How do you guys manage to drive in normal mode without getting shot

Don't live in crappy areas? No one in a decent area is going to shoot you for the way you drive.

 

I live in LA too. I disregard the gas savings and go into the red bar.

 

Easy.
Don't drive in LA.
Been there.
Done that.

I live in an area where there are many MANY more properly licensed concealed carriers.
If you engage a target where I drive????.....there is a far higher chance that you'll experience what the military folks call "counter battery" (they shoot back.)
Of course people outside ultra dense urban areas in general and the PRC specifically are a little more adult about the way that they drive.

I've driven in LA many times.
No big deal.
Go with the flow of traffic, or pick some slow mover in the right lane and stay behind them.
If you're on a surface street, try not to accelerate tooooooo slowly away from the line, and you'll be fine.
I've gotten 55+mpg tanks (highest is 59.9) and there isn't a single hole in my car!!

Good Luck!

 

Get an "Obama 2012" bumper sticker.

 

I always go into the red, and am happy with over 50mpg. I'm confused about the question.

 

Aye, it's not that bad. I go into the red at least a few times a day. Every freeway on ramp requires such speed. I mitigate for those times by using EV take offs at other times.

 

I leave the car in "eco" and don't have any problems. Who cares if I go into the "red zone"? I can't see it anyway because the radar cruise display is covering it up.

Don't let the -car- tell you how to drive. Drive the darn car properly!

 

You can turn on HSI on the HUD. Hit that HUD button one more time and the speed number will shrink and allow a smaller version of HSI to be displayed on the bottom.

 

I take off in ECO and almost never hit the power zone and I don't really feel like I'm holding traffic up. Am I going a little slower than people behind me would like me to go? Probably. But then again I would like them to go slower.

 

Makes no difference which mode you use, wide open throttle power level is exactly the same in all of them, you just need more throttle opening in ECO to get that power level. Don't make an obnoxious road hazzard of yourself by puttering along trying to make some rediculous MPG number. Drive so you flow with traffic, you will still get 50+ mpg , even if you need WOT for a few seconds at startup to match traffic flow.

 

50mpg is just not enough for some of us. I'll save $300/yr with careful driving and 60mpg.

 

I always see Prius drivers accelerating just as fast as everyone else. Next time I see a Prius driver plodding along, I'm gonna honk, roll down my window, and ask if they are a Prius chatter.

 

Wonder what the stats are on Prius drivers being shot at by the road ragers?

 

Should be some comfort to know you are afraid of something that's never happened. And in LA, I'm sure you are not the slowest Prius driver on the road.

Get a bumper sticker that says "My other car is an AR-15" and get some NRA stickers and one Snuffy Smith "Back Off" sticker and your mind should be at ease.

 

In this corner of the country traffic's pretty light and people are more relaxed. I drive the speed limit, avoid the PWR zone where possible and sometimes I'm the one being held up.

You can mitigate the effects of lower acceleration by driving intelligently and braking less. Acceleration doesn't matter much: what matters more is average speed.

One freebie is simply to pay attention when stopped and begin accelerating as soon as you can. Significant amounts of time are wasted in traffic by people responding slowly. If each driver delays unnecessarily for 1 second the 11th driver in a line of traffic will be held up by an additional 10 seconds, which in a traffic light cycle is a large amount of time. When I'm stopped waiting for traffic to move, I'll relax until my time to move is close and then get ready to respond as soon as possible. To paraphrase, I try to go on the g of the green and the instant motor torque helps with that.

In traffic your speed is limited by the cars ahead of you, by traffic signals, by stops and by turning cars. There's no point rushing to a red if you can go more slowly and give enough time for the light to turn green and for the stopped cars ahead of you to get moving. There's no point tailgating if you'll just slam on your brakes when the car ahead turns.

Sometimes hard acceleration is pointless.

 

Yosemite Sam works better.