Which March 25th?

As the time for the driving experience embargo draws to a close, I'm wondering, which time zone will Toyota use to determine the end of the embargo? Tokyo, New York, California, Alberta, ... ?

Hopefully Tokyo so all us North Americans can know on the 24th .

To be fair it should be when the sun crosses the International Date Line.:doh:

That's an odd time. Isn't that the beginning of the next day in Tokyo?

Gads! Some of these guys neeed to get a life. Is 12 hours that imoptant? (Steps off soapbox)

Yes!!!

YES, and your point would be :rockon:

Ok, that tears it. On March 25, I will not:

• read any automotive reviews found in news.google.com
• visit any of the usual web sites
• read the e-mail the 'Prius Team' knows about

On January 12, I was in the room watching the earlier count-down clock ... and it reached zero. Guess what happened?

So as far as I'm concerned, March 26 will be an excellent day to see what is reported. I'll survey the 'usual suspects' and frankly, won't give a d*mn about the delay. It isn't the quantity of reports on March 25 but rather the quality of reporting that I'll be looking for. But in reality, April is when I'll be counting the minutes and hours.

In April, the Toyota SAE paper will come out. Hopefully it will include an engineering analysis, the quantitative values, that the new systems provide. For example:

• What is the amount of exhaust heat the recovery system provides?
• How did they address the condensate problem of the exhaust gas cooling system?
• What is the relationship between cruise control and "ECO" mode?
• What is the BSFC chart?
• What is with the new rear suspension?
• How does the new gasoline vapor recovery work?

So as far as I'm concerned, March 25th will be another day but one that I will not be observing:

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix;Angel-headed hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night. ("Howl", Allen Ginsberg, 1956)

My best guess is there are about 100, non-Toyota people who have driven the 2010 Prius and agreed to wait until March 25 to share their reports. It isn't jealousy but rather I'm the audience and realize their stage will be even more easily accessible on March 26 as March 25. I'm not really needed on March 25. <grins>

Bob Wilson