Quote:
Originally Posted by pawoSD
Thing is, it only applies to people in certain areas of the country with certain weather and driving conditions. The "proper" WVO setup requires nice hot oil, something that will not happen in MI in the winter unless you are driving well over 25-30 miles on the freeway each way every day. Its cold up here, most of the year using WVO would be a useless venture. Maybe 4-5 months a year on the days you drive longer distance. Down south its always warm, so the oil heats up much faster. Sometimes in the winter here I'll drive for over 20 minutes in the city and barely reach 80C. (when its below 10F out) Using the cabin heat on high can make 80C a dream....so the oil would never get warmed up enough to use it.
WVO works for some people in some places.....but for most its not really an ideal system. A 10 mile both ways local commute would barely get the oil to the right temp for use.
I do agree that the government is real dumb how they tax and enforce rules on alternative fuel stuff, they are too pro-hybrid. Its just the usual from the government though.
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Very true. "Proper" wvo use works better in warmer climates but i bet you would be surprised how fast a good system heats the oil. Even though Im in Atlanta, we do see very cold temps from time to time. Ive parked it outside when it was 10 degrees overnight. The wvo in the 2nd tank was a solid block. In a 15 mile commute, the engine was at op temp and had switched over 7 miles into the journey, so that just doubled my mpg on the trip - not bad. Again thats with a good kit like Frybrid, where they arent using the coolant to heat an entire 20 gal wvo tank, they only heat a small chamber right at the fuel pick up, and keep most of the coolant heat in the final heat exchanger located in the engine compartment.
Cold starts waste fuel, thats true for non converted cars as well so combining trips is always good when its cold out.
I bet you would see a payback on a good wvo kit in <2 yrs living in MI, even with a short commute. And those times when the company tells you to drive a few hundred miles in your personal vehicle at $.585/mile, well thats just gravy
Being able to give OPEC a much needed a$$ pounding is worth it by itself though.