Wow!? My heart bleeds for y’all.
I’ll try to do as succinct a comparison as I can, between the US and Oz juice prices.
US $2.50/gallon.
Oz $1.25/litre.
$USD1.00 = $AUD1.40.
1 US Gallon = 3.8L @ $1.25/L = $AUD4.75 = $USD3.40/US Gallon.

$3.40/Gallon! I don’t think you’re doing it tuff, just yet.
Yeah, I know, it’s all relative, but wait till the day when you’re paying as much as we are now, although by that time we‘ll be paying double, unless we vote to become part of the US.
That’d be an interesting sell job.
Just dangle lower fuel prices and lower taxation in front of the electorate - decisions, decisions.
Personally I couldn’t care less (I’ve seen some on Les’ site use ‘could care less’ - sorta doesn’t make sense or do they leave wiggle room coz they can‘t commit?).

Tell y’ what, I’m so glad I bought my little Daihatsu Sirion - 989cc and 50>60/mpg although I haven’t been outa the city limits yet to see what it’s like on a trip.
Noisy probably.
http://www.redbookasiapacific.com/au/vehicle/photos.php?key=DAIH04AE
Cute, isn’t it?

I had a Geo Metro XFI that got 50+ mpg on the highway and 45 in town..  It was amazingly fast with its 3cyl Suzuki engine.  I miss that little car.

I’ll second what LuckyJohn says.  Here in Austria gas is currently about € 0.90 a liter, which translates to about $ 4.50 a gallon.

This is still too cheap if you ask me.  Cheap gas means lukewarm support for public transportation, more pollution, more roads, more support for war over oil…

I’m not saying it ain’t worse elsewhere, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be comparison shopping if we can manage to do so.

Trust me, I’m working out which of the hybrid cars to sink some cash into before too much longer. This old Grand Prix of mine is costing me too much to fill up twice a week just for the commute back and forth to work. Right now I’m leaning towards the Honda Civic hybrid.

J.D. Powers said hybrids just squeak by on ROI. The killer happens when you need to replace the battery pack - it will depress their value as they reach that time.  A far stronger choice is a good used sedan, like a regular Accord.

The UK comparison doesn’t look good no matter how you look at it:

Average price 90.6p a liter ...
converts to $4.80 (USD) per US gallon.

Tell y’ what, I’m so glad I bought my little Daihatsu Sirion

[idiot mode on] Dude, that car is sooo fake.  Yu totally Photoshoppd the wheel onto the wrong side of the car dude! LOL!!!! [/idiot mode]

50-60 mpg would be awesome.  I’m driving a ‘98 accord, and it’s getting about 25 mpg at most.  My wife wants to get a ‘small’ SUV (yes, that’s right.  It hurts me too, when she says it), and I want my next car to be even smaller than the Accord.  I’m thinking a Civic.

Hell, I don’t need a sports car, just something that doesn’t freakin’ rattle when I hit 75mph.  I’m more interested in comfort and reliability than I am in performance.  Provided that the upholstery is good, and it has decent speakers, I don’t -need- to get anywhere in a big hurry.

From Gordon Brown’s (Chancellor to the Treasury)latest budget today:

Vehicle Excise Duty

New minimum and maximum rates of VED have been introduced for private vehicles registered from 1 March 2001. The new annual rates of duty are between £0 and £215 dependent on carbon dioxide emission levels. For the heaviest polluter vehicles registered after 23 March 2006 this represents a 27% increase.

VED (known as road tax) is yet another way that the UK motorist gets to pay more tax, that £215 = $375 USD.

At least there is some incentive for the low emission vehicle users.

Actually, I’ve been thinking about a grease car if I could find a half decent diesel I could convert. Oh, and a place to set up the filtering drums…

http://www.greasecar.com/mnep_view.cfm?mnepID=61

In Canada, or at least in my part of Canada, such a computer program would be pointless.  Every gas station has the same price per litre in your community.  Here in Saskatoon(population 210,000 or so)every station is priced at 98.5 cents a litre.  The only time that isn’t the case is when the price is going up or down.  So when folks spot the price going up they’ll flock to whatever stations are still offering gas at the cheaper price, knowing that in an hour or three the price will be the same everywhere.