Logical Anomaly?

[robnich]

I couldn't be happier with our new Prius, but I am puzzled by one aspect of the discussions in Priuschat. Many Prius owners appear to go to extraordinary lengths to get ever better mileage, including radiator blocking, markedly increasing tire pressure, driving at speeds well below the speed limit, pulsing & gliding, shifting to neutral on long declines, etc., etc. Now I understand that at current gas prices, increasing mileage may mean real savings, so it is not hard to justify these measures, even if there are downsides to some of them, such as a stiffer ride, longer journeys, the need for concentrating on gas consumption rather than on other aspects of driving such as safety, scenery, etc.

Now here is the logical anomaly: shouldn't it be the owners of Hummers, Tahoes, Escalades and other gas-hungry monsters who should be taking these conservation measures? Shouldn't they be the ones trying to get 20 mpg or more instead of 12 or 14 mpg. Shouldn't Prius owners be relaxing, sitting back with smiles on their faces as they effortlessly get 45-50 mpg driving normally? My wife's new Prius replaced her Lexus LS430, which got 19 mpg using premium gas, and now she gets 45 mpg using regular and driving normally. A fill-up here in the expensive San Diego area is now $28 or so instead of $75. We are happy indeed with this and she is deaf to my ideas that we could get even better mileage, as she doesn't want to bother and sacrifice the ease and comfort of getting around the way she does now.

Comments? Attacks? Flames?

Bob N.

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by robnich

...Now here is the logical anomaly: shouldn't it be the owners of Hummers, Tahoes, Escalades and other gas-hungry monsters who should be taking these conservation measures? Shouldn't they be the ones trying to get 20 mpg or more instead of 12 or 14 mpg. Shouldn't Prius owners be relaxing, sitting back with smiles on their faces as they effortlessly get 45-50 mpg driving normally?

Hi Bob,

I am in the subset of the Prius owner group that drives "normally", gets mid-40s mpg, and is happy with that result.

In the south OC area where I live, full-size GM SUVs are still quite popular, often painted black. I guess these owners want to give the impression that they work for the FBI or Secret Service...

[pt95148]

Originally Posted by Patrick Wong

Hi Bob,

I am in the subset of the Prius owner group that drives "normally", gets mid-40s mpg, and is happy with that result.

In the south OC area where I live, full-size GM SUVs are still quite popular, often painted black. I guess these owners want to give the impression that they work for the FBI or Secret Service...

Me too! Couldn't be bothered with it! Drivers should focus on the road and not on the screen.
I'd like to think this way, if I were to focus to get more mpg and get into an accident, any expenses incurred as a result would wipe out the gas savings anyway.

[Bob64]

I'm one of the people that go "extraordinary lengths" but I don't think of it as a sacrifice. Instead, it becomes second-nature to take advantage of all the tricks. I've matured my skills enough that barely even need to glance at the screen to determine how to get the best mileage, instead I now use the "subtle feel of the car's momentum" to determine if I'm in warp stealth or the rare warp-deadband. My throttle foot is also tuned to automatically accelerate at 1300-1600 rpm... occasionally going up to 2400 rpm when needed.

Hypermiling has increased my visual processing enough so I feel "one" with my surroundings enough to realize that theres a car "flying" up my rear bumper and that I should either avoid or increase my own speed. I predict traffic waves and automatically pull back on the throttle in order to reduce losses should I need to brake ahead... I definitely feel like a safer driver, instead of being focused on whats in front, I pay attention to all directions, always planning an "escape" route and adjusting my speed to best match the "gears of traffic".

The owners of hummers, suvs and other inefficient vehicles are plagued with ignorance. They don't have the instrumentation needed to improve... thus they don't try... plus owners of "high powered" vehicles inherit a facet of what they drive and become more aggressive and irritated when stopped/slowed.

[efusco]

Yes, they should...but a 10% increase in FE for a Hummer will only show a change of about 1mpg. Barely noticable at the pump.
If I increase my FE 10% from 55 to about 61mpg that's pretty impressive.

I think the thing you have to keep in mind is that most of us don't use these 'extreme' hypermiling techniques to save money on gas...it's more of a personal challenge to see just what we can extract from our cars by driving them in their most efficient possible manner.

[robnich]

Originally Posted by efusco

I think the thing you have to keep in mind is that most of us don't use these 'extreme' hypermiling techniques to save money on gas...it's more of a personal challenge to see just what we can extract from our cars by driving them in their most efficient possible manner.

Oh, yes! I understand that well, as I feel that challenge myself. I'm not sure that that attitude is as "mature" as that of my wife, however.

Also, remember that a 10% savings on a $100 Hummer fill-up is $10, whereas a 10% savings on a $28 Prius fill-up is only $2.80

Bob N.

[ForTheGlory]

I don't think it's anomalous at all. We bought Prii because we desire to optimize our fuel economy. It's a logical extension that we'd do everything possible to increase FE even while driving a Prius. I'd argue that it's less logical to buy a Prius and NOT drive it to gain great fuel economy (though I understand why people would do that).

[Joe 26]

I believe that having all that info at your fingertips on the MFD makes it easy to become obsessive about your mileage.

[alanh]

I wonder how US fuel economy would be affected if every car came with an MPG meter.

Anyway, cars always draw people to push them to their limits. For sports cars, it's speed, for 4WD it's climbing bigger rocks, and for the Prius it's more MPG.

[john1701a]

Originally Posted by robnich

...the need for concentrating on gas consumption rather than on other aspects of driving such as safety, scenery, etc.

Grille blocking shouldn't be included!

$1 and 20 minutes per season is hardly extraordinary and it certainly doesn't interfere with driving.

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