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Comment Re:Don't blame me, (Score 4, Informative) 894

Of course, the Model-T had no plastics to contend with. I sincerely doubt the veracity of some of the assertions of this article. The 10% ethanol that's currently in gasoline has no appreciable impact on fuel economy, and the alcohol content dries the fuel, which is helpful in damp/cool climates to offset condensation. I think we all know ethanol from corn is a money loser. The "net energy loss" argument is spurious, however. Charging a battery is a net energy loser, but is anyone suggesting batteries are a bad idea? We need a portable form of energy for the internal combustion engine, and we have to pay a "tax" in order to change the state of that energy from something we have to something we need. Brazil runs all of their cars (a lot of old vehicles, I might add) on 100% ethanol. The problem here is finite-life engineering; Parts, like plastic fuel pumps, that are designed to fail after the warranty runs out (5-8 years). Detroit used to rely on rust to make people buy new cars (remember the 70s?), but people quickly realized that a paint + patch was cheaper than replacing the car, as long as it was mechanically sound, and no-one pays a dealer to do that. Now they charge you 900$ for 6$ worth of plastic...

Comment Re:"Suddenly"? (Score 1) 751

The only thing that shocks me is that one vinyl fetishist keeps posting articles about how his particular freakazoid defect is making
a comeback, but nobody is tagging these stories as duplicates of his previous rants.

Okay, kdawson, we get it, you like records. Give it a rest and go play with your betamax VCR.

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