locolagarto

True in 2006 the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) revamped the testing standards to better reflect real world driving conditions, but they are still just controlled tests that only give a rough idea of what real world result might be. My 2002 Ford Explorer has an EPA rating of 14/19 city/hwy and I am getting real world 16/22. So yeah its all relative. @chattius What was the easy formula for converting US MPG to EU 100K/L ? That Opel Insignia will be coming to the US as the 2011 Buick Regal Made in Germany. It is a very nice looking small car.

"Knocking up" may be a poor choice of words mate? But, none the less, I love to see these examples of cool mass killing power. Post 'em guys!

Yes gogo, I knew Master Chattius would be along with a great EU perspective. And thank you Chattius for reminding me of several very interesting points. Diesel vs Gasoline engines. Motorbikes Manual vs automatic transmissions 1. First, Diesel engines are far more common outside of the US. Typically due to emissions and air quality regulations, Diesel engines are only used in very large vehicles such as our huge commercial trucking and shipping industry. The reason is the exhaust emissions and I believe, at least in part, because we just don't like the smell. However, diesel is by far more efficient than Gasoline. Diesel produces more energy per unit than gasoline does. And typically diesel engines generate more torque. which makes them great for carrying larger loads. One misunderstood concept is horsepower vs torque. Many of us understand horsepower to mean that an engine with more horsepower is bigger or more powerful. This is not necessarily the truth. Horsepower is defined as: a unit of measurement for power. 1 HP ~ 750 watts. A Watt is a unit of energy. so more HP = more energy. This tells me that horsepower is directly related to fuel consumption. More fuel/air in equals more power out. Torque on the other hand is a more accurate measurement of an engines strength. Torque is defined as the amount of turning force on a wheel or shaft. Torque is what gets the vehicle moving. Diesel engines are known for being very low horsepower, but very high torque engines. This explains why they are so much more efficient and used in very large vehicles like ships and trains. It is no surprise that EU has started to regulate emissions by requiring the use of E10 (Gasoline with 10% Ethanol) In the US it should be noted that the only successful manufacturers of diesel passenger cars are VW, and Mercedes. There have been a few others that have tried and failed in generating any noticeable sales. 2. Motorbikes are naturally more fuel efficient and more widely used outside of the US as well. Motorbikes weigh only a fraction (about 10%) of what a motorcar weighs and therefore uses a fraction (about 10%) of the fuel . In the US they are mainly recreational. For safety reasons motorcycles are somewhat taboo here and only riden by those who are more daring and less "safe". Its a shame really to see a single person driving a large utility vehicle to work everyday when they could be driving something much more economical. My problem is that I am a rather large guy ( 6ft 4 in and 300 lbs) and I have difficulty finding a vehicle I can easily get in and out of and ride comfortably for long periods. 3.Not too long ago most vehicles had manual transmissions. Manual transmissions, by design, tend to be more fuel efficient in the way the clutch plates limit the loss of engine power. Automatic transmissions came along because they are easier to learn and as Chattius mentioned make stop and go driving much less work for the driver. Autos have a torque converter that allows the engine to slip a little loosing some of the power. Newer automatics now have improved to the point that they have become just as efficient as manuals. Even now they are available with 6 gears just like the manuals.

You are exactly right on that one, Schot. Removing the golf clubs from the trunk is a great idea and believe it or not makes a huge difference. So much extra safety equipment has gone into cars that the fuel economy has continually dropped year after year from all the extra stuff. In 1978 a 2 door Honda civic weighed only 2166 lbs and got 38-46 MPG and the 2010 2 door Honda civic weighs 2750 lbs and only gets 24-36 MPG. Even the new hybrids can barely touch the 1978 numbers. So imagine all the extra crap we carry around these days. And here is another little tidit. Older carbureted vehicles used to have to warm up before driving to let the choke set and to get the oil in the pan to work its way up to the top of the engine. Today this is a waste of gas. Most new vehicles are fuel injected, which means no more carburetors and no more need to warm up. And most have oil systems that lubricate even when they are cold. However, they do have oxygen sensors in the OBDII system that have to come up to temp to close the computer loop that monitors the fuel/air ratio. But most are now self heated. So the loop closes within only a minute or two. Also, how closely you follow behind another vehicle has implications other than safety as well. following too close will cause you to do more braking and accelerating than you would if you followed at a much greater distance (where you can anticipate traffic better and just lift the accelerator instead of having to brake)

For those of us that live in rural areas where public transport is just not an option. We rely very heavily on our vehicles for transport. My monthly fuel budget is about $160 so anywhere I can find a break really makes a difference. Before I got my family moved from PA to Indy I was making that 600 mile trip every 2 weeks for about 6 months. so yeah I really needed to stretch every dollar.

The flame lord is actually the only "lord" on console. Life leech works the best as all you have to do is get a hit. otherwise fire and magic are pretty useless.

Hey! Doing some Hypermiling eh? It's amazing the difference when I watch the MPG display vs when I dont.

For about 8 or 9 years now I have actively been a fuel mileage improvement fan. Reading articles and investigating different gadgets and such. In the last few years the price of fuel has risen enough to really make improving fuel mileage a priority. I know, while the US is one of the largest users of oil, prices here are still reasonable compared to other regions. So I thought it would be interesting to make a list of all the facts and myths surrounding fuel mileage (efficiency). And perhaps we may learn some things and teach some things from each other. First I will admit I have tried many of the gimmicks and gadgets out there and have found some a waste, some useful, a few are very questionable. Things I have found that really help: 1. Proper tire pressure: This is an absolute must. Just imagine when you were a child with a bicycle. Pedaling with low tire pressure was far more difficult than when they were properly inflated. So keep them at the automobile manufactures recommended pressure and remember changing seasons( temps) can make a big difference. 2. Make sure your engine is in good working order. Changing the Oil, making sure the spark plugs are good. etc.. all go to making the engine run better. All modern cars made after 1994 in the US have what is called ODBII. It stands for On Board Diagnostics 2, and requires that the vehicle be equipped with electronics that monitor the proper Air/Fuel ratio for a cleaner exhaust emissions. They automatically check the oxygen level in the exhaust and adjust the Air/Fuel mixture. This is where most of the gadgets fail to live up to the claims of improving fuel economy. Assuming the engine is in proper working order. The Ignition timing and Air/Fuel ratio is automatically adjusted for proper factory settings. 3. A fuel flow monitoring gauge such as ScanGuageII or a factory installed equivalent can really be a very useful tool and fuel saver. It allows you to see in real time what your fuel usage (economy) is and helps you to adjust your driving habits accordingly. Things like accelerating at a efficient rate that doesn't waste fuel and at the same time gets you up to speed fast enough for the transmission to shift into overdrive where fuel economy is best. And Lift your foot from the accelerator early and saving on the brakes really give a boost to the economy by using the energy of the vehicle to save on fuel. I get so much amusement (and frustration) from seeing people race from red traffic light to red traffic light. While I calmly cruise from green light to green light at max fuel efficiency and stay right with them all the way through town. I don't mind being told I drive like an old man when I know I am spending less on gas with my 2 ton truck as those "kids" are in there little compact cars. The speed at which I drive on the highway was a huge eye opener. after many experiments on long highway trips I found my vehicle gets the best fuel economy at about 62.5-65 MPH(100 KPH). Any faster and the miles per gallon started to drop off drastically. Myths: 1. The Tornado air intake gadget( and others like it) is supposed to improve the fuel economy by spinning the flow of air into the engine. These are a huge waste of time and money. For the reasons stated above. ODBII automatically regulates air/fuel ratio and if anything inserting a gadget into the intake will only restrict the airflow to the engine. I tried on 3 different vehicles and it actually made the fuel economy worse. 2. Many fuel additives meant to improve the exhaust emmisions (Most states in the US have their own laws requiring certain exhaust emissions requirements) actually do improve the emissions of the exhaust but in the process lower the fuel economy. I have experienced this for myself in the US. States such and Michigan and Pennsylvania have stricter requirements than states such as Indiana. On Several 600 mile 2 way trips between Indiana and Pennsylvania, the fuel I bought from Indiana gave me a 10-15% improvement over the fuel I bought in Pennsylvania. Ethanol has long been in use in the US for emissions improvement. But fuel with up to 10% ethanol will give you less fuel economy than 100% gasoline Questionables: 1. Spending more for the Premium 92 Octane fuel will pay for itself in better fuel economy. This one is a maybe in my book. Ultimately the additional cost of premium fuel is probably not worth the gain in fuel economy. The reason is the same as the other gadgets. Most modern engines have electronics that automatically control the ignition timing of the engine to make it run as efficiently as possible. When the engine detects detonation or "knock" it automatically retards the timing to compensate. Once the "knock" has gone away the timing is advanced again to optimum settings. This allows car manufactures to run "regular" fuel without sacrificing fuel efficiency or performance. The improvement from Premium Fuel is most likely from the engines ability to stay in optimum tune without "knock". Therefore no need to retard timing and more efficient. Whether or not this supposed efficiency is enough to offset the cost of the premium fuel is hard to say. But I doubt it. 2. Pure acetone added to the fuel in low quantities ( 2 oz per 10 gallons of gasoline) can drastically improve fuel efficiency? I am also on the fence on this one. The idea here is that the acetone lowers the surface tension of the fuel. Surface tension is what makes water form into droplets when is rains. The higher the surface tension, the larger the rain drop. So the idea is that by lowering the surface tension, the fuel can mist into smaller drops as it is pulled into the engine. These smaller drops allow the fuel to burn more completely in the engine. There by, increasing power and lowering the amount of unburned fuel exhausting out the tail pipe. Again without controlled scientific proof, it is hard to say if this works or not. The downside of acetone is: it is a very strong solvent. It will melt the paint from the side of the vehicle if it is spilled and may melt plastic parts inside the vehicles fuel system if the vehicle has any such parts. This is why Acetone is not widely used by the gas companies. Could you imagine the legal liability? Acetone is sold in aftermarket gasoline additives as a fuel system cleaner. (which by the way, acetone will really clean your engine out very well) So well, in fact, that a very dirty engine or a engine that has been neglected could in actually run worse for a while after using acetone) The other benefit of Acetone is that it does increase the Octane rating of the fuel. Octane rating is the rate at which gasoline burns. Many people incorrectly assume that the gas inside the combustion chamber explodes. This is false. Gas does not explode, but actually burns very, very quickly. The lower the Octane rating, the faster the fuel burns. This can result in detonation (knock), so this leads us back to the Premium fuel myth. Does Higher octane fuel produce higher fuel efficiency? I believe it does and 2-4 ounce of acetone in 20 gallons of fuel is far cheaper than the extra $2-$4 more you would pay for Premium Gas. Conclusions: Ultimately I started with an average of 12-16 miles per gallon from my 2002 Ford Explorer with 130K miles on it. After all of the above I now average 18-22 miles per gallon from the same vehicle in the same driving conditions. So what did I do? 1. Proper tire pressure, and engine maintenance 2. I bought the ScanGuageII to help me watch my fuel usage and adjust my driving style for better fuel efficiency. 3. Acetone did make my engine start easier, and idle smoother. I get far less engine knock, but I don't use it all the time. Ultimately the biggest difference I saw was in understand and adjusting my driving habits. cheers

It is indeed a dev area that was never taken out of the game after release (the CM-patch removed it). It is reached by a dismount "trick" that allows a player to reach the out of bounds areas. It can be a short cut to getting a unique mount as well as a few other "treats".

Sounds like the port forwarding or firewall problem. As your client can listen, but the Server can't talk.

Now that is just cold. You've got no love for the hit squad? 8 AFC Championships, 6 Super Bowls Championships, and Troy Polamalu.

Every time I see Sophia on seraphim Island I think it would be cool to have her armor. is it coded in the game already as items or would it need to be created?

Anyway you see fit to run it Mystix. As I read some of the posts here, I see that many have created different challenges for themselves. I don't see grinding for levels a problem. Its hard not to stop and level a bit at least in the beginning anyway.

The NFL has 2 conferences: the AFC and NFC. the play off winners of each conference go to the big game for all the marbles. the Pittsburgh Steelers just won the AFC championship for the 8th time in 45 years and the Green Bay Packers won the NFC title for the 1st time since 1997. It should be a great game

Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl!

I noticed how small your text was in comparison to the size of the screen, And I hope maybe I can help. My 23" monitor is also 16 X 9. My fix was quite simple actually. Hold CTRL and Roll your mouse wheel until the forum fits you screen. Everything will scale nicely and makes the grey on black print really easy to read. It's quick and easy and can be undone for other sites just as quick.

I always enjoy those stories too. Being an Aircraft enthusiast, I really enjoyed the story furian told about the C-130 that broke down up on the mountain ice cap and had to be repaired in the snow to get it flyable to get back to the base for "real" repairs. that must have been cool, ans scary.

the code line you have above relates to experience based on the number of players in server: 1 = 100.00% 2 = 122.50% 3 = 132.50% 4 = 155.50% 5 = 182.50% So if you have a Camp runner at say level 100 that you want to use to farm sets (without accidentally leveling to 101 and locking silver diff :/ ) you should lower the first one to 0.5% in a solo server. or all of them so you can farm with friends and don't care how many are in server.

RL has taken the front seat to my play time lately, but I am definetly not dead. Although the CM patch has some really nice new content with sets and quests and such that it is attractive and I have been exploring a bit. I wouldn't assume that just because things have slowed that the game is dead. We will all be back.

In your last pic. the port forwarding is for 192.168.1.1 This is the address for the router. you need to use the address for your PC. it will be listed in the ipconfig. probably some like 192.168.1.101 or something like that. you can find your IP by going to the start menu and click on Run. Then type CMD to open a window. then type ipconfig.

Thanks Schot! I think appreciation for your work really shows when people take time to feed back to you. The fact that you can fix a lot of our requests gets you a huge high five!

Can you do a screen shot of the Linksys setting again now that you have the rule built?

I finally was able to create an Open net server. 1. I deleted all of my "rules" in the windows firewall for Sacred client and Sacred server. 2. I turned the Windows firewall off. 3. I created a rule in my Routers firewall to allow port 7011 for TCP and UPD for my Computer I think the key here was the rule for both TCP and UPD for port 7011. I originally only had TCP and that didn't work.

I love that this thread has re-emerged. After playing for 1000 hours on console I really liked the idea of HC. I moved to PC partially for that reason and for Ice and Blood. What was hardest for me on Console was "living" with a death. Sure, Survival Bonus is a huge incentive to stay alive, but there was no judge and jury by myself. HC on PC really woke me up. Man! that first character......Gogo had given me 10 million is gold, he socketed all my gear for me, he showed me some speed leveling ideas and then....Bam! dead and gone. All was lost, man that really got me serious about skill choices, gear, and tactics in play style. So I say go for it! Challenge yourself anyway you see fit. Whatever you find the makes the game exciting and raises the difficulty is cool. As for no bargaining, if you are used to shopping a lot, that could cause some withdrawal. But it will make you play smarter and makes finishing the game so much more rewarding and fulfilling. cheers

And I also opened my ports in my router, still no Open Net. Playing SP CM patch and loving it. too bad we couldn't host a closed net CM server of our own. that would be cool eh?