If you were reading GMHTP way back in 2005, you might remember November's editorial regarding Peak Oil. The gist of it was that over a half-century ago, Shell engineer M. King Hubbert predicted that America's mainland oil production would peak in 1971, and we would have to start finding our cheap energy sources somewhere else. He was right, and so started the shift to foreign oil that currently is hitting all of our pocketbooks so hard.
Living in New York City means I'm surrounded by widely differing opinions on a daily basis. The blog-writing environmentalists, hippies, and forward-thinkers are already gearing up for an oil-free-or at least, drastically reduced-future by attending alternative-energy meetings, riding bikes to work, and getting geeked about the next generation of oil-free personal transportation. "Alternative energy is our future!" they say.
Meanwhile, the Fox News-watching types are demanding that the government take action by cutting gas taxes and allowing drilling for the oil they think already exists within our borders to get the prices down. "We have the oil-we just need to get at it," they say.
I personally can't stand politics (or the knuckleheads who spew it), so I pretty much ignore all of that and save the drama-hell, the things I do and see in one commute out to Jersey are enough excitement for me. However, I do have some perspective for you: two amazing moments forever etched in my memory regarding fossil fuels in America. The first was when I traveled to Wyoming to see a buddy stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base. The year was 1995, and gasoline was an astounding 89 cents a gallon. The second was during one of the price spikes this summer, when NYC gas approached five dollars a gallon. Say what you will about oil company profits, offshore drilling, politics, alternative energy, blah blah blah. Bottom line? That's a difference of four dollars a gallon. That means that GM enthusiasts making a reasonable salary-or put another way, the GMHTP staff and most of you-are feeling a huge hit.
It has already started to affect the way I think. I'm at the point in my life where, from a family perspective, it wouldn't kill me to have more interior room and better wet-weather traction than my Camaro affords. Naturally, I laugh at the thought of an import SUV or hybrid, and skip over Ford, Dodge, and even perfectly acceptable people-carrier models like the regular TrailBlazer, and start breathing heavy for the TrailBlazer SS. To me, the aggressive look, nearly 400 horses, AWD, and a stock 0-60 time of under 6 seconds-along with the big, comfy interior-is a sweet deal. And then I checked out the TB forums: while a couple of owners claimed high teens for mileage, most were smack-dab in the 12-15 range ... and some were reporting just a hair over 10 miles per gallon. Ouch. Financially speaking, I may have just reached the breaking point between a GM performance driver, and (gasp!) a non-performance GM.
The jury is still out on how these prices will affect my decision. But what I really want to know is, how is it affecting your life and performance vehicle decisions?
Log onto www.gmhightechperformance.com to answer the following questions; I'd really like to hear what you all have to say.
Have you had to make personal sacrifices to continue to own and drive your performance vehicle?
Are you driving your performance vehicle less often because of gas prices?
Have you recently traded a performance vehicle for an economy car because of gas prices?
Do you drive a commuter car to save money during the week?
If fuel costs stay at or above $4/gallon, would you consider buying a Camaro or other performance GM with a high-output, turbo four-cylinder instead of a V-8?
Because of the increased cost of fuel, would you like to see more small-displacement performance engines/vehicles in GMHTP?
Would you like to see more technical stories on fuel economy, like lean cruise computer tuning, for performance vehicles?