i do remember something being quoted...

petrol is about 65% energy efficient (refinery energy costs)
diesel something like 80% ?

where as modern power stations are stupidly efficient even if theyre not carbon netural,
they run big steam turbines as long as a football field attached to generators.

just gotta get the heat / fuel to the station, then its transmission losses from there on out.
probably why councils are looking to subsidize micro generators (home install solar / wind)

and my fireblade according to it can do 12 miles per litre on average... dont know how much i trust it like,
down hill with closed throttle it bumps up to 17 / 20, thrash it and worst it said was 3.8  
think its 4.5 litres to the gallon so...

but im feeling the hike, used to be £15 and id put 16 litres in and fill her up,
now its more like spend £17 and be lucky to get 15 litres!

^^ plus, if its only 65%/80% efficent to make.... and then the engines are.. (a bit of a guss) but less than 50% efficient ?

electric cars are more than 90% efficient iirc

Quote from: madmaxi do remember something being quoted...

petrol is about 65% energy efficient (refinery energy costs)
diesel something like 80% ?

where as modern power stations are stupidly efficient even if theyre not carbon netural,
they run big steam turbines as long as a football field attached to generators.

just gotta get the heat / fuel to the station, then its transmission losses from there on out.
probably why councils are looking to subsidize micro generators (home install solar / wind)

and my fireblade according to it can do 12 miles per litre on average... dont know how much i trust it like,
down hill with closed throttle it bumps up to 17 / 20, thrash it and worst it said was 3.8  
think its 4.5 litres to the gallon so...

but im feeling the hike, used to be £15 and id put 16 litres in and fill her up,
now its more like spend £17 and be lucky to get 15 litres!

My ZX-10 does about 11 mpg when being driven the way its meant to be (Thrashing fireblades ) but I barely ride it nowadays. Average is 40mpg

Bikes are horribly inefficent compared to similar sized cars

Except the Honda 90 which does about 100 mpg

QuoteBikes are horribly inefficent compared to similar sized cars

Only becuase we love to thrash them so much

Like madmax it used to cost me 15quid to fill my 16/17ltr tank and I used to get around 140miles (sensible riding) out of it before the reserve light would come on, 100miles if full throttle between lights in London and worst is around 70miles when doing about 120mph most of the way home

QuoteMy ZX-10 does about 11 mpg when being driven the way its meant to be (Thrashing fireblades ) but I barely ride it nowadays. Average is 40mpg

Bikes are horribly inefficent compared to similar sized cars

Except the Honda 90 which does about 100 mpg

hehe yup i bet, one major advantage bikes have however innefficent is they weigh with rider probably about 200 - 250 kg tops.
less weight the engine needs to drag around all day,
if they made them more efficient as well sure we could average 60 mpg easy, though not gonna happen with race bike mentality, striving for more bhp rather than lean burning.

just got a power commander off ebay, get it mapped out and leaned off (hondas nearly always run rich),
if its anything like the 600, itll get me another 10 miles outta each tankful easy enough.

do remember one week, horrid rain all week on the 600, stuck it in 6th gear all day and hit 135 mile mark before reserve came on, topped off the tank and could only get 14 and a bit litres in, so thats about 43 mpg. not great  :whoops:

worst i had was reserve light on after 69 miles.... i was on a track day round snetterton so im not complaining  :mutley:

I think Im going to start getting the number 58 bus into town, it was a clean and quiet bus the other day, so should be ok. I saw a advert on the bus, on their TV, for 1 weeks travel on the bus, which would get me to work and back itd cost £10. Compared to about £35 - £40 a week for petrol its a big saving for me.

I didn;t work out the mpg.... but I went to birmingham and back to see a girl... it cost me £120 in diesel..... my parents borrowed my car a week later and went to crufts (in birmingham) and back again.... cost them £45

Quote from: knightyI didn;t work out the mpg.... but I went to birmingham and back to see a girl... it cost me £120 in diesel..... my parents borrowed my car a week later and went to crufts (in birmingham) and back again.... cost them £45

Take the long way round?

Quote from: knightyI didn;t work out the mpg.... but I went to birmingham and back to see a girl... it cost me £120 in diesel..... my parents borrowed my car a week later and went to crufts (in birmingham) and back again.... cost them £45

plenty of black reek out the back on that journey!!

Quote from: Clockd 0Ne

Quote from: sdpIf it goes over £2 in the next 12months I will personally piss through the letterbox of 10 Downing Street.

I like that idea. Ill just invoice a bit more out to cover my fuel costs for work commuting. But socially, at £2 per litre Ill be selling my <30mpg MX-5 and be looking for something frugal.

You sure you get 30mpg? My MK2.5 does 25mg if I drive it like a biddy. Granted I do screw the tits off my MX5!

I said under thirty I get around 20-25mpg if Im hammering the crap out of it (quite often). I can get just under 200 miles out of a tank if I drive very frugal (about 35 gallons is it?).

The engines run so rich it really doesnt matter how you drive them, you never break 30mpg.

Im not sure if Ive said this already (CBA looking back through the thread!)

If fuel was £5 a litre, the AX D would still do about 40 miles to a tenner

Quote from: madmaxpetrol is about 65% energy efficient (refinery energy costs)
diesel something like 80% ?

Its lower than that a diesel engine will be about 40-45% efficient and a petrol is closer to 30%


I think I will be going back to cycling to work soon. I wont be getting rid of my car but I will be trying to use it less and less.

Well I dont really have a choice with the matter.  I need my car to work.

...and I like my car to much to easily give up driving.

Whining isn;t going to change anything, I just have to crack on with it.

Thats precisely the attitude that leaves the british people open for a shafting year on year.

Sit back and take it.