cable,
I don't know if there is a cure for being myopic, but I'll look into it. You know, why are you so upset about OPEC? Your a free market capitalist, they're doing exactly what that philosophy suggests. I would think that you would be bowing at their feet praying for them to make even more profits.
And if you want to live near a refinery, thats your choice. Just remember that there is a lot of research which suggests you and your children will have a much higher incidence of cancer and leukemia than the rest of the population. You want to drive a gas guzzler, go ahead, spend as much as you want on fuel. That still doesn't change the fact that that isn't the smartest thing to do.
"there is but one reason for being upset that a company, for whatever reason, doesnt VOLUNTARILY cut its profits... that single reason is a burning hatred of capitalism... period..."
Jeez cable, it wasn't me that came up with the idea, it was your hero Bill O'Reilly! And he certainly qualifies as having, "a burning hatred of capitalism... ". I've always thought he was one of those commie, pinko types.
Cer[v]3r,
"Why does v8/v12 spend more gas?"
I think you mean, "Why does v8/v12 USE more gas?" If thats accurate then heres a brief explanation (the actual answer is more complex, do a google search on the internal combustion engine for better info). Heres one link:
http://www.answers.com/topic/internal-combustion-engine
First, there are very few v12 motors being manufactured for automobiles today. The only ones I can think of are Ferrari and Lamborgini but I'm sure there are a few others. And if you can afford one of those (about $100,000 minimum new), the price of gasoline is a minor annoyance.
A v8 has twice the amount of cylinders than a 4 cylinder (of whatever configuration) or 2 more than a 6 cylinder. So, in general (depending on the engineering), a v8 will use twice as much fuel to run those extra cylinders. But a v8 should also produce about twice the power of the 4 cylinder.
Please remember, these are vague generalities only meant to basically answer your question. In reality, there are many components (carbs, fuel injection, etc.) that can be tweaked to significantly modify power and fuel consumption. Just as one example, a few years ago I saw a little BMW 4 cylinder with twin turbos blow the doors off Corvettes and Porsche 935s for an entire season (really pissed a lot of people off).