They can't complain about prices anymore...

[edible_hat]

...so they're finding more creative things to whinge about!

It's true, now the price of petrol is back down to the prices people said were too high 9 months ago, people are whinging about other things! Today's whinging included:

"I want premium for the same price as normal unleaded, but yours is 12 cents more." (um, that's why it's called premium - it gives you more power and you pay a PREMIUM for it)

"The car wash takes too long to wash my car." (not the automatic wash but the one where you wash your car yourself, that's right this guy complained that he himself was taking too long to wash his own car)

"I never heard of a place that doesn't sell Garden Gnome Fancier Monthly!" (well actually he was complaining about us not having some other obscure magazine with a total circulation in the hundreds, but you get the idea)

"I can't believe you don't sell the Sydney Morning Herald!" (he left before I could ask him if he can believe we're not in Sydney)

"That guy with the fancy car should buy a cheaper car and give some money to charity." (translation: "I'm jealous that that guy has a GT Cobra and I have a scooter")

[Nyoibo]

"The car wash takes too long to wash my car." (not the automatic wash but the one where you wash your car yourself, that's right this guy complained that he himself was taking too long to wash his own car)

You should recomend the guys who were there the other day washing cars.

Hell, given the price of normal petrol at the moment, I'm thinking of going back to using premium, it'll cost the same as regular last week.

[Nyx]

"The car wash takes too long to wash my car." (not the automatic wash but the one where you wash your car yourself, that's right this guy complained that he himself was taking too long to wash his own car)

Epic, to bad you couldn't write him up.

[Argabarga]

"I want premium for the same price as normal unleaded, but yours is 12 cents more." (um, that's why it's called premium - it gives you more power and you pay a PREMIUM for it)

Just to nitpick, premium gas does not have "more power" in it than regular gas. It just has a higher octane rating, so it can be used in a high performance engine that runs at a higher compression than the engine in an economy car. Without getting too technical, the more compression you put fuel in an engine under, the greater the risk it will spontaneously combust from engine compression alone instead of combusting when the spark plugs go off like it should. This is called "knocking" or "pinging" or "detonation" and it's VERY harmful to a motor. Since performance engines found in sports cars or other high-end applications run at higher compressions, they need gas with higher octane to prevent this from happening.

But, in an economy car with a low-compression engine, the octane rating doesn't have to be as high, so thats why there are various grades of gas. Regular for low-compression engines, and premuium for high. And putting premium gas in a car that doesn't run at high compression won't hurt, but, it won't do anything else for you. You won't get more power, you won't get better mileage, nothing is going to happen except you'll spend more per gallon, all you're doing is putting in extra insurance against detonation that you don't really need.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but as a mechanic, it drives me batty when people confuse what the whole purpose of gasoline octane ratings are for.



to get back on track

"I can't believe you don't sell the Sydney Morning Herald!" (he left before I could ask him if he can believe we're not in Sydney)"

That was classic!

[smileyeagle1021]

well, if no one else is complaining about gas prices anymore, can I still

GASOLINE SHOULD BE FREE */sarcasm

[Bramblerose]

"I want premium for the same price as normal unleaded, but yours is 12 cents more." (um, that's why it's called premium - it gives you more power and you pay a PREMIUM for it)

If this is the US, he needs to STFU. Round here if it's a mere $.15 cheaper you're getting a good deal. Usually it's $.20. IF this is in Pounds Stirling (too lazy to find the l thingie), then, well, gas is more expensive out of teh US heartland, and besides, he paid extra for the car that needs the extra octane, or he is paying a stupid tax that is allegedly helping the depressed economies of the world.

[ShinyGreenApple]

"The car wash takes too long to wash my car." (not the automatic wash but the one where you wash your car yourself, that's right this guy complained that he himself was taking too long to wash his own car)

Are you sure he didn't go park in the self-wash and expect the hoses to float out and do it for him? You know, like in Harry Potter?

[Imogene]

"I'm jealous that that guy has a GT Cobra and I have a scooter"

I'm jealous that guy has a scooter, and I has an Impala...
I want a pink Vespa, with color coordinated riding clothes, just to mess with people.

[SuperB]

"That guy with the fancy car should buy a cheaper car and give some money to charity." (translation: "I'm jealous that that guy has a GT Cobra and I have a scooter")

It's so easy to be generous with someone else's money.

[wagegoth]

This is what I want: http://www.mdi.lu/english/

Unfortunately, I don't have US$20,000 lying around. Back to the bus.




As to regular vs. supreme, my dad is a mechanic, so I have some knowledge of the differences in grades and the reasons, however, I tried Chevron supreme in my 1988 Dodge Omni, and the mileage went up and engine smoothed out. The mileage increase more than covered the difference in price.

[edible_hat]

Just to nitpick, premium gas does not have "more power" in it than regular gas.

People who use it tell me they go further for a certain volume. It takes more power to go further, therefore 1 liter of premium contains more power than 1 liter of regular.

[fireheart]

"I never heard of a place that doesn't sell Garden Gnome Fancier Monthly!" (well actually he was complaining about us not having some other obscure magazine with a total circulation in the hundreds, but you get the idea)

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot?! If he wants <obscure magazine from hell> he should go to a large newsagent, not the servo and not some pissy corner-stand either. I have to go to two newsagencies so I can buy my anime magazines (Anime Insider and NEO) because the place near my work only carries one of them and doesn't carry the other.

[atomicthumbs]

(um, that's why it's called premium - it gives you more power and you pay a PREMIUM for it)

Eh, technically your car gets the same power. It just makes it run better (less knocking).