More MPG

Some time ago, probably near the 1990's also, manufacturers started to streamline the transmission industry of the automotive world by mainlining the automatic transmission.

I started riding motorcycles about a year ago and have also driven many manual transmission vehicles. One day while driving my PT cruiser, I thought, why not drive it like a manual and place my automatic into neutral at all stops when I will not be moving for more than a second.

The PT Transmission slips in an out of gear with the flick of the wrist and no brake pedal required or push of the trans button in the lever, so you can't accidentally change into the wrong gear. With motorcycles or manual transmissions, you have to pull the clutch in and slip into neutral at a light to be able to let the clutch out. Usage of the clutch takes all the power away from the wheels meaning that the engine is running at the lowest possible RPM range when the clutch is pulled.

Did this for a short while in my PT at lights as a test. Averaged 230 to tank of 11.5 gallons under normal driving. Averaged 270 to tank of 11.5 with the Neutral trick. Got 300 once after filling up with Chevron and using an additive which I always use.
Yes 300 miles to my 11.5 out of a N/A auto Pt city driving.

My PT Cruiser has over 110k on the odometer.

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Colby Butler aka Kingkole02

Muscle Car City Monthly

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Colby Butler aka Kingkole02

Muscle Car City Grand Opening

This weekend 5-16-09 marks the beginning of a grand opening for our newest local car museum, the Rick Treworgy's Muscle Car City Car Museum!

If you don't know what a car museum is, it is a place which has cars of older generations which have been lost through production and new model replacement. Car Museum's give people the chance to re-live history of mechanical greatest. Big-block muscle engines, boat large 4-door sedans and the cars we all loved as children.

During this opening Rick deiced to open with a bang and incorporated a car show into the functions as well. With the Museum's holdings of over 200 cars and the car show turn out of about 175-200 vehicles this made for a very nice day for onlookers and participants.

With the help of the Southwest Florida Motor-sports Club Council volunteers and others on staff, our cooperation was indeed helpful to the overall outcome of the event.

Unfortunately for me I had to cut my services short to be somewhere by 2:00 PM, or I would have like to stay and taken more pictures and look at more history masterpieces. Although my time was short it provided me a wonderful day of doing something I quite enjoy.

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Colby Butler aka Kingkole02

Chrysler to End the PT Production

One of the United States best selling, cult following, car club enthused vehicles...is coming to a production ending!

From Mike Ramsey with the bloomberg.com online web-base, "The need for that product has passed," said John Wolknowicz, a product analyst at consulting firm IHS Global Insight Inc., in Lexington, Massachusetts. "It (the PT Cruiser) created a buzz back in 2000, but it's outlived its usefulness."

This has been about a month ago and my question is why? The PT is a vehicle which applied to the average person. The PT was priced so that most to everyone could afford to buy one and it was sized and proportionally made well to fit the average American family. Vehicle owners of the PT can't help that the PT brought back many older Americans memories of the 1930's-1940's gangster sedans we all loved so much (I wasn't around then, but I like those vehicles too).

I mean just look at this thing and what people are doing to the PT!


Awesome!

So what does Chrysler decide to do?

Per Mike Ramsey bloomberg.com "Chrysler has said it is trying to sell its Dodge Viper sports-car brand, and it will discontinue production of its Jeep Commander SUV, according to people familiar with the company’s plans."

What?

Chrysler is trying to keep the "Dodge Viper sports-car brand" for what?

So that Americans can't afford to drive a car anymore?

With an estimated based price of $83,145 per rsportscar.com, how can an average blue-collar and white collar American worker afford such a vehicle!

I think Chrysler kept the Viper in production because we all know that car companies overcharge for vehicles and the Viper surely has a 100% profit margin. That and the Chrysler execs. just like to drive the Viper on the test track.

It seems the world has become obsessed with the next vehicle that goes faster than the last vehicle. I thought we were in a oil/gas crisis?

Get this, the 2008 Dodge Viper, currently being sold, boast a 6.4L V10 estimate HP of 600, for a production car with 2 doors?

With that kind of power, they should fit the Viper with a trailer hitch and consider it a truck with a towing capacity of 10k lbs.

I think until Chrysler learns how to build one of these...

...I will stick with my PT.

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Colby Butler aka Kingkole02

References:

Comments by:

Mike Ramsey (1/14/2009) Chrysler to End PT Cruiser, Seek Buyer for Equipment, Bloomberg.com online web-base, retrieved 2/18/09, from bloomberg.com, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCLJhN4i0sRk&refer=home

Some photos and comments by:

No author specified, (no date specified) 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 Roadster Specifications, Rsports.com online web-base, retrieved 2/10/09 retrieve from rsportscar.com, http://www.rsportscars.com/dodge/2008-dodge-viper-srt10-roadster/

Other photos and references were obtain by my own previous usage.