Per Mile Cost

[THE LEGEND]

Watching CBS this morning. They drove a hybrid and a focus halfway across the country and met in the middle.
The Focus cost .16 per mile the Prius was around .10 per mile. They said the camera crews (in what I think was an Expedition) did around .30 a mile.
Have you ever figured yours?
I guess pulling my LQ mine would be around .45 right now so on a 500 mile round trip that would be $225.
With my open trailer it drops to .37. Same trip would cost $185. Thats only a $40 difference maybe I should keep it.

What I'm getting at is Where do you draw the line. If Diesel reaches $6 a gallon. 500 mile trip now cost $300. I'll still go.

What is yours?
Where do you draw the line and say enough is enough.
Chip

[John Lang]

Chip! I draw the line when i get to the point of not being able to listen to my wife jawing about the cost of fuel for the Motorhome that she didn't want, but still likes it. I guess i'm a weenie! John Lang..........

[Dick Butler]

It is good to be aware of cost for a racing trip but..... How about your overall costs per week or month. Taking a single trip with your worst vehicle by itself is asking to be given Negative feed back. Okay start there and if you like to visit friends and race at an event can you affect your OVERALL weekly budget to average it out?
How about Less daily car trips to the store, How about getting a daily driver that gets 30 per gallon? Use less A/C at home to decrease bills, Pay off cards quicker to reduce interest per week or month?
We have to realize it is like any other piece of our budget, If it is important enough to do then make other adjustments to keep the same total outlay. Some people could start cook outs at the races so eating out is eliminating the costly Resturant bills at the races... It would be great way to visit more at the races too.

[THE LEGEND]

Dick,
I agree Fuel is just a part of it. I think it's the biggest thing racers look at though. We don't think twice about buying a $40,000 truck to pull a $40,000 trailer, with a $30,000 car in it, but we whine about an extra $50 bucks in fuel.LOL

I'm looking at it a little differently now. I'm going racing.
Chip

[340Cuda]

Originally Posted by THE LEGEND

Dick,
I agree Fuel is just a part of it. I think it's the biggest thing racers look at though. We don't think twice about buying a $40,000 truck to pull a $40,000 trailer, with a $30,000 car in it, but we whine about an extra $50 bucks in fuel.LOL

I'm looking at it a little differently now. I'm going racing.
Chip

I agree 100%.

There are folks with investments many times the numbers you have above that say they are not going racing because of fuel costs. Those triple and four digit fillups are painful for sure, but its nice to see someone look at the big picture.

Bill

[Dick Butler]

Chip, Correct. Unfortunately the more everyone talks about the cost of fuel the more it agitates everyone about it. That doesnt mean it isnt important though. At least we arent in CHina this week or Burma. Or I guess a lot of other countries where there is no food to buy or fuel.
I do think it is time for NHRA to come up with some comment or adjustment to help racers see they care about this issue too. It is true their costs of travel, fuel for dryer etc increases too.

[Gary Smith]

Originally Posted by 340Cuda

I agree 100%.

There are folks with investments many times the numbers you have above that say they are not going racing because of fuel costs. Those triple and four digit fillups are painful for sure, but its nice to see someone look at the big picture.

Bill

I think the picture indeed gets bigger: the perfect reason why low budget racers are quitting and will not attract newcomers. The perfect reason why pit space won't need to expand due to either fewer but bigger rigs, or fewer racers all together. It's a drop in the bucket until travel costs parallels the overall costs. The figures are still relative. Think about it.

[Gary Smith]

Even more interesting being now vs. 1976. Oil embargo with runaway inflation, while housing market was still healthy, I remember only a handfull of drag racers having to quit. This time it's different. Credit crisis, home equity values tanking, along with energy cost increase rates that are more rapid and proportionally higher than the Carter days.

[Lynn A McCarty]

Originally Posted by THE LEGEND

Watching CBS this morning. They drove a hybrid and a focus halfway across the country and met in the middle.
The Focus cost .16 per mile the Prius was around .10 per mile. They said the camera crews (in what I think was an Expedition) did around .30 a mile.
Have you ever figured yours?
I guess pulling my LQ mine would be around .45 right now so on a 500 mile round trip that would be $225.
With my open trailer it drops to .37. Same trip would cost $185. Thats only a $40 difference maybe I should keep it.

What I'm getting at is Where do you draw the line. If Diesel reaches $6 a gallon. 500 mile trip now cost $300. I'll still go.

What is yours?
Where do you draw the line and say enough is enough.
Chip

You left out the most important parts!

1.) How fast do you drive? (There is a 30% difference in 60MPH verses 70MPH in my rig)
2.) Do you have G-rated tires on your trailer? (110PSI) (My motorhome wont pull with 80PSI, but 110PSI it clicks into Overdrive at 65)
3.) Do you have a Banks MPG improvement kit? (BBC and BBF are choked for power and MPG)
4.) Do you have propane injection on your diesel?
5.) Did you kill the farthest race traveled from last year?

I calculated that doing some of these things make the Cost outweigh the Price. Just out of a matter of conviction, I would rather drive 40 MPH than not go to a race.

[vic guilmino]

does propane injection help???????
what is propane injection ????
does it hurt engine