Gas mileage eye opener--

[brianrupnow]

This past week I decided to buy a new Ford Ranger. My old Ford Ranger (a 2000) has 110,000 miles on it, and although the engine runs well, a lot of the peripheral systems are getting to the point where they are very soon going to require (expensive) attention. i.e.--new exhaust system, intermitantly slipping transmission, broken heater fan switch, rust spots appearing at front of cab above front window---and my truck has to pass the dreaded "mandatory smog check" before my birthday in July. My current truck is a V6. Since I very seldom use my truck as a "truck", but more as a passenger car with a box, I decided to look at a 4 cylinder this time around.---the V6 costs $700 more than a 4 cyl. when you buy the truck new.---Now lets run the numbers----at 20 mpg with my V6, then 110,00 divided by 20=5500 gallons of gas burned over the 7 year life of my truck. Playing fast and loose with the numbers, a 4 cylinder gets about 30mpg. So, if I buy a 4 cylinder truck, then 110,000 divided by 30=3667 gallons of gas burned over that same 7 year life cycle. Okay, so now we take 5500-3667=1,833 gallons of gas difference between a V6 and a 4 cylinder. Gasoline is costing on average $4.00 per gallon in Canada now, so 4 x 1833=$7,332 is the amount of money I will save over the life cycle of a new truck, assuming it lasts the same 7 years as the first truck did. I think thats pretty damn signifigant!!!