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Thread ID: 61383	2005-09-03 02:22:00	Consumer Revolt - September 5th	mejobloggs (264)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
385652	2005-09-04 02:52:00	Consumers Revolting. So what is new? Many consumers happily pay $1.50 a litre or more fro tap water. Shows how smart consumers are.	Graham L (2)
385653	2005-09-04 03:18:00	Surferjoe: How many pints in your gallon? 6 or 8?	Laura (43)
385654	2005-09-04 03:20:00	late afterthought...sorry ...And don't forget that the gas station owner has to buy food the same place you do..the local supermarket (if they have them there in NZ) or market or cow-trader or whatever. We are all in the same boat........we gotta eat/drive/work/sleep/procreate. Service stations have huge buying power, when it comes to their in shop sales, BP stations here buy their goods as a group with huge discounts from the supplier's (coke,pepsi,griffins)as examples...	plod (107)
385655	2005-09-04 03:25:00	Surferjoe: How many pints in your gallon? 6 or 8? They have 8 pints to the gallon too. But their pints are smaller. 16 fluid ounces rather than our (proper) 20 ounces. ;) A friend who moved to NZ was surprised at this: US kids are taught a rhyme at school: "A pint's a pound the world around". That works as long as the "world" is defined as the US, and a few of its colonies.	Graham L (2)
385656	2005-09-04 03:33:00	Thanks Graham. I knew their gallon was smaller than ours, but after hearing 2 versions of the pints (6 & 8), got confused. Your explanation explains why.	Laura (43)
385657	2005-09-04 04:42:00	yeah? Well, youse guys . . . we drive on the RIGHT side of the road! so there!	SurferJoe46 (51)
385658	2005-09-04 10:55:00	No, I'm not getting at you yankee petrol/dieselheads, Joe. It's just that we've always believed your fuel's really cheap compared with ours. Trying to make comparisons as prices change is complicated anyway by the rise of our dollar in terms of yours this year. So that's one sum to do. But because Americans quote prices in gallons & we quote in litres, that's another sum. And when your gallons aren't even the same size as ours (Yes, some of us still know how to convert to imperial measures), it starts getting ridiculously complex just to make what should be a simple comparison. I've not enough time on my hands tonight to do those 3 lots of sums. I'm sure someone up to date with NZ pricing now will fill the gap at some stage.... so that we know whether US fuel is still reeaally cheap by our standards or not. (Remembering also to compare the same octanes -like apples with apples)	Laura (43)
385659	2005-09-04 11:32:00	The U.S is paying around $3us a gallon for petrol which is about $4.24nz 1us gallon equals 3.78 litres We are paying $1.52nz for a litre which is a $1.07us My very rough calculations work out that the U.S pays about$0.89nz cents a litre I fully expect my workings to be corrected by fellow forum members	plod (107)
385660	2005-09-04 16:35:00	OCTANE! . . . really? Well, ya got me there . . . You see, the EPA started new octane ratings a bunch of years ago when the 1st energy crisis bloomed . In the days/years prior, we had honest-to-goodness octane ratings that you could depend on as actual/factual and priced accordingly . I had a car with 13 . 5:1 compresion ratio that needed 102 octane Chevron White Pump (and it was 24 . 9 cents per US gallon) fuel to even start . Well enough, but then the EPA got their mitts into the "ratings" and went from the old system (Research octane was the standard) and went to R+M/2 method . The math boggles my mind yet . . . but here's what they did . They took the Research octane rating system, came up with an alternate rating system and called it "Method" rating . Then they add the two numbers together and divide by 2 . Method numbers were arrived at by using steadily lower octane on a test engine until it would not run or self-destructed on the bench . The results? Radically lower octane ratings with artificially high "numbers" that look good to the average high school drop out, but in reality are in the real range several points below the true octane . Cars today require R+M/2 87 octane to run, and actually do it very well . We have three rated fuels at the pumps, 87, 89, 92 . In old numbers they are more like 75, 77, 81 . If one needs 102 octane (now rated at about 135), then one has to purchase AVGAS, or aviation gasoline . BUT! That's illegal as there's no DOT taxes charged for that fuel and one is violating federal and state tax laws using it thusly . ~~~~~~A brief glossary~~~~~~ EPA = Environmental Protection Agency (Federal Office) DOT = Department of Transportation (Federal Office) CalDOT = California Department of Transportation (the name says it all!) PETA = People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals . (just hadda throw that in) So . . . . as I see it, there is a further mucking up of the ability to compare even octane ratings with youse guys . Maybe it a vicious plot to keep the natives confused . Can you say: "Tri-Lateral Commission" here?	SurferJoe46 (51)
385661	2005-09-05 01:42:00	Our petrol has the same octane levels as a pool of muddy water, Stuff is crap... Anyhow, going back to the original gist of the thread, www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz Pretty sad that our local rag are getting in on this....Idiots.	Metla (12)
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