Article Knocking Prius Owners

Yep, he was irate 'because he drives fast, and wants everyone to get out of HIS way. That's society ... all about ME. Funny ... the author refrences Gen I & II snapshots. I wonder how long ago his revelations actually took place.

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Haha I just love his description of the "regenerated" information while he's complaining about the MFD distractions.

That's pretty funny really.

 

Does this mean that every time I get behind the wheel I'm a Christian Performance Artist?

 

Sometimes I am the annoying slowpoke looking at my screen and other times I have been known to do 95 mph. Depends on the situation. The car does remarkably well at speeds near 100 mph. Sometimes I get behind some annoying large fuel pig of a pickup truck and have to blow the horn. This can occur at 75 mph or more!

 

Prius drivers "always seem to be in the way"? Well, let's think about this logically. There is usually some car in your way, otherwise the roads would be mostly empty and underutilized. So, if there is usually a car in your way, and Prius'es are "always in the way", can't we conclude that just about every car on the road is a Prius?

OK, back to reality. Living in southern California, I've seen tens of thousands of Priuses over the years, and they certainly aren't holding anyone up. If ever I see a car holding up traffic, it's usually a 70-90-year-old driving a car they purchased in the 1970's.

Me personally, I admit I am a zealot about fuel economy. 2 scangauges, anyone? I am light on the accelerator, but only once I'm up to speed. From a stop, I usually kick it up to about 2400 rpm, accelerating on par with most of the rest of the other 10 lanes of traffic. If the opportunity presents itself (speed limit and congestion), I'll pulse & glide, but not to hold anyone up.

I do find myself holding up traffic on occasion - but only when approaching a red light or stop sign. As soon as I spot it from a distance, I feather the accelerator and begin coasting ... and then suddenly all the tailgaters and aggressive drivers come out of the woodwork. Inevitably they gun it, pass me in a different lane, then slam on their brakes at the light.

Yes, adding it all up they probably save 30-60 seconds per day by zooming in front of all those Prius drivers who coast to a stop, but at a cost of perhaps 10-20% on their already-woeful fuel mileage.

My conscious can live with that.

 

I don't believe this article particularly "knocks" us. I liked this article, and I completely agree that it is the driver.

I can be both drivers. About 90% of the time I drive slowly in the right hand lane to get good mileage, and consequently hold traffic up. This is usually just after I fill my gas tank; I am eager to save gas.

However, the other 10% of the time I'm speedy-gonzales. This is usually after a stressful day of work and/or near the end of my tank. I love accelerating hard, passing SUVs and BMWs, to prove how fast the Prius can go. Just to defy the stereotype. In this sense, I think of the prius as the nerdy girl who is secretly smoking hot. Whatever works.

 

... or the innocent Catholic schoolgirl who is secretly smoking pot.

 

I actually learned something from the article - the stereo maxes at 63. I've never been crazy enough to turn it up past 50, and usually have it set at 17.

I found it odd the author was disappointed with the Prius' range. In my 1996 Corolla, I had to refill around 300mi. During the summer, it is common for me to go 560mi between fill-ups in the Prius. How is 500+ miles not enough range?

Lastly, the MFD ceased to be a novelty after only a few days of ownership. I consult the Energy screen periodically, but contrary to the author's assertion, the MFD does not dictate my driving. I've had the car long enough to feel what the engine and MGs are doing that I don't need to stare at the screen to eke out the most miles per gallon.

The problem is that so many people speed. I speed sometimes, but rarely more than 5mph over. One of my favorite things to do to really tick off a tailgater is to put the car in cruise control and set it for the exact speed limit. It hurts my fuel economy with respect to handling hills correctly, but the extra few cents it costs me is worth the opportunity to annoy the tailgater.

To conclude, I drove home in the snow tonight. I got stuck behind a Jeep Cherokee going 25mph for several miles when it was definitely safe to go 40. Who knew the Prius and its "distracted" driver would better master the snow? And once on the wet slushy expressway, I was the guy blowing by everyone at 55mph while everyone else was going 40. Who is the slow car now?

 

It's funny to me that The Prius and Prius drivers have gotten this rap. Okay, so maybe with some people it does exist but I'll tell you what bothers me more than being behind a Prius Driver....

First let me admit, I like to drive. I enjoy it, and I often like to drive fast. I try not to put my safety or others safety at risk with this inclination, so it's not like I go through school zones at 45mph, but I have been known to enjoy some curvey Oregon roads as well as pretend on straight open highway that I'm on the autobahn. Given this admitted weakness, I've never had a problem with a Prius driver or a Prius slowing me down.

What frustrates me is I'm so often in my modest 4 cylinder 1993 Honda Accord and behind a beautiful Porshe, BMW or other 6-8 cylinder marvel of pavement acceleration only to find the driver of said acceleration marvel drives so slow. It's the old cliche, it's not what you have, it's how you use it.

Once in a blue moon on an open piece of Highway I'll get passed by a high priced sports car, and for a second or two I'll wish I had the horsepower to catch up or pass them...and all I can do is wave. But there is probably a lesson in that somewhere.

If I have to be stuck behind someone driving slow? I'd much rather it be someone in a Prius. At least there is an excuse. What I don't get is "putters" that buy cars with capabilities they never even intend to use.

As I grow older, I find myself slowing down. I'm glad the 2010 has a button marked "Power" as I'm sure I'll be tempted to use that once in a while. And when I do get smoked by the BMW? I can look at my fuel economy and wave with a smile.

 

That'll be because the volume is a 6 bit binary value (0 to 63).
Maybe they wanted a knob that went up to 11?

 

I was reading the comments wishing S would just dry up. It was a good piece, I liked it and I left a comment too.

 

Certainly, I find myself watching that milage.

And if every car on the road had that same monitor, everyone would be watching their milage.

Especially those big 4 x 4's that blow by me at 80 mph every day, probably getting 2 MPG while doing it.

If they only knew.............

I had a friend riding with me the other day.
He loved seeing the milage on the dash like that.

 

I took the article at face value. A tongue-in-cheek description of a first impression. I thought it was well written and amusing. I'm not insulted one bit. Maybe I didn't read it the way some others here have.

 

I agree.