Do drivers on the highway hate you?

Welcome to the site. here's my answers to your questions.

I set the cruise to the speed limit almost 100% of the time. I haven't gotten any hate stares that I'm aware of. Sometimes some rube will climb up my rear bumper, but I just ignore it and keep driving. Here in FL there are plenty of nasty people, but they don't bother me.

2) My milege dropped off on both Prius's a few weeks ago- thank the EPA & ethanol for that. This is the time of the year when the oil cos. are screwing up the gas more than usual.

3) At 70 MPH I usually get around 50 MPG on both cars. You get the max. MPG by fine tuning your driving. I don't always get 50, but it's close enough to make me happy. Try not to mash down on the gas pedal hard. That will surely kill your MPG. When you're near to a red light or intersection let off of the gas well in advance. You'll get the hang of it.

 

47.5 MPG is a fine average. Don't overlook the selection effect: people who get really good MPGs are more likely to post about it than are others, giving a distorted view of what the real distribution is.

On your long 70 MPH commute there should never be a need to use the brakes. If you are, leave more space in front of you to eliminate the need for braking and your MPGs will go up.

 

I just hope people are sensible enough to not cruise in the fast lane or worse yet, cruise at 55-70mph in the fast lane. It increases others' frustration with Prius drivers, and more importantly, makes for an unsafe situation on the freeway for everyone.

If the CHP strictly enforced the speed limit, then this would be less of a problem -- but one should still not cruise in the passing lane.

 

Out of curiousity, since you've seen how big a difference speed makes when it comes to gas mileage, why do you drive your other car more aggressively? It will suffer a similar decline (percentage) as a Prius.

 

You can always get better gas mileage if you "work harder" at it. I got a buddy with a 6 mile commute and he was constantly getting around 35, and 40 on a good day. The weather now is a bit warmer and he is getting close to 50. I asked him why, and he said he was working harder at gas mileage.

I live in the Washington DC area and traffic sucks. Apparently everyone is in a hurry and they are convinced that stomping the gas and getting to the next traffic jam quicker saves them time.

I have found that I can't go fast enough to satisfy the guy behind me. So I quit trying.

I reset the trip mpg meter everyday and I generally drive to the same places and I generally drive 80 miles per day or so in stop and go traffic. My goal each day is to easily get into the 50 mpg range. A great day is when I get over 60 mpg, and I drink a beer and call everyone I know when I get over 70 mpg on a trip.

My best is 73.2 mpg (according to the computer) because traffic really, really sucked and I focused on the battery charge and lit the engine when I need to move faster when the battery was low and this helped alot. And it was hot that day (90 degF) on the ride home and I didn't use A/C. But I averaged 76.4 on the drive to work and this was my best chance to break 70 mpg for the round trip.

I got the Scan Guage recently and watching the engine temperature (FWT) really helps to let you know where you stand in the warmup cycle. I have been watching the RPM's too when driving up hills. I also like to see bigger numbers then 99.9 mpg as shown on the display. It makes me feel good when I am getting 257 mpg.

I guess the point that I am trying to make is that if you really try hard to drive the car and get something that will show you more data concerning what the Prius is doing, you don't have time to notice the person behind you or speeding past you with funny looks. I like to leave 2 seconds or so between me and the guy in front of me if we are driving at any speed. And if I see a line of brake lights in front of me, I let my foot off the gas. I apologize in advance if this bothers anyone.

Art

 

Fat ladies in big SUVs sometimes are good for dirty looks at the gas station. That gets a good chuckle out of me. Part of that was $4 gas, and I kind of pitied them some. It was costing them a fortune to drive their tanks.

I've seen others on the road pass me figuring the Prius is too slow. Actually, the Prius is so quiet and relaxing you don't want to drive fast. Somebody had a thread about the biggest surprise driving your new Prius. Well, that's it. You feel so relaxed driving it you don't want to go fast. And that saves gas--an important feature that has been overlooked. A quiet hybrid slows you down, which further conserves gas.

 

My philosophy has always been that I don't want to hold anyone up, if they want to go faster than me I will just get out of their way at the quickest opportunity. It's between them and the cops.

This is such an opinionated topic, I have met many people who think that if the speed limit is 65, and they are doing 75 in the fast lane, then anyone wanting to go faster than them is a lunatic and they should just sit tight in the fast lane and piss off everyone behind them.

Not everyone stomping the gas is in a hurry - sometimes they are just looking for a little amusement on a dreary commute. I frequently hit 120 on my commute, does this make me a bad person? Again, I feel that's between me and the cops. I'm doing it safely, and I'm not the one crawling up your bumper or weaving through dense traffic at high speed without warning or making sure the other drivers are aware of my impending lane change.

 

Can the Prius get up to 120 mph on flat road?

 

I saw a Youtube video the other day and they had a slightly modified Prius on the Bonneville Salt Flats (or something like that). I think they use about 10 pounds of ice to cool something down, pushed it with a truck to get it going and I think they got up to 130 mph. I think I remember the MPG's being less then 20 but pretty good none the less.

 

True but the modifications I have added are meant to drive it harder and a nice V-8 soundtrack. Its just amazing when I jump in the "h" I relax, drive the speed limit and I'm constantly looking at the info/gas gauge.

For instance cruising around 35-45 MPH with no stopping, I was getting as high as 36 MPG today. When I was taking a bud out for a "hot lap" I was averaging 19 MPG.

Its so funny on the highway going 55-65MPH like I should how everyone is flying past me at 80 MPH and I was one of them .

What people don't realize is how much harder the engine has to work to push that car though the wind. Thats why its amazing for a road car to go over 200 MPH, the car will need TONS of power.

 

These hudge 4X4s with one passenger weaving in and out of traffic (empty) and speeding need to be taxed off the road. People are idiots!

These views do not reflect the views of the management of this station.

 

I don't generally exceed the speed limit. I generally drive right at the speed limit. My original comment (Why would you drive below the speed limit?) was a response to a post that seemed to suggest that one cannot obtain good fuel economy in the Prius unless one drives below the speed limit.

... Brad

 

I'll probably never see over 75 in my Prius - the TDI is my highway car. It has seen 135, limited by my having a 5spd. Takes a little while to get there too - but 60-100+ comes very very quickly It's helped out by different software, bigger injectors, bigger turbocharger, bigger intake plumbing than stock.

 

One of the reasons that I bought the Prius is to drive the HOV lane on I-66 which saves time. Please note that I didn't say laneS. There is only one lane. I don't want to follow 3' behind the guy (or gal) in front of me in an attempt to satisfy someone that is up my asp.

I have been driving around here for 20 years and I am not sure if anyone around here has ever driven 120 mph in rush hour traffic. I got a buddy with the Volvo S60R and he loves it. Apparently he can get to 120 almost instantaneously (which saves time). I got the Prius with the MFD and I am more then happy saving gas and therefore money.

As stated before in other posts, I think gas is a good thing. It is amazing what gas can do when you compare it to 100's of pounds of batteries. However using more gas then I need to get to work is just dumb in MY opinion. Others disagree.

However, when the weekend comes or I take the day off and the weather is nice, I fire up my Yamaha FJR (motorcycle), head west and waste some gas while killing bugs and tearing up the twisties. Once you get the RPM's above 6000, you begin to ride the beast and it is a different world. I understand the desire for speed. 140+ HP on a motorcycle is overkill of course, but it sure is nice when you want to forget about work and the grass growing, etc.

In the Prius, there are times I would like to go 120 mph and just get home or just get to work, but that is wishful thinking. Most of the time I am just thankful when we are going 12 mph.

 

Yes you can get good fuel economy in a Prius driving the speed limit or even above the speed limit. You will get better fuel economy driving below the speed limit.

My speed depends on if I'm in a hurry or not. On winter ski trips I will usually drive 75 to 78 (in a 70 mph) At this speed I get ~ 45 mpg.

If I'm just driving across town to the recycling center or farmers market I'll drive 65 mph.

Either way I watch my mirrors and stay right except when passing another vehicle. If someone comes up behind me I move over and let them by. If I'm going to pass a semi and see cars coming behind me, I'll speed up, make the pass, then move back over. I don't do "cruise-control" passes unless no one is behind me.

As to the original question: No, drivers on the highway don't hate me. I suspect they like me better now than when I was tailgating them and weaving in and out of traffic trying to drive 10 mph faster than the rest of traffic was moving.

 

Troll elsewhere.

 

ya well, OH WELL!!

on a daily basis (i drive the Zenn mostly but on those once a week occasion or so when i do drive the Pri, i still see this) i will be coasting up to a red light. 4 cars or more already sitting at the light... have a guy zoom around me, just to slam his brakes on to keep from hitting anyone and sit there only to have me pass him while still coasting when the light goes green.

i have long ago stopped caring and wish i could figure out a way where i would not notice these idiots at all and still maintain safety.

it is funny though that when gas was $4 a gallon, there were a LOT of people who were driving like me...now i pretty much drive alone

 

Understand that you used your first post on this forum to attack another member. Personal attacks and strawmen are not an argument. If you want a serious debate, you will find one, but you have to play by the rules.

You're free to try again, if you're truly interested.

Otherwise, troll elsewhere.

 

Well, on top of me being a young driver, the Prius has made it no better for me.

After classes, I usually drive to work Route 6 here in CT/RI and people just give me the snark look like I'm driving slower than a snail (yet I am keeping at the speed limit). I'm sorry the speed limit is 45 - if you want to speed and cause another accident and delay everyone else, please, be my guest. Plus, this road is crawling with police, and with the fluctuation of speed limits from 35 to 25 to 50 to 45, it gets hectic.

Let them speed by me and get ticketed or cause an accident. I didn't buy this car to be better than the other drivers, just to have a large size car with great MPG - and I average about 47. Mostly highway too. I have learned to just ignore those people...

 

Impeding the flow of traffic is universally not well accepted.

I rarely have to drive on freeways, but when I do, I go with the flow, if not, I'm passing fools.