Racing Prius

[ilusnforc]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(a priori @ Sep 6 2007, 01:33 PM) [snapback]508029[/snapback]</div>

is there any particular reason you had to part with your Super Coupe.[/b]

I've just lost interest in it. I got it when I was 17 years old, now I'm 23 and driving a Prius looking to buy a house... I've certainly wised up since those days, so I no longer have a budget for that car to keep modifying it and playing with it, race tracks are too expensive and I can't even imagine if something on it broke (Super Coupes are quite notorious for breaking and especially blowing head gaskets, although not so much in the later '94 and '95 model years which I rarely had minor problems with it).

Basically it just boils down that my desires have changed. I'd rather have a house than a supercharged money pit, the Prius is a much more economical and efficient way to get to a house by saving me over the long run. So, by not having any budget for the Super Coupe it is no longer any fun (it runs on premium fuel only by the way...) so it's rarely been driven. In the last three years it's tallied up somewhere around 7,000 miles, about 4,000 of that was driving it to Utah and back. I just figured I've had my fun with it, and my fun seems to be over... why not let someone else have a go at it. (the extra cash towards the downpayment on a house doesn't hurt either)

[a priori]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ilusnforc @ Sep 6 2007, 01:50 PM) [snapback]508043[/snapback]</div>

I've just lost interest in it. I got it when I was 17 years old, now I'm 23 and driving a Prius looking to buy a house... I've certainly wised up since those days, so I no longer have a budget for that car to keep modifying it and playing with it, race tracks are too expensive and I can't even imagine if something on it broke (Super Coupes are quite notorious for breaking and especially blowing head gaskets, although not so much in the later '94 and '95 model years which I rarely had minor problems with it).

Basically it just boils down that my desires have changed. I'd rather have a house than a supercharged money pit, the Prius is a much more economical and efficient way to get to a house by saving me over the long run. So, by not having any budget for the Super Coupe it is no longer any fun (it runs on premium fuel only by the way...) so it's rarely been driven. In the last three years it's tallied up somewhere around 7,000 miles, about 4,000 of that was driving it to Utah and back. I just figured I've had my fun with it, and my fun seems to be over... why not let someone else have a go at it. (the extra cash towards the downpayment on a house doesn't hurt either)
[/b]

Well thought out. Hopefully you've kept some very small reminder of both the fun and the cost of that car!

[PriusOwner004]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ May 14 2007, 05:41 PM) [snapback]441974[/snapback]</div>

118 MPH, downhill run between Vegas and LA.
That is what the read-out said, no radar confirmation.
(Confirmed reading +3 MPH at 80 MPH)
Felt the engine regulator kick in at 118, so actually still accelerating.
Of course that was on a 10 mile straight-away with a slight down-hill grade.
[/b]

Same road, but a different downhill, I took it to 109. Computer limits it to 108, downhill gains me an extra mile. Need to go down a steeper hill next time see if I can also take it to 118 like you, or maybe even 119 and set a new world record.. ;-)

P.S. That's still EXACTLY two times faster than my H1 which tops at 55 mph, or 60 in overspeed, in the red.

[SyCo]

Just to let you know what the Canadian model can do. I've got it to 108 mph last night. It's not a land speed record but one thing that I've noticed is that it gets there quite easily.

It would be interesting to see how much faster it would go without the speed limiter

[Tojo]

I'll add my $.02 as well.

107 empty, flat freeway. Got there and back to normal speeds with no problem and the car was steady as a rock.

[laurence_fowler]

Many people note the calming effect of Prius driving. I personally think that never feeling a shift kick has a lot to do with it, just smooth acceleration and cruising.
[/quote]






The MAIN thing is to --never-- block other people. So what if you don't want to go as fast. Move one lane right and get out of the way. In Germany (which has a lot smarter traffic policies than the US) you can lose your license if you keep getting in the way of other people.

I seriusly disagree with this. In the UK we have very few motorways (highways) with more than three lanes and many are just two. If you are passing traffic and some idiot races up behind you, you have a choice: slow down (considerably) and let the driver pass (rewarding his agression) or - as I do - slow right down and break hard occasionally until the driver backs off.

I know that the US is different: I have driven on the huge freeways in Florida where it is possible to move aside to let idiots pass without having to slow down, but it wouldn't work in England.

[Winston]

I generally move over to let people pass, but there are a few exceptions. Most often the freeways where I live are generally crowded, I will often drive in the fast lane keeping a reasonable distance between me and the car in front of me. Who is doing the same to the car in front of him, etc. Then some dude will come up behind me and start riding up my A$$. I hate that. I would like to go faster too, but due to traffic I cant. It is not like he is some sort of emergency vehicle. I'm not going to get out of his way, since I would go faster if I could too.

[Chuck.]

If all cars (including non-hybrids) had a dash like a Prius, traffic would slow down a little bit. It makes you much more aware of speed than the analog speedometer.

[prius2go]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LaurenceUK @ Nov 9 2007, 12:54 PM) [snapback]537189[/snapback]</div>

The MAIN thing is to --never-- block other people. So what if you don't want to go as fast. Move one lane right and get out of the way. In Germany (which has a lot smarter traffic policies than the US) you can lose your license if you keep getting in the way of other people.

I seriusly disagree with this. In the UK we have very few motorways (highways) with more than three lanes and many are just two. If you are passing traffic and some idiot races up behind you, you have a choice: slow down (considerably) and let the driver pass (rewarding his agression) or - as I do - slow right down and break hard occasionally until the driver backs off.
[/b]

I think it depends which driving school

I was taught that if someone wants to come past - let them,
theyre better off away into the distance than stuck to your bumper.
Even on a normal road I've felt it courtesy to help someone past, by slowing and signalling left to let them pass when convenient.
It's nothing to do with aggression - unless we're deliberately trying to hold someone up.
There's also an offence something like 'care for other road users'

[silverbell]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MJGreen @ May 13 2007, 06:48 PM) [snapback]441287[/snapback]</div>

I have noticed that due to my heightened awareness of fuel economy (staring me in the face) I drove much slower overal than I used to in my Beamer. I don't think more than 75-80 is even necessary but I find it comical that panicked drivers and tailgaters that cannot wait to pass you only to stop at the same red light. I think I used to be one of those, THOSE DAYS ARE GONE.
[/b]

I've only been driving my Prius in the last two weeks and all I can say is it has changed my driving paradigm night and day. Where I used to do 80 - 85 mph cruising on the left lane in the freeway on my Lexus SC430, with Prius I look for slow moving semitrucks so I can follow them at 50mph. Where before I hated sitting on stoplights and get anxiety attack over the long wait, I don't care about it now with the Prius. The quest to extract as much mileage out of every gallon of gas is an exciting game for every trip that I make. I don't know up to when this thrill will last. I don't know when I'll check the Prius' top speed but this thread has sparked my curiosity hmmmm. On the Lexus, it topped at 153 along 99 freeway on the way to Merced from Los Angeles one early Saturday morning.

By the way, I've hit 51.4 average MPG today (378 miles), my highest so far! I have 37/35 air on Kumho 758 185/65/15 tires. This is an awesome car!