I have some questions

[alri0085]

What exactly is a green car?
if i get good gas mileage, can i say that i have a green car?
does the scangauge II improve gas mileage, or just tells you your gas mileage?
How important is getting good MPG for you when you go car shopping?

[Loren]

1. A green car is one that has minimal effect on the environment. Low emissions, use of recycled materials, high fuel economy, etc.

2. If you get really good gas mileage, I'd say you could call your car green.

3. Scangauge is just a tool to help you improve your driving technique. It can be very effective.

4. This is 2008. I bought my first new car in 1986, it got over 30 mpg, which was not at all uncommon in the 80's. 20 years later, I absolutely refuse to buy a new car that gets less than 30 mpg unless it's an all-out sports car. There's just no reason for it.

[jlude90]

thats the issue i have, my prelude got over 30mpg before the swap, so an 18 year old carburated engine poorly maintained is as efficient as a brand new _____ whatever?

its crazy, but to have a truly green car, IMO like loren said its more in the building of the car then the MPG

i know Subaru has a 0-waste plant supposedly, and they get pretty good MPG i suppose, and if you leave it stock, emissions should be pretty low, and with some tuning on all stock components you could probably get better MPG then stock with lower emissions

and i don't have a scangauge, but i still play the game trying to get as good gas mileage as i can, i just can't know immediately how well i do

but i think here the reduce, reuse, recycle slogan is more "green" then buying a new car

getting an old car that would otherwise go to scrap would keep one less car out of the junkyard, you can rebuild the engine to new spec and be pretty efficient on that end, along with the car being lighter and with a good exhaust/catalitic converter on it and the car tuned properly, you'll be at about the same place as a new car with the same gas mileage, and you don't have all the extra waste that goes into building a new car, since that waste has already been done and you're making more out of the damage already done

[Deceiving Honda]

Jlude is your lude carburated ??? what year is it ??

[TIM TIM TIM]

thats the issue i have, my prelude got over 30mpg before the swap, so an 18 year old carburated engine poorly maintained is as efficient as a brand new _____ whatever?

its crazy, but to have a truly green car, IMO like loren said its more in the building of the car then the MPG

i know Subaru has a 0-waste plant supposedly, and they get pretty good MPG i suppose, and if you leave it stock, emissions should be pretty low, and with some tuning on all stock components you could probably get better MPG then stock with lower emissions

and i don't have a scangauge, but i still play the game trying to get as good gas mileage as i can, i just can't know immediately how well i do

but i think here the reduce, reuse, recycle slogan is more "green" then buying a new car

getting an old car that would otherwise go to scrap would keep one less car out of the junkyard, you can rebuild the engine to new spec and be pretty efficient on that end, along with the car being lighter and with a good exhaust/catalitic converter on it and the car tuned properly, you'll be at about the same place as a new car with the same gas mileage, and you don't have all the extra waste that goes into building a new car, since that waste has already been done and you're making more out of the damage already done


while I understand where your going, that sounds kinda retarded. If your going to dump that much into an old car just to be more green. I personally would just go buy a new yaris or civic.

[Loren]

while I understand where your going, that sounds kinda retarded. If your going to dump that much into an old car just to be more green. I personally would just go buy a new yaris or civic.

That depends. If you're a good mechanic and don't mind working on your own car... your labor is free. If you choose the right car (something very common and reliable), parts are relatively cheap.

Doing a solid home garage engine rebuild and other minor mechanical refurbishment (brake system, clutch, etc) isn't going to cost anywhere near the $12,000+ of a new Yaris... or the $15,000+ of a new Civic.

Even if you PAID for a professional engine rebuild, you'd still be well under 1/3 of the cost of a new car.

The real kicker is reliability. We all expect a new car to be more reliable than a 10-year-old car... and usually they are.

[TIM TIM TIM]

not only that but I look at the interior, handling, driveablity and overall down time. The motor isnt the only thing that wheres out over time