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Wrong Fuel Chokes Presidential Limo

An anonymous reader writes "Fueling your car with the wrong type of fuel happens even to POTUS. This happens when you put gasoline instead of diesel in the tank. ...." And Yes, the presidential limo really is a diesel. What about clean, renewable solar?

7 of 612 comments (clear)

  1. Solar? by Tridus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The presidential limo is much heavier than a standard limo due to the extra protection it offers. There isn't enough room on the thing to get enough solar power to move it anywhere, let alone a detail like wanting to move it at night. Adding enough batteries to provide reasonable drive time would mean making it even bigger.

    There are some problems that solar can't solve. You'd think an editor here would know that.

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    -- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
    1. Re:Solar? by geekoid · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "The editor was being witty."

      No, no he wasn't. It was neither quick nor inventive. It was boring, predictable and obvious.

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      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  2. Sigh by ledow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Given that that's possibly the shortest Slashdot story ever, it manages to make only two assertions, both of which are confirmed as false (by the linked articles themselves, no less).

    And I heard about this story about 6 hours ago on my way in to work and, honestly, didn't care then.

    No longer "News for Nerds"
    Now "Inaccurate insights for imbeciles".

  3. Re:Um... by rherbert · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I doubt you're really an American if you use the word "petrol."

  4. Re:Um... by markus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Have you actually driven a car with a modern Diesel engine?

    I had a Diesel rental about 20 years ago, and was impressed how little difference there was to a gasoline engine. But yes, you are right, back then Diesels did lack some of the "oomph" that I had come to expect from a high-powered gasoline engine.

    In the last couple of years though, Diesel engines have gotten so good, there really is no reason whatsoever to buy a gasoline engine -- unless of course, you drive an incredibly small number of miles, in which case fuel efficiency doesn't matter and the slightly higher cost for the Diesel engine does.

    Other than that, modern Diesels drive just like gasoline cars, are a lot more fuel efficient, and are extremely clean. I have read (slightly tongue in cheek) research saying that tail pipe emissions tend to be cleaner than the intake air :-) It's pretty much just CO2 and water.

  5. Re:Um... by BLKMGK · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You do realize that until recently automatic transmissions ate up significant amount of power\MPG right? How is that significantly better exactly? Anyone who has driven a stick for any length of time isn't flailing around - I'm guessing you're one of the fools who can't do so. It's got nothing to do with image and quite a bit more to do with control. The best "DSG" type automatics are actually stick shifts run by a computer - complete with one or more clutches. Stick shift transmissions are often capable of withstanding far more torque than automatics and they are most certainly a simpler piece of hardware. Not burning out the clutch in a heavy vehicle with a stick is simply a matter of knowing WTF you're doing and having proper gear range available. You should maybe take a gander in a few 18 wheeler cabs or dump trucks to figure out just how wrong you are, perhaps you think pickups are pulling more weight? The automatic is starting to make inroads there too but manuals are most certainly capable of moving those vehicles without issue...

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    Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
  6. Re:Um... by BLKMGK · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think maybe you ought to tell the railroad industry of your theories and see what they have to say about the futility of electric for towing....

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    Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org