My Prius Exit Interview

No, Bob, not from you. Besides, I don't care what other people think about my Prius mileage. I was happy with it. My Z mileage is a steady 20 mpg. I am happy with that too. This all reminds me about the time I had a Nissan Pathfinder. I was getting gas and a car pullied into the pump next to mine. It was a beat up Honda Civic. The owner looked at me and said in a derisive tone, "How can you drive something that uses so much gas?"

I smiled and answered, "Because I can afford it." He looked back at his car and walked away.

Nearly half of the commercials I see on TV are for cars. Manuafacturers spend fortunes trying to build a mental image of their vehicles that will stimulate buyers. Prius has sold so well, that very few such ads have run. You do find Toyota spending money to get Prius's into movies and TV shows (product placement). They don't spend the money because they don't have to. At least, for now that's true. As we all know the car has no real competition, and it is already selling well enough. Why waste money on advertising blitzes?

Ironically, the same is true for the Z. People who want them, know about them. They have no real competition in their class. A Corvette costs about $10k more than the Z, but no one interested in a Z would even consider the Corvette. They are just different breeds of sports car. The Z's comptetitors are the BMW sports cars and the Porsche. Both cost a lot more. So, I think that Nissan sees little point in trying to convince a potential Porsche buyer into a Z and visa versa. If I could afford a new Porsche, I would have bought one.

The point of all this is that we have a lot in common. Both the Prius and the Z are non-mainstream production cars. The Prius is edging its way up to mainstream status, but still has a million or so cars to go to get there. The Z will never be mainstream. Two-seater sports cars are niche products. They don't meet the requirements of most car owners. When I bought my 2006, there were just 100,000 Prius's in the world. Now there are many times that.

I als think that the Prius and Z have another amusing similarity: forums for each car tend to push to the extremes. A lot of "mine is bigger than yours" goes on here about gas mileage. In the Z forums it is about how race-equipped your Z is. I never cared about either.

One thing about Priuschat (and the370z) web sites: I have learned a lot of valuable stuff about my car. My maintenance needed message would still be nagging me if I didn't learn how to reset it here.

I will stay around here. I like the people and the topics. I am also truly interested in how the plug-in Prius will perform. Oh, by the way, there is talk that sometime in 2011, Nissan will release a hybrid Z. Unlike the Prius, the Z will have the electric motor in series with the engine. That way the car gains lots of low RPM torque. Interesting stuff keeps coming up. However, I promised my wife I would keep my Z at least 2 years!

Bob

 

Maybe I'm not being sensible, but I am very happy that I took the hit. Next week I am getting a rear view camera installed (it integrates with the nav just like the Prius). I did, reluctantly, pass on the $3000 integrated radar/laser detector. Though it might turn out to be a good investment if I plan to do sustained 100+ mph driving. Naaah, that's going too far.

I guess there is no rational answer to why I did it for you. The heart wants what the heart wants. I'm too old for midlife crisis, so this may be endlife crisis.

Ya know what? I don't care. I lost $7,000 by trading now. It would have been more, but I bought the Prius when Washington had a deal where there was no sales tax on any car that got over 40mpg. I don't drink or smoke, so I probably made up the difference with what I didn't spend on other vices.

Meanwhile, I can't wait to drive the Z. I love every minute of it. That's worth seven grand to me.

Bob

 

Bob, I love your Groucho Marx song. Yes, I am still here. Not cause of the car but because I have a lot of fun chatting here.

My current mpg is 19.5 +- .5 mpg. Aggregate average mpg over the last 200 miles is 19.2. My Prius gave me an average of 42 mpg. So, yes I am spending more than twice as much on fuel. I drive about 15,000 miles a year. The difference in cost (which I have seen calcuated ad nauseum here) is significant, but affordable for me.

Now that I have two weeks driving the Z (isn't two weeks the proper interval for newbies on here to give educated reviews?), I still like it. Shocking, huh? Aside from the better speed, handling, etc. the most surprising difference for me is the behavior of the car when I release the gas pedal. The Prius sort of glided, losing speed slowly. The Z exhibits, what feels to me, engine braking behavior. I can feel it downshift even with no foot on the accelerator. It's totaly different than my Prius. I like it. It's easier to manage downhill driving. My mpg meter (just like on my Gen 3) shows max mpg (30 mpg is the high point on the Z's readout). Apparently the car's computer is using downshift to provide the most controlled engine braking. I can reduce this effect with just a bit of pressure on the gas. The mileage reading doesn't change but the car glides similarly to the Prius.

Aren't you glad you read that? Actually, this is very interesting to me since I am a computer scientist by training. It means that the car doesn't just sit in top gear when the accelerator is released. The computer keeps the transmission tracking for optimum rpm as the car slows.

What can I say? After four years of Prius, feeling gears shift is a novelty.