Getting back to non beer gas, I have two v 6s. They both do close to 30, in the 28, 27, range. They lope along at 70 and immediately respond when I step on the gas.
Edit: 31.7 coming back from Menards at 60mph
Unlike another forum member, I find that totally believable. My 2011 Outback (3.6 liter H-6) is rated by the EPA for 21 mg city/28 mpg highway. In my around-town errands, I usually get 23 mpg in the winter, and 24 mpg during the warmer months.
On one occasion, I was able to eke-out 29 mpg on a long expressway drive. Just yesterday, I took a long rural drive with speeds consistently in the 45-50 mph range (and almost no traffic lights or stop signs), and I wound-up with 27.3 mpg. That engine has really good acceleration–when I want it–but I have been trying recently to drive very conservatively, and it seems to pay off.
My 4 cylinder car can get 35 mpg @ 70 mph but the speed limit is 45 mph so I am only getting 28 mpg.
Had to fill up today. Local oil supplier brand $4.17. Oddly, Shell and Exxon across the road were actually less at $4.09. So Shell it was today. Last week I believe it was closer to $3.85, so it has indeed gone up. Always more noticeable when it goes above $4. It’s like $4 is a benchmark price for me…until it hits $5, I suppose.
I think my early 90’s Corolla has recently developed a small hole in its exhaust system. Caused b/c I can’t drive it on the road, so have to idle the engine in the driveway occasionally to keep all the parts lubed. Learned the hard way that idling doesn’t get the exhaust system hot enough to rid the combustion product (h20)from the exhaust pipes. Made worse b/c I had the car oriented so the engine was lower than the end of the tailpipe. The symptom is a small puddle of water on the ground under the midsection of the exhaust system, around the area of the resonator. I’ve subsequently turned the car around so the tailpipe is lower than the engine, and when idling I boost the rpm to around 1500 so the exhaust gets hot enough to eliminate the water. That eliminates the under-car water symptom, but the hole likely remains.
We get 34+ with our Lexus ES-350 on the highway. Have been constantly since we bought new in 2007. Average around town is mid 20’s.
Maybe per gallon, but not per mile. Simple math.
They say that an emissions reduction system with a catalytic converter reduces 90% of some forms of pollutants, so an engine that uses one tenth the amount of fuel can put out the same amount of these pollutants as a car. This is the basis for the lawn mower ban in California.
1 Like
Lawn mowers are NOT scooters.
I want one now! it’s good that they put a catalytic converter on it even though it’s not mandatory. They could require this with lawn mowers in California rather than banning them completely.
If a 3000 pound car can get 35 MPG, shouldn’t a 400 pound scooter be able to get over 200 MPG?
Pollution controls have already been mandated on scooters as well as off road vehicles like, quadrunners, airport tugs and forklifts for over 15 years for the off road and over 30 for motorcycles and scooters
There’s a lawnmower ban here? I see homeowners and landscape maintenance teams using gasoline lawnmowers all the time. Are they breaking the law? One reason I’m asking is b/c I’ve noticed one of my neighbors paying an unusual amount of att’n to my lawnmower. Maybe I’ll wind up in jail one of these days, a lawn mowing criminal … lol …
IMO, repairing gasoline lawnmowers and bicycles is one of the best ways to learn about basic vehicle repair techniques and tools. My elementary school friend and I would repair our bicycles using his family’s “tool drawer”. The tools in that drawer consisted of a pair of pliers and a hammer. And usually the hammer was lost.
Ban on future sales is my understanding. California regulators voted on Thursday to ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers starting in 2024 and portable generators by 2028, the latest step in the state’s aggressive effort to reduce harmful pollutants and transition toward a carbon-free economy. ca bans gas powered leaf blowers - Google Search
Thanks for the heads-up BD! I knew there was talk about this, but didn’t know they’d actually gone and done it. It appears if your own a gasoline lawnmower you can continue to use it indefinitely, so not much of a practical change from my point of view. I know there’s been some restrictions on use on leaf blowers in this area. If I understand the restriction correctly, I don’t think gasoline leaf blower use is allowed at all as of some date later this year. I don’t think there is an exception for existing equipment either. I seldom use my leafblower, raking is nearly as easy and less dust. But it appears I’ll have to use my gasoline leaf-blower every day until the deadline so I get as much use out of it as possible … lol …
I don’t think they are going to come and take it from you while it is clenched tightly in your fist, screaming you take my leafblower I curse you!
From my recent experiences Calif living , that’s exactly what they’d do. If you complained, further, the folks coming to prevent you from running your leaf blower would be law enforcement officers with guns drawn. I’m deadly serious. Calif culture, at least in these parts, is becoming more and more rude, inflexible, approaching gestapo-like.
2 Likes
So an electric generator to generate power when the power goes out. Have plenty of batteries on hand. Sorry but I think a change in leadership is in order.
1 Like
And this is especially difficult in California where the risk of wildfires causes the power companies to shut down to avoid starting them.
1 Like
Catalytic converter technology for small engines such as those used on generators and mowers exists. They could have just taxed non compliant equipment and pushed the industry toward adding this technology.
But now they have rolling blackouts and surely people are using generators with minimal emissions controls more than ever. Is the only California emissions requirement that other states don’t have on small engines the sealed gas tank for evaporative emissions? All the other small engines seem to have gone to overhead valves and non adjustable carburetors that might run a little lean. I wonder if a a 2 cycle leaf blower can’t be used if a 4 cycle one would be okay, since it shouldn’t be much worse than a mower?
This video happened 2 years ago, but those generators purchased then would be in use now.
The emissions California is concerned about is CO2… which cannot be removed from gasoline powered tools with any technology.
Frankly, I think those legislators in Sacramento should do their part and stop breathing out their CO2…But I care little for California, they voted this on themselves.
3 Likes
As a Calif resident who wants to breath clean air, it seems plausible than lawnmowers and leaf blower contribute enough to the air pollution problem to worry about. I wouldn’t complain about a plan to ban new purchases of lawn and garden equipment w/high emissions. But I wouldn’t prevent someone who already owns the equipment from using it. Eventually the old equipment will no longer be serviceable and they’ll switch to the newer equipment, and that’s a step forward.
A certain amount of common sense is in order as well, as pointed out above. If garden equipment is contributing much less to emissions than other activities, like airplanes, idling police cars, neighborhood mail trucks, etc for example, common sense says to defer worrying about garden equipment & address the low hanging fruit first.