Cars with huge horsepower, crazy designs, skyrocketing insurance costs and out of control gas prices. Is 1970 here again?

 

no, peak oil in coming soon, then we're all F%$ked, 2050 is the projected date for peak oil. A man predicted america's peak oil in the 40s and everyone laughed at him, then it happened, scientists used his model to figure out world peak oil at 2050. My final years on the earth is going to be hell. every moment of our lives is affected by oil. and when the supply doesn't meet demand, pure chaos.

 

nice analogy PaulieWalnuts. I wasnt even born then, but from what I read, it does seem like dejavu. The indusrty moved toward small, weak fuel efficient japanese cars during that time. I think this time, we are going to move toward hybrids while Europe move toward Diesel. I think engineering technologies have advanced far enough where we will be able to make fuel efficent yet powerful hybrid cars in the near future. for example a 400hp hybrid drivetrain that gets 40 miles per gallon with electronic boost instead of turbo or super charger. Its going to be decades before we can move onto an alternative viable energy resource thats economically viable. Hydrogen economy is but a pipe dream right now with all kinds of obstacles to overcome. in the near future, I think hybrids is the future.
Personally, Im ready to get a Yamaha R6 if gas gets above 3.50.

 

by 2050 we will be flying our cars that run on magnet power.

 

no, thats not tru at all, in 2050 we will all be flying 500mph through clear tubes like in future rama!

 

I think we're in the middle of another HP war right now. This one is being fueled by technology rather than cubic inches though. Look at all the 13 second cars available in the $20k-$30k price range. Most get great gas mileage compared to their muscle car era counterparts, and all of them outhandle anything Detroit made in the late 60's or early 70's.

BTW...the gas shortage wasn't until the late 70's. IIRC The muscle car era was actually killed by new insurance, highway safety and smog regulations that began taking effect in 1972 and 1973.

Nah. Neccesity is the mother of invention. When push comes to shove we'll find an alternative energy source...if not sooner. Then the world will forget about that armpit of the 3rd world known as the middle east. They better get their **** together before that day because when crude oil demand goes down no nation in the world will risk anything for a stable middle east.

 

Gas shortage was in the early as well as late 70's. The peak was 74.

Speaking of smog, the last RX-7 exited the US in 95 due to the cost of meeting smog regulations. Ditto for the recently departed NSX.

 

I thought about that awhile back, its a decent idea but.. All the roadways have to be fitted with magnets under neath them shooting out reverse polarity while your car shoots out another one underneath it.. then theres the problem of having incredivl magnetic fields all aroun you. Def not the way to gooo. Fuel cells would be great but, the most feasible solution looks like hybrids for the next 50 years imo.
If they can get the cars to get close to 100 mpg then we would be in a better position gass mileage and environmental wise. Personally I dont know why it hasnt happend yet. (yes i do the power of the oil company cartels) We are getting roughly the same gas mileage now as we did 25 years ago. Are you telling me gas mileage couldnt atleast double in 25 years? BS!

 

no no i was thinking of an engine that actually ran on magnets. there's a guy that invented it that made an engine that was more or less a rotary engine that spun solely on magnets and nothing else...pretty cool.

 

no thats the year 3000, duh...lol

Im sure that the forcast models for the peak of the worlds oil supply include increasing demand, but with china and other nations starting to get on the oil hog band wagon, who can say for sure just how much it will increase.

The world (mostly america since we suck up the most with out h2's) needs to get onboard and stop burring coal and oil for power....put the money into something like nuclear power, solar, wind....ect...sure they all present other problems but we need to save things like natural gas, oil, coal....ect for the things that cant easily be done (at this time) with other things.

The car giants wanting to make money also screws everyone....as long as people are buying cars that run on gas, there is no need for the auto-makers to build hybrid/electirc/hydrogen cars in the numbers they build regular cars.

I dont think the world will colapse or anything and society will split apart when we run out of gas, since it wont just flip off like the lights....but as the oil fields sputter out the last few drops....thing will change very quickly over a short time (say 10 years).

I was watching today there is light-crude and heavy-crude.......one is easyer to refine into gasoline than the other...so of course light crude (most commonly used for gasoline) is expensive while the heavy stuff is MUCH cheaper than its counterpart.....for how long?

I was watching the Movie 'Lost in Space', I thought it was ok, some might think it was garbage.....anyway it paints a picture of a future that I can very easily see happening to our planet.

the worlds natural recorces are virtualy gone, the ozone is almost total depleted and the public is fed these lines about how all these recylcing programs and such are going to save the world.....when the truth is that in 30 years ( i think the date at the time this was going on is 2050 or something) the planet earth wont be able to support life of any kind. kinda erie

 

makes me happy that in my line of work (Oil and Gas Landman) all my gas and milage is paid for :-P So i never even look at pump prices i just fill up....

 

The EPA killed muscle cars, cirica 1973

 

well, it would have to have some power source. Otherwise it would be perpetual motion, and that simply hasn't happened.

 

i agree, you could build a rotary style engine that ran on magnets....they would have to be electro-magnets and it would be nearly the same as an electic motor....right? Mugatu please shed some more light on this magnet motor

 

Electromagnets?

Edit: I spoke too soon...errr late. I didn't realize I had been beaten to it by teh lubinator :p

 

why is everyone so concerned for the next few decades? what Steiner said was right, necessity is the mother of invention. We'll figure out how to cross the bridge when we get to it. In the meantime, let's enjoy life until earth turns into a desolate planet (like Mars).

 

This dude's ready to sell 'em:

http://pesn.com/2004/06/30/6900029Pe...MagneticMotor/

make sure you play the videos!

 

If it is the 70's all over again, will that mean locking gas caps are going to make a comeback?!

 

^ Along with western scenes and heart shaped bubble windows. Now they'll be on SUVs

 

hrmm interesting mugatu.

if the 1970's are back, im gonna have to get new pants

 

NO! It's not the same!!!

I was there (unfortunately) and I had an Mazda rotary RX-2 at the time, no less!

The dif THEN was there WAS A GAS SHORTAGE, you had to line up for hours where ever you happened to be to get any gas at all (it was rationed out). Screw the price, which wasn't actually so bad by today's standards...you just couldn't get what you needed!

Today, the oil producing countries (you know, like Texas, Alaska, UAE, etc.) are willingly selling us all we want at highway robbery pricing and laughing all the way to their platinum encrusted bank accounts.

Remember congress and the pres said sure go ahead and buy all the 6000lb GVW SUVs you want and deduct them on your income tax? Yup...the self same guys whose brothers are producing a good part of the oil we swill today at $3 gal.

 

There's not as much oil pumped out of Texas as you might think. Alaska on the other hand, has the capacity to produce far more oil than we get from foreign sources. Unfortunately, the tree huggers in DC have setup "Nature Preserves" in the tundra-like environments where most of the oil is (and very little actual "Nature" exists), hence, drilling for oil is illegal. Oddly enough, the Senators and Representatives from Alaska are often ignored when they present their case before the House and Senate because clearly people who live in New York and California know what's better for Alaska than those that actually live there.

As a consequence, we are forced to pay the price dictated by OPEC, because we cannot feed our own thirst for oil. The Executive branch is the wrong one to blame, it's the Senate, House, and Parks & Recreation departments that are standing in the way. The President has far less power than people seem to think, just as Alan Greenspan (president of the Federal Bank) has more control over the economy than any actual elected official, even though everyone blames the President whenever people get laid off or it suddenly costs more to borrow money.

 

And Chevy vans with water beds in the back.

 

We can produce "far more" than 12 mm BOPD from Alaska? Prove it.

 

if its 1970 all over again that means we are going to get a new RX-2,RX-3,RX-4 and RX-7 in a couple of years :D