Category: Cars

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Biodiesel Cars Ethanol

Switching to biodiesel, part I

Back in February, Braughm gave me the idea to try out biodiesel. Pretty soon thereafter, I decided that I want to switch my primary car over to a renewable fuel. This has taken a little bit of research, which I’d like to share here.

Step 1 was to pick a fuel.

My requirements

Replace my primary car (a 1993 Volvo Wagon) with a car that runs on a renewable fuel. I’d like to be able to get the fuel without going way out of my way. If I’m stuck somewhere without renewable fuel, I’d like to be able to use “normal” gas or diesel as a backup. And while I’m at it, I’d like to get a smaller car that’s a little bit more convenient for around San Francisco. The cost of the fuel is not a huge factor for me (because I don’t drive that much and won’t mind paying extra if it’s better for the planet). The cost of the car is a factor, because I don’t want to invest a lot in a car that might not be the best alternative fuel choice in 2-3 years.

The requirement to be able to use widely available fuel as a backup pretty quickly narrowed my choices to ethanol or biodiesel, which can be run alongside regular gasoline or diesel respectively.

Continue reading “Switching to biodiesel, part I”
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Cars

Tango

I’m not a huge fan of electric cars, but you have to check this out:

marina01.jpg
Link.

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Cars

Citroen SM

Apropos nothing, I would like to show you this fabulous Citroen from the category of “I’d love to have one if it wasn’t completely impractical”:

Fun facts:
– Maserati engine
– Self-leveling hydraulic suspension
– Self-centering, speed dependent steering
– Headlights connected to hydraulic suspension (to dampen bumps)

About 13,000 Citroen SMs were made between 1970-75. They are notoriously difficult to restore and maintain (hmm, let’s see a hydraulic suspension plus a Maserati engine = maybe some trouble?) but oh so beautiful and apparently very smooth and powerful to drive.

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Cars

Gurgel

I definitely got the biodiesel bug now. Since my post on the topic I’ve gotten a lot of encouraging feedback and I’m now researching ways to import diesel Land Rovers and Land Cruisers (I’m also planning on test driving one of these). It’s occured to me that one of the reasons I like these types of cars (shall we say rugged and semi-obscure) because I was imprinted early on. When I was a teenager, my dad got a Gurgel X-12 as a trade from someone who couldn’t pay a bill. It came from Brazil, where Gurgel was a pretty big car manufacturer from 1969 until they went out of business (in the late 80s?). Our X-12 was made of fiberglass, built on a VW bug chassis and painted a faded army green. My dad gave it to my sister to learn to drive in it, and it was handed down to me a few years later (I promptly repainted it and added a stereo on some new wheels – hey I was 17).

I know it looks a little weird, but boy was it fun. In a VW bug with a light, convertible body it feels like you’re going really fast, sliding through corners, and you look down and you’re doing just 40 mph! Here are some random Gurgel links.

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Cars

Biodiesel?

Yesterday I found a fellow car nut in Braughm. We chatted and realized that we both like old Land Rovers. I told Braughm that I’d love to drive an old (pre 1994) Range Rover if it wasn’t such a gas hog. He came up with the perfect solution: find a diesel Range Rover and covert it to biodiesel!
He got the idea from a mid 80s diesel Land Cruiser (another car I like a lot) that’s parked outside his office:

It has a biodiesel sticker on it which sort of gives it away:

Turns out it belongs to a guy who has driven several cars on biodiesel and has lots of good info on his site.

If you happen to have an extra diesel Range Rover sitting around, please call me…

Categories
Cars

Fine, it’s cars then

I will now present a random car from the “I’d love to have one of these” collection:

Lancia Stratos

It’s a Lancia Stratos, famous for winning several rally world championships in the 1970s (including winning the famed Rally Monte Carlo in 75, 76, 77 and 79). It has a Ferrari Dino engine, less than a thousand road cars were made and it’s too small for anyone over 6 feet (I hit the roof when I tried sitting in one). Still, what a great looking machine.