. the assumptions are $4.00/gallon and 250 miles for each driver per week. Starting with the Ranger/Miata combo we spend $380 on gas. swapping the Ranger (which is getting tired anyway) for the subaru lowers that to $327/mo. If I drive the Metro most days, its $256/mo. If we had two metros for daily driving (nearly equivilant to 2 priuses) gas would cost us $215. Model MPG Wifey Chris Both Ranger 18.5 $232 $232 $465 Subaru 24 $179 $179 $358 Miata 29 $148 $148 $297 Neon 33 $130 $130 $261 Echo 40 $108 $108 $215 GeoMetro3cyl 40 $108 $108 $215 Loremo 150 $29 $29 $57
________________________________ From: Larry Alster [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, September 01, 2008 4:36 PM To: 'Chris'; 'Robert McElwee' Cc: [email protected] Subject: RE: NMC - OTM Subaru MPG question Getting an auto transmission for towing and mileage is just dumb. Just put the clutch in if it needs it and enjoy the car. You have a good car for a good price and if you get 24 instead of 26 or 28 MPG so what. Figure out the gas cost vs. purchase cost. People get freaked and act stupid about MPG and do stupid things to try to get 2 or 3 more MPG thinking long term they are saving money. In most cases they don't after they run real numbers of gas cost savings vs. purchase price of a vehicle to get a few more MPG. Larry White Knight 1991 Crystal White #99 CSP Silver Bullet 1992 Silverstone #17 SM2 FM I+ Turbo Honey B 1992 Sunburst Yellow #99 SM2L JR Supercharger Whooosh 2004 Titanium Mazdaspeed MX-5 LowCountry Miata http://www.lowcountrymiataclub.net Masters Miata RAGS 074 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chris Sent: Monday, September 01, 2008 4:29 PM To: 'Robert McElwee' Cc: [email protected] Subject: RE: NMC - OTM Subaru MPG question the ramp is unimproved and needs awd for traction in the sand. plus i do a little more towing than that occasionally. 4wd/awd required. renting a truck is no option, thjios ramp is right at the end of my street and its a convenience. throw the skiff in, enjoy the bay, yank it out and park it. i also use the same trailer (with box on it) for dump runs, motor moving, whatever, and towing a small homebuilt plane to the airfield). also the miata as much as I love it, is a automatic '92 which means that towing would almsot certainly break the diff, and maybe strain the transmission as well. IDEALLY with enough money, we could prob get away with 2 Miata's, one being a 94-97 Torsen with FM2 kit for fun, plus an old AWD for the occasional towing which would also make a good snowy day car or 3rd car when one of the Miata's is down. OR we could have a WRX plus one Miata, but then fuel costs become a factor again. one new development is the subaru I just bought may be coming up on a clutch replacement eventually. a stock clutch kit is only $165 but to go anything heavier duty goes right to $500 for an ACT or similar. arghhhh if I knew it would get 24mpg I woulda got an auto trans! maybe sell it and go that way? anyway thanks for all the subaru input from everybody ________________________________ From: Robert McElwee [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, September 01, 2008 2:13 PM To: Chris Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: NMC - OTM Subaru MPG question If you are only towing a small 1600# boat to the end of the street now and then I would borrow the neighbor's truck and spend the $1600 (plus the extra insurance/tax $$$) on an FM2 kit for your Miata... I am not a boat guy, but can't you tow a 1600# boat up a boat ramp with a 230 HP Miata? I know you probably shouldn't take something like that out on the road due to the relative weight, but to the end of the street @ 10 MPH is a whole different thing. If you do sink the Miata, make sure you have your roll bar cam turned on so we can watch it on youtube. On Sun, Aug 31, 2008 at 12:25 PM, Chris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: any thoughts or experiences on a OTM that has AWD and can do light towing (at least 1200lbs)? if I didnt need AWD, I'd get a 94 - 97 Miata and put in big brakes and obviously some kind of FM power mods and have a do-it-all car, but the end of my street is a water access point and I like to put my small boat in there every so often. and we get snow a few times each winter. -- Robert McElwee and Blue Flash "The 50 MPG Miata" www.lightweightmiata.com/mpg Lightweight Miata Forum: www.lightweightmiata.com/forum The Miata Trailer Project: www.lightweightmiata.com/trailer _______________________________________________ Miatapower mailing list [email protected] http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower
