The Tow Files - Back in Black, Gettin' Flak.

[taxguykarl]

No kidding, Jack

[EricKei]

I've seen people with diesel cars (and big rigs, of course) idle for a while – IIRC, for good reason – but never anywhere near THAT long o_O Of course, I've seen the opposite, too. Once...and only once...I rode with someone who turned off their (gas-powered) car at red lights. I'm sure he said he had some reason to do so (this was when I was too young to drive), buuuut >_>

[Argus]

Once...and only once...I rode with someone who turned off their (gas-powered) car at red lights. I'm sure he said he had some reason to do so (this was when I was too young to drive), buuuut >_>

If that was back in the days of carburetors, he was definitely burning more gas for each restart than he saved by turning it off. With modern fuel injection, the comparative efficiency might depend on how long the light is red.
There might also be issues of overheating while idling in stopped traffic, but a red light shouldn't be long enough for that to matter.

[Seanette]

Wouldn't that be kind of rough on the starter and possibly the engine as well?

[csquared]

Diesels are left running to keep the fuel from getting cold.

When I was younger, it was a common belief that you should not shutoff the engine for short periods of time. You had excessive engine wear if the first moments after starting due to lack of oil pressure.

There are a lot of modern cars that automatically shutoff when they come to a stop. This is to improve fuel efficiency.

[Kit-Ginevra]

Near us there are several car ferries across the rivers-queues on either side are through the villages. Many of them have big signs up telling people not to sit with their engines idling for the five or ten minutes it takes for the ferry to come across as it upsets the villagers if they have fumes and noise piling out of up to 2 dozen cars every 20 minutes or so through the day...

[Nunavut Pants]

With modern fuel injection, the comparative efficiency might depend on how long the light is red.

If the car is fully warmed-up, starting the engine consumes as much gasoline as idling it for approximately six seconds. IIRC, idle consumption goes up faster than starting consumption as the temperature drops, so a cold engine would be even shorter.

Turning the engine off at lights is a valid technique to lower your overall fuel consumption. But you have to be able to anticipate lights or be able to start your car very quickly, which doesn't always happen. And it is kind of a pain to do, especially in cars with push-button ignition switches.

Yes, I've done the hypermiling thing. It's an interesting challenge that saves me money.

More work than I really want in general, so I don't do that much of it any more.

[MadMike]

The motor only used gas if the GAS PEDAL was pushed.... and cars can just run forever at idle

I can believe it, and if you hadn't said it was a guy, I would have thought maybe you were dealing with my ex. Years ago, back when we were living together in my apartment in the city, I was working in a building just across from the river. One night, she had borrowed my car and returned it with almost no gas in it. Worse yet, it was the middle of winter and the fuel line had frozen up, so it wouldn't start when I tried to leave for work the next morning. I didn't even know that was a thing back then, so I called a family member and explained what happened, and he told me all I needed to do was run to a gas station (thankfully there was one within walking distance) and get some fuel line de-icer. Thankfully, it worked like a charm.

My ex wanted to borrow the car again while I was at work, so she rode along with me. There was a gas station right by where I worked, and I figured I could make it there with what little fuel I had left, gas it up, go the rest of the way to work, and let her have the car. But about halfway there it started to sputter and then died as I was pulling off to the side of the road. She was a ridiculously slow walker, and I knew she would slow me down if she tried to walk with me, so I told her to just wait with the car while I walked to the gas station and brought back some gas. She said, "OK, but leave the engine running. I'm cold."

I think my brain blue-screened and then rebooted itself before I finally found the words to point out that the car was out of gas, and ask her how was I supposed to leave it running. She thought that the engine would run off the battery if the car was idling, and that you only needed gas if you were moving. That's just one of many reasons I should have kicked her to the curb years before I finally did.

it can't POSSIBLY be worse than people who think Toyota has found a way to get around obeying the laws of thermodynamics and that real cars run on wound-up tension springs just like their toy counterparts and that getting gas is just so the car makes a more impressive motor noise going down the road.

Damn, I just bought a Toyota, and they never told me that. Apparently I've already filled up the gas tank twice for no reason.

[Pixelated]

Yay, Argabarga's back!

I had no idea there were colour-coded tires. Imagine that ... and here I've been driving Basic Black all my life ...

Also, I once locked myself out of my car with the engine running ... in the middle of winter. And I definitely didn't give a merry little laugh and go to bed, assuming things would be fine in the morning ... I called CAA in a mad panic. They probably got a good laugh out of it (outside of earshot) but came in commendably short time and rescued me and my car.

[Nunavut Pants]

I had no idea there were colour-coded tires.

There are. Before lock-down, I used to see them all the time on the Google bikes around here. But they also make car tires in colors.

BF Goodrich put colored rings in some tires.





And you can buy solid colored ones now evidently from Alibaba.

[MadMike]

Also, I once locked myself out of my car with the engine running

I did the same thing once, but luckily at the time, I was in the habit of keeping a spare key in my wallet. So the worst thing that happened was that I felt like an idiot for a few seconds.

[Kristev]

Lavender tires! No! Down, Kristev. Lavender tires are insufficient excuse to purchase a car. Think of the insurance, the payments, the petrol, the maintenance, where you'd put it, that you don't even know how to drive. No. But lavender tires. No. No. No. No.

[EricKei]

Do you really think it's a good idea to buy something as important as tires from that site? Might as well get them from Wish

[csquared]

Do you really think it's a good idea to buy something as important as tires from that site?

That depends. Are you doing it for show or for go?

Then there are these:
https://www.highwaymax.com/

[drunkenwildmage]

I grew up in not-so-far-away Decatur and have a couple of cousins in the Mattoon area. I heard the story growing up.
Do Agrabucks prevent towing or give a discount?

hmm, My late wife was from Shelbyville, and had some friends and family that lived in Mattoon, but never mentioned The Mad Gasser in the 15 or so years we were together.