Frank Admits Re: <VV> If the General says...NO CORVAIR

[Dennis & Debbie Pleau]

Thanks Frank, you had to go burst my bubble!  big grin dp

At 12:52 PM 4/19/2005, FrankCB at aol.com wrote:
>Dennis and V Vers,
>     Yes, now that "the secret is out" I have to confess that son Jim has 
> "liberated" that carb from Delphi and adapted it to get 60+ mpg on his 
> Corvair.  So at the Buffalo area Convention in 2006, we'll wipe out you 
> guys in the economy run!!!
>     If you believe this, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I'll be 
> glad to sell you.<GGGGG>
>     Seriously, if the General had any such device it would long ago have 
> appeared on GM cars to trump the competition AND placate the Feds in 
> their never ending quest for better fuel economy to reduce our 
> OVERWHELMING dependence on imported oil (60% of our oil is imported and 
> that number is steadily increasing).
>     Changing the A/F ratio has little to do with major improvements in 
> fuel economy.  The precise control afforded by computer controlled fuel 
> injection has certainly helped a bit.  But as long as our internal 
> combustion engines THROW AWAY over 2/3 of the energy in the gasoline we 
> use by wasting it into the exhaust gas and the engine cooling system 
> (whether air or liquid) they won't make major gains in fuel efficiency.
>     Certainly changing our fuel from straight gasoline to mixtures of it 
> with ethanol or methanol could lessen our dependence on imported 
> oil.  However, the economics for doing so are very questionable since 
> these alcohols have considerably LOWER energy content than gasoline and 
> require considerable subsidizing by the government (i.e. taxpayer $$$) to 
> even BEGIN to make them cost competitive to gasoline.
>     As far as hybrids go, they can certainly improve gas tank mileage, 
> particularly in city driving.  But just how long will the batteries last 
> and how many thousands of $$$ will it cost to replace them?  And for 
> those thinking of "plugging in" their hybrid overnight to restore the 
> charge on the batteries, in my area of NJ gasoline cost is only 56% of 
> the equivalent house electricity cost on an energy basis.
>     Not an easy problem to solve, folks.
>     Frank "pedantically" Burkhard