Posts by Rik

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  • Island Life: BP-Fuelled Rage,

    Yo George

    My bicycle weighs ~12 kg, and has a fuel rating of 0.0 litres/100km

    My bike weighs 14.2kg (bit heavy as full suspension) and has a similar fuel rating to yours.

    However it will shortly be transporting two people along once I have one of these clamped on to it for the wee fella:

    http://weeride.com.au/

    But Mrs SUV says I will not be going near any roads with nasty CARS on them (of any size) in case he gets hurt. So I will stick to safe places like Woodhill, Muriwai, Grey Lynn park, etc. Can't wait!

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report

  • Island Life: BP-Fuelled Rage,

    I think the term SUV is part of the problem here.

    In the US it applies to 4000kg mammoths like the Chev Tahoe (of which there are a few on NZ roads).

    In NZ we seem to be applying this term to anything that looks a bit like a 4 wheel drive vehicle and then bestowing hatred on the driver.

    My car, a Ford Territory weighs 2095kg and has a fuel rating of 13.5 litres/100km
    A Subaru Outback weighs 1615kg and has a fuel rating of 11.1 litres/100km
    A Toyota Previa weighs 1795kg and has a fuel rating of 10.8 litres/100km

    There's not a lot in it in my opinion - people movers and "cool" Subaru's are not much different to my so-called "SUV" (it's really just a Ford Falcon station wagon - does that make it "OK" with you guys??).

    Just out of interest, I used to drive a Land Rover Discovery. It was a lovely car, handled like cr*p but had the sort of distinctive looks and character that you can grow quite fond of after a while. And unlike what I have often heard about Land Rovers the thing never broke down. Anyway - at some point I was totting up the amount of fuel I had put in it over the years and I think the total was something like $45,000.00 over about 8 years.

    Believe it or not the Territory uses about half the fuel that the Discovery used in around town driving.

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report

  • Island Life: BP-Fuelled Rage,

    Stephen - now I think I understand.

    It is OK to have an SUV if you are using it for its stated purpose 100% of the time.

    However - if you have to interrupt your life of fun to turn up to work occasionally (as some of us do) then you need to have a separate small vehicle to transport yourself to work. Or get on the bus/train/ferry.

    Does the same hold true for the mum in a people mover going out to the shops without the kids? Should she also have a separate small car to avoid the sort of wrath an SUV driver will receive?

    And as far as "clean SUV's being the worst" - I find that business attire soon becomes grubby when driving a mud-caked SUV. So I point the hose at it occasionally. Oh dear - now I am going to cop it for wasting precious water. Which could be used to generate power. And for putting more pressure on the wastewater system. Gee I'm bad.

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report

  • Island Life: BP-Fuelled Rage,

    A S - I agree with you and am very surprised at the tone of this thread.

    So a Subaru wagon is "OK" but a Ford Territory is not? Who decides what is an SUV and what is not? Perhaps Lucy could...

    SUVs are usually driven by idiots who wouldn't stop for their dying grandmother

    ...or perhaps not.

    Perhaps we should avoid the emotional generalisations (all SUV drivers are nasty bad people) and look at facts?

    SUV's are bigger than cars. But smaller than most "people movers".

    SUV's use more gas than cars. Other than hitting the pocket of the driver is this such a bad thing? The debate continues on Global Warming/Global Dimming - possibly the sooner fossil fuels are used up and an alternative (cycling?) is found the better for everyone.

    SUV's are quite handy for towing boats and heavy trailers.

    SUV's often have 7 seats which get used more often than you would think.

    SUV's are generally four wheel drive which can be quite useful in off-road situations.

    This debate could get as silly as vegetarians that are happy to wear leather shoes or hybrid-drivers that are happy to burn fuel flying on airliners.

    We're all people - some nicer than others - no matter what we happen to drive.

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report

  • Island Life: I am not a quitter,

    It's an interesting one because if he wasn't a donor they would have given up heart massage early on and he would have been dead...but because he was a donor they kept going and he lived (just).

    So your clause requiring a couple of hours before calling it is not a bad idea.

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report

  • Hard News: A business most feral,

    Hmmm....email received at 10:54am....beer all gone at 11:02am...call me a sceptik but did 100 people really receive a free dozen beer today??!! Regardless - the 2 for 1 offer was nice, cheers for that Russell! :)

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report

  • Southerly: In Praise of Arthur,

    Can't beat ESQ in Grey Lynn...cute chicks (ladies for the PC-impaired) cutting at barbers rates ($10 for balding). They even offer you a beer sometimes if it is late in the day. Conversation is a bit all over the place though.

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report

  • Cracker: Psst... buddy... got any BZP?,

    Stephen - strangely enough I picked this bottle up for the same price in NZD that I had seen it advertised in the UK as GBP (ie. for about 1/3 of the price) so I am not complaining. I don't know how Michael Fraser Milne from Whisky Galore does it but he must have some good contacts. I was going to buy another but he appears to have run out... :(

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report

  • Cracker: Psst... buddy... got any BZP?,

    Whiskey did you say? Or was that whisky? Either way, far better than pills any day. Working my way through a 27 year old Port Ellen from Douglas Laing at the moment, a bit pricey but what better way to celebrate the arrival of your first baby boy?! The day Labour bans whisky is the day I will have to make a stand.

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report

  • Hard News: Actually, I've always been…,

    I wonder if the Moet came from the sponsor of the Louis Vuitton, http://www.lvmh.com/.

    ETNZ publicly celebrating with a NZ Methode would be a bit like having Roasted Addiqtion coffee at the next Great Blend wouldn't it?

    An abnormally negative post from you today Russell? I suggest you blow the cobwebs out by turning up at RNZYS around 3:30pm today and get yourself on one of the boats doing the Friday rum-race to see first-hand what the local sailing scene is like.

    Keep up the great work!

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report

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