Eco-friendly retros

[BenzBoy]

I was reading in some paper or other about this new Government waste of time and money system to rate cars on their efficiency. They'll be graded from A ("zero" emissions) to F (not so efficient). Apparently only electric cars will be awarded A grades. From this I assume that they've tapped some new source of free electricity that doesn't burn fossil fuels.... hang on.... nope, we're still using coal......

Anyway, I digress.... it mentioned that a car produces more pollution at its manufacture than all of its emissions throughout the ENTIRE LIFE of the vehicle.
So, as most of our cars are between 15 and 30 years old and we haven't chopped them in for a new one every two or three years, we can safely say that our cars pollute less than those cheap nasty tin boxes Tony and his cronies want us to drive.
Add to this the amount of pollution we have spared the earth by saving cars from being scrapped, and I reckon were the greenest motherfunksters around!!

Next time some moron bangs on about how uneconomical and environmentally unsound my Merc is, I'll park a Daewoo Matiz up their ar$e! Sideways! ;D

[hairnet]

so a 600 pullman would be outta the question?

[nickb]

I have been arguing this point for years, but no-one listens!!!
If you factor in that we enthusiast actually look after their cars unlike ordinary joe or joanne, our cars are probably chucking out less nastiness than alot of modern sh1t.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

If theres one thing that boils my curse word its this government/SMMT-driven 'logic' that we should all rush out and get new cars for environmental reasons. Anyone with half a brain can see that its total toss.

What will this grading system be used for?

[DarrenW]

Yep, I agree entirely. I read once in a feature in CAR that you'd have to run a car for SEVENTY YEARS to equal the amount of energy used to build it in the first place.

Us old-car nuts have been doing (very well!) what the government and the greenies have been banging on about for years: recycling Far from being dirty, oily, smelly unsightly places, scrapyards should be revered as the environmentally friendly role model for many other industries.

[BenzBoy]

Mr_Bo11ox said:

What will this grading system be used for?

I think it's supposed to help car buyers make an "informed choice" about how much pollution their prospectice euro-box will chuck out, a bit like they do on washing machines and other sh*t like that. I think it's based on CO2 emissions which of course is the only measure you need when rating efficiency and pollution . They've chosen to ignore diesel particulates, CO, etc., and the massive amounts of energy needed to make the pieces of curse word in the first place. Oh, and let's not worry about where the electricity comes from to run these silly electric cars....
It seems the 4x4 driver is the current "persona non grata" with big brother so they all get the worst rating.

Naturally we'll see Tony, John "fat f*cker" Prescott et al ditching the F-rated Jags in favour of nice "green" Toyota Prius's then, so as to lead by example.... yeah right.

[impmann]

Running an old car is the best piece of recycling there is IMHO - as mentioned, the pollution caused by creating the car is far worse than anything the car can ever chuck out the back so that's the first point.

Second point is: how many people here have saved their car from becoming landfill/crushed etc. Well, the environmental impact of desposing of a car is almost as bad as making it - and especially with modern machinery having sooooo much plastic that doesn't break down, this impact will be felt for years.

How many people use scrap yards for parts/go faster bits? Top level recycling that... reusing other people's cast offs etc.

Personally I could *NEVER* own a new car - the costs involved plus the dullness of most affordable cars puts me off completely. Plus there is something very satisfying blasting past someone in a car that cost less than a year's servicing on a Daewoo (sorry, Chevvy) Matiz.

People that moan at me about my ownership of "smelly" old cars that "I'm always tinkering with" and "causing a localised drop in property prices" usually get a two word answer - an Ango-Saxon saying passed down through the centuries to deal with such situations.

I suggest more people use it! ;D

[t5]

On the 'eco' note I was considering an old diesel, possibly merc, and running it on bio diesel as a daily driver. Never got round to it though.
Bio diesel retails at 77p a litre if you collect it and return the drum but is 94p a litre at the pump. I don't understand why it isn't supported a bit more as it has a lower CO2 net gain (about 70-75% is reabsorbed by the crop). Also used oil (chip shops etc) can be recycled into fuel as well. I think it is germany that encourages it farmers to grow rape for fuel production. Also mercs are designed to run off the stuff as well.
Tax is lower here (27p a litre) but production cost push the price up.

[Revolution 9]

I agree with all of the above, by not needing a new car to be built for us like when you order a new car we're helping the envoiroment, by not scrapping motors when they get old we're saving the envoiroment, and besides, since all new cars seem to be more efficient apparently than our awful fuel burning old cars, why is it that an Imp can produce 40 mpg with regular use, whilst Big Brother and The Party's Tony Blair and his government's Jaguars and the like no doubt use twice as much fuel with their big V8s?

Of course you know where all this is going don't you, another ridiculous taxation scheme wherein anyone who'se motor is old and/all wheel drive gets taxed to death, and we don't get a fair hearing because of the government and its so called experts (the same ones who said that there were loads of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, just sticking up all over the place aimed at us, which is of course why we're yet to find a bloody thing.) who'll show the country 'evidence' that old cars are the work of the devil and must be taxed out of existance or the world'll end, the same sort of curse word they've been pouring out for a good while now!

[jizzy gillespie]

recycled fuel from old cooking oil can be made as follows

strain your cooking oil thru a j cloth
97 mls of oil to 3mls of meths

they did this on top gear a few years back on an old volvo deisel and the thing ran just fine

its just the time it takes and the mess involved that put me off doing it myself on my old bx deiser

[t5]

To ensure bio-fuel is it is at its best it also needs to ferment but is quite easy to make. It doesn't work well in more modern 'efficient' diesels like the peugeot hdi though. Older diesels don't seem as fussy. I've got a back issue of car mechanics magazine with an article about it somewhere.

Straight fresh vegetable oil can be used although you need a pre-heater, seperate tank and bigger injectors. You have to start on normal diesel then switch to the oil when you are on the move.

With a bit more development I think it could become a real alternative but most people vote with their wallet so the price would have to come down. Not sure about a petrol replacemnet, maybe some form of methanol for the street ? Don't americans use gasahol (petrol/alcohol mix)? Heard some bad reports about this though.

[BenzBoy]

I think in Brazil they use / used alcohol instead of petrol. You have to adjust your air/fuel mix to about 10:1 rather than 14.8:1 but it is possible with some other modifications.
My brothers mate runs his Rover 218 diesel on cooking oil. Made no adjustments to it at all! Just purged the system of diesel and filled it up with cooking oil. Runs fine!
The OPEC cartel have far too much power over the government for them to sanction using alternative fuels, however much "we care about the earth" curse word they spout.

[Shortcut]

ALL the above is true.

What's to bet that our older, more environmentaly friendly cars all get F or E ratings as an "encouragement" to scrap them and buy more efficient new cars?

Well they can give the ZS a Z rating I'd still keep it!

[Kris]

A friend of mine worked for Bio-diesel.

He explains it here... forum.fordsierraclub.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=7245&highlight=

[nickb]

Bio-diesel would be cool.

Wouldn't sell very well round here though despite diesel cars being popular.

This is because most of them are running on "cherryade", which is either dirt cheap to buy, or free if (like the travellers) you nick it.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Old diesels are GRATE man, they run on any old muck. I did 15,000 miles in 8 months in an old Rover 800 diesel, it happily glugged cherryade, kerosene, old engine oil, even proper diesel sometimes. Lovely job.

It smoked when cold and smelt like a fugging rugby club boiler room like.

[Revolution 9]

Red diesel's dead popular with the neds round here, because on the rare occasions that they can't nick it they can get it on the cheap. As well as that I know of loads of them that syphon lorries waiting by the container terminal, usually some poor foreign lad who then ends up spending ages frantically begging people to tell them where a petrol station is in the little english they speak because some mob of neds have taken all his diesel for their naff knackered diesel Rovers (yet another common ned chariot round here)