Gasoline Prices

[brewer12345]

As a slight aside, a question for those of you with more pickup experience than I:

Would the cab of an extended or crew cab full size pickup seat two adults, two kids, and two dogs (a beagle and a plott hound who will max out at about 60 pounds)? I am thinking something the size of an F150, Silverado, Tundra, etc.

 

[REWahoo]

Brewer, a 4 door "crew cab" full size pickup is essentially the same size inside as a full size 4 door car.

Edit to add: Here's a photo of the seating in a 2011 F150. Go with bench seats and you can let a dog ride up front between you and the Brewess...

 

[Leonidas]

As a slight aside, a question for those of you with more pickup experience than I:

Would the cab of an extended or crew cab full size pickup seat two adults, two kids, and two dogs (a beagle and a plott hound who will max out at about 60 pounds)? I am thinking something the size of an F150, Silverado, Tundra, etc.

Go with the crew cab version.

I'm not sure how old your kids are, but I got my extended cab f-150 when my boys were 9 and 12 (The crew cab version came out not longer after I bought). They outgrew it within a couple of years.

They grow so quickly.

 

[brewer12345]

Brewer, a 4 door "crew cab" full size pickup is essentially the same size inside as a full size 4 door car.

Edit to add: Here's a photo of the seating in a 2011 F150. Go with bench seats and you can let a dog ride up front between you and the Brewess...

Thanks. Hmmm, riding in the pickup with my hound dog closer to me than my missus. Think there is [-]some whiskey drenched honkey tonk[/-] a country song there?

The kids are young but growing. I am not in a rush, so I will haveto go crawl around in a cab or two and see.

 

[Westernskies]

As a slight aside, a question for those of you with more pickup experience than I:

Would the cab of an extended or crew cab full size pickup seat two adults, two kids, and two dogs (a beagle and a plott hound who will max out at about 60 pounds)? I am thinking something the size of an F150, Silverado, Tundra, etc.

FWIW, I just upgraded my 13-year-old LBYM F-150; thought I wanted another Ford, but the local Ford dealer made it easy for me to buy a new Dodge Ram Bighorn Edition. Incredible amount of interior room ; amenities are really nice, it's quiet and tight, rides like a luxury car. (...and I'm getting 17+mpg with a variable-displacement 351 Hemi engine.) Wish I'd done it sooner.

 

[Ronstar]

Brewer - get the F150 supercrew. The back seats fold up and the floor is flat (no hump over the transmission). Ample room for a dog (or small horse)

 

[brewer12345]

Wow, no responses from Chevy owners. No Silverado crew cab owners?

At the moment the older, high mileage wagon continues to putter along. However, if a possible life change comes to pass I may be having a blunt chat with the mechanic about the wagon's ability to do long trips and I am starting to sniff around for what might come next if the prognosis is not good. I know we will need towing capacity and cargo space is always at a premium. The question is whether I can get away with a pickup or I have to look at an SUV. I would prefer a pickup if they have enough passenger room. The truck-based SUV capable of serious towing (5000+ pounds) appears to be an endangered beast and I would have a tough time working up much enthusiasm for any of the ones still on the market.

 

[glippy]

I dunno. Nice to have the seats when you need them I guess. But the truck beds in those photos are getting awfully compact.

 

[REWahoo]

Wow, no responses from Chevy owners. No Silverado crew cab owners?

OK, since you asked....

This is what I purchased last week. It's a 2500HD diesel (397 hp, 765 ft lbs of torque) crew cab and gets 19+ mpg on the road. It will pull a 13,000 lb ball-hitch trailer or a 16,700 lb 5th wheel. I've been a Ford truck guy to this point (sold my 13 year old F150 to buy the Silverado) but went with the Chevy due to several factors, including more power, better discounts (I had $2K in GM card credits) and greater mpg.

As always, YMMV.

 

[REWahoo]

I dunno. Nice to have the seats when you need them I guess. But the truck beds in those photos are getting awfully compact.

The manufacturers offer at least two bed options on the crew cab - a 6.5 ft "standard" bed and an 8 ft "long bed". The crew cab configuration makes the 6.5 ft bed look short. The 8 ft bed makes for a very long truck and a real challenge when parking in the grocery store lot...

 

[brewer12345]

I rather doubt I need that much truck, REW, but its a nice one.

 

[HFWR]

Sample size of n=1, but I've been happy with my Silverado. Not a crew cab, but gets 20-21mpg on the highway, and still has the original brake pads at 110k mi. Never been in the shop. Probably just jinxed myself...

 

[EllisWyatt]

Have always had Chevy/GMCs until January 2010, when I bought a crew cab F-150. The gas mileage isn't quite as good - ave 18.1 mpg for first 52,000 miles (obviously, mostly highway), amenities similar to the bow-ties, but had more room in the back for the pup with a flatter floor. While I don't haul a small horse around, I get close with a 195 lb mastiff, who fits comfortably in the back with the seats up.
The truck has needed more work on it than my previous Chevy (got my first brake job on the chevy at 165,000 mi - still amazed), but overall still satisfied.

And to try to un-hijack the thread, I expect oil price to do nothing but climb until the unrest in the Middle East calms down (watch out for Saudi instability - that will be the Gotcha! moment), and/or the new resource plays in the Eagleford (TX), Niobrara (CO?WY) and Bakken (ND) prove to have legs.

 

[REWahoo]

While I don't haul a small horse around, I get close with a 195 lb mastiff...

Have you considered a horse trailer?

 

[EllisWyatt]

Nah - he'd probably just chew through it. (Hell hath no fury like a Mastiff kept away from his people)

 

[Westernskies]

Never been in the shop. Probably just jinxed myself...

Please don't talk about the market... Between you and W2R, we need all the help we can get.

 

[Westernskies]

OK, since you asked....

This is what I purchased last week. It's a 2500HD diesel (397 hp, 765 ft lbs of torque) crew cab and gets 19+ mpg on the road. It will pull a 13,000 lb ball-hitch trailer or a 16,700 lb 5th wheel. I've been a Ford truck guy to this point (sold my 13 year old F150 to buy the Silverado) but went with the Chevy due to several factors, including more power, better discounts (I had $2K in GM card credits) and greater mpg.

As always, YMMV.

Alright, REW, Since you started it...

I'll raise your 19MPG to 19.2 AND... I'm using Gas at $3.57* vs Diesel at $3.91*

Granted, I can't pull a heavy trailer like you can, but I don't need to.

YMMV (literally, in this case)

*( US Energy Information Administration, 3-14-2011, US Nat'l Averages)

 

[REWahoo]

I'll raise your 19MPG to 19.2...

I should've taken that photo Sunday after we got home from a road trip when it read 19.8. That trip into town yesterday really hosed (tanked?) my mileage.

 

[FinanceDude]

You guys crack me up, braggin' on MPG below 20!

 

[REWahoo]

I'm the word's tallest midget...

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I'm the word's tallest midget...

With the world's smallest big screen TV?

 

[Westernskies]

You guys crack me up, braggin' on MPG below 20!

Hey, we're driverin' real 'Merkin Iron, not a miniature "Green" Asian gas/electric/solar/wind/cooking grease/Li-Ion/hydrogen/algae/moonshine/methane/pedal car...

 

[Leonidas]

Hey, we're driverin' real 'Merkin Iron, not a miniature "Green" Asian gas/electric/solar/wind/cooking grease/pedal car...

They make 'em smaller. But you have to wear the fez, everybody knows that the fez improves MPG!

YouTube - Fourth of July Parade Shriners mini trucks

 

[FinanceDude]

Hey, we're driverin' real 'Merkin Iron, not a miniature "Green" Asian gas/electric/solar/wind/cooking grease/pedal car...

I have a Honday Odyssey, at 4700 pounds, I think it fits the mold of "Merkin Iron". Funny, when DW drives it, she struggles to get 18 overall. When I drive it, I get 21 average. Of course she is a leadfoot. I went to SC in that beast and got 25.8 average for the trip, not complaining. yeah, my little Asian riceburner is spoiling me, though..........

 

[BigNick]

What is price for diesel compared to gasoline over there?

In most of Europe, diesel is typically about 30c/USgal cheaper than gasoline. (The only country I can think of immediately where it's a little more expensive (10c/gal) is the UK.)

Combined with the better mileage and - especially - the advances in 4-cylinder turbodiesel engines over the last few years, this explains why in France, for example, around 80% of new cars sold are diesels.

15 years ago, a typical compact sedan would be available with a 1.4 or 1.6 litre gasoline engine, or a 2 litre diesel producing slightly fewer bhp than the 1.4. Today, there'll be 2 or 3 diesels and maybe only one gasoline engine choice. (Gas is, however, predicted to hold its own for smaller cars over the next few years, as it's hard to meet new emission norms with a 1.2 litre diesel.)

My Hyundai iX35 was launched with just one engine choice in France, a 2.0 litre diesel. They just added a 1.7 litre diesel and a 1.6 litre gas engine, which I'm guessing is insufficient for what is quite a heavy car. The 2.0 litre diesel develops 136 bhp with the manual gearbox, and 184 bhp with the automatic (they put bigger injectors in). This last version also has 392 Nm of torque, which is about the same as the gasoline engine in some Ferrari models; making an automatic gearbox which can handle that in a reasonably-priced car is quite a challenge.