The Prius is just remarkable

Sometimes you can just try too hard, which it sounds like maybe you've ben doing. I can often find on fairly level terrain that I can maintin 60mph and achieve close to 60mpg.

 

Right from day one, I have refused to play the game of fussing over fuel use with this car. I drive it just like every other car we've ever owned [this is number 54 since June of 1962], and always am at the 90th percentile or better when it comes to speed.

For me, the attraction of the car is that it is, in effect, a Camry-sized interior, with a hatch, in a Corolla-sized package. All other things being equal, anything over 30 mpg in this kind of package would have been OK with me, if you leave out the hybrid technology and just focus on the car. So, driven hard and fast, we get a consistent 40 mpg....and I'm pleased as punch.

I watch with some bemusement the folks who obsess over the difference between 47.5 and 50 mpg, or spend hours fussing with driving techniques trying to hit some arbitrary number. Nothing wrong with this....but it's not why I bought the car, and I don't care to play the game.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jrct9454 @ Jun 8 2006, 08:50 AM) [snapback]267842[/snapback]</div>

I can appreciate (and respect) what you've said. However, I am one of those who does everything I can do maximize mileage. I have never been under 55 mpg except once when I took a trip and got 50. My current MPG is 65.2 with almost 500 miles on this tank.

The big thing for me is not the money I'm saving on gas, but the fact that my driving style has changed dramatically. If I drove the Prius the way I did every other car I've ever owned, I would be weaving in and out of traffic, slamming on my brakes just before a red light, tailgating, and getting impatient with every other driver.

The Prius has changed my driving habits. I now enjoy driving instead of trying to beat the clock. I take it as a personal challenge to better my mileage. My goal is to try and average 70 mpg for one tank. But the great result of trying to milk every ounce of gas mileage out of the car is that I am a better and safer driver. To me, the Prius has been a sort of savior.

Ken

 

We just filled up the tank for the 10th time, so I went back and looked at the overall gas mileage since we bought the Prius. It was 46.5 calculated, and 46.1 according to the computer.

We have tried different techniques to boost the gas mileage, and will continue to do so, but it seems to me that the more we drive the Prius, the less important it is to wring every last mile out of each gallon of gas. When I think that the Honda CR-V we traded in for the Prius averaged 20.8 mpg over the two years that we owned it, any gas mileage we get in the Prius is going to beat that by a wide margin, and that makes me feel very good about the Prius.

I think that when we first bought the Prius, we were more obsessed with getting the best mileage we possibly could, and now - because we KNOW we're going to get good gas mileage - it's more of a game ... like picking a gas station not for the price but the location, so after I fill up I have a chance to glide home and have the MFD show a ridiculously high mpg.

I agree with kentee777 - the Prius has changed the way I drive, not just the Prius but our Sienna as well. My wife would probably say the change is subtle ( ), but I leave more space between me and the car in front of me, I look ahead for traffic lights and avoid abrupt stops, no more jack-rabbit starts, and so on. It's a great car, and as a unexpected bonus, I'm a better and happier driver.

 

A single 20-mile trip is insufficient to draw any conclusions. Wind could make a difference, and the battery temperature makes a big difference. Even the starting vs ending SOC can make a difference on a trip that short.

However, I agree totally with the idea of just driving the car (but in a safe and defensive manner: the streets are a jungle). The difference in gas or money saved between 50 and 51 mpg is very small.

I drive slower on the freeway than I used to (formerly 5 mph over the limit; now 55 to 60 if the limit is over 60) but it's to reduce my carbon contribution to the planet, not to save gas as such, and for safety. The characteristics of the car have lessened my stress level to the point where I am comfortable driving at this safer speed. 55 mph is significantly safer than 70 mph.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jrct9454 @ Jun 8 2006, 09:50 AM) [snapback]267842[/snapback]</div>

54 cars in 44 years?!? :blink: What the heck do you do to them?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jrct9454 @ Jun 8 2006, 06:50 AM) [snapback]267842[/snapback]</div>

Well said. The Prius is a decent all-around car in itself, MPG is a plus.

 

Yes, the Prius IS a remarkable car...

I know you don't know me, but I'm sort of what you might consider a "car guy", in my short 16 year driving history, I've had like 20 something cars... Anyway, over the last few months, I've had the chance to acquire some seriously nice vehicles, but just couldn't let go of the Prius. The nicest of which was an '03 Escalade Pick-Up if that tellls you anything...

...anyway, it's such an incredibly useful car. What other car can you take a nap in the middle of summer, with the windows rolled up with the AC gently blowing with the engine not constantly running? ...what other car can you drive that actually HELPS your MPG while being in slow moving traffic? :lol: I could go on and on...

I only wish it was bigger though... h34r:

 

You warm-weather folks get ALL the breaks! Just drive it. No cold weather, snow, ice, and the like to bring down that average in the 'other' season up here.

I've noticed road construction season also boosts MPG. Slower speeds, warm weather, summertime and the livin' is easy.

Not that I don't enjoy winter and my snowboarding and so forth, but it's downright hard to accept anything less than 50 MPG when u KNOW the car can do it under warmer temps.

cheers,

Curt.

 

I'm sure there are lots of owners in California that all they want is access to the commuter lanes and care little about the gas mileage (just another perk). If the program ends in 2008, I wonder if we'll see a bunch of used ones on the used car market at that time.

 

I agree. This concept of slowing down and using gas more responsibly is not limited to hybrid drivers. A lot of cars today have MPG displays.

I find it does help to have instant feedback about what I'm doing at any given moment of my drive. My 2001 VW Passat, which I bought for the 4-cylinder turbo engine and 5-speed manual transmission, among other things, had the real-time MPG as well as trip average and tank average. I noticed with that car that I could vary my freeway mileage from about 26 (driving 65 or 70) up to 38 or 40 just by setting the cruise at 55.

In many areas of the country, people routinely drive 10 or 15 mph over the limit. The downside of driving at or under the limit is that, unfortunately, many of our fellow drivers don't seem to understand the "Slower Traffic Keep Right" signs ... meaning they drive left and force faster traffic to pass them on the right. Those of us who are driving a few miles under the limit and actually staying to the right can find ourselves being passed by drivers using an entrance ramp (or even the shoulder) as a passing lane.

Since clueless drivers, mindlessly chatting on cell phones while lighting another cigarette, are probably going to be with us as long as there are roads and cars, all we can do is drive defensively and do our part to drive defensively and keep safe.

Slow down -- arrive relaxed. And most importantly, avoid this outcome:



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jun 8 2006, 06:34 AM) [snapback]267892[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sfr @ Jun 8 2006, 01:34 PM) [snapback]268209[/snapback]</div>

Is that photo shop?? An actual sign?? There are no states/highway departments in America that are cool enough to post that!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Whitestar @ Jun 8 2006, 10:23 AM) [snapback]268023[/snapback]</div>

It's a hobby - you know, car ENTHUSIAST? No kids, no dogs, no horses, and a demanding career in tech management - the car hobby was and is my main interest outside of home life. Not average, but I bring it up as an indicator that I do have a little experience - 14 Toyotas, 14 Mercedes, 4 BMWs, and everything else German and Japanese over the years. What's unique about the Prius is how very European it is in terms of looks and functionality [I see a Citroen when I look at the car]....but with Toyota reliability.

Now I understand that the Prius is a car that, in general, gets no respect from the so-called "enthusiast community"; my reaction to that is that there is too narrow a definition of what an "enthusiast" is - the car magazines think only in terms of track performance and horsepower - I think in terms of what is interesting and intriguing. They don't come much more interesting and intriguing than this car - and I love the practicality.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jrct9454 @ Jun 9 2006, 09:35 AM) [snapback]268537[/snapback]</div>

Interesting and intriguing is exactly how I see our Prius-I thought I'd hate it but I really like it. That's the explanation for our strange stable of cars" Prius, 300C SRT8, Triumph TR6 and MINI Cooper S...All fun to drive, fun to talk about, fun to learn about, fun to mod and play around with. (And reltively inexpensive to own!) Life is too short to drive boring cars.

 

Obsessed with MPG? The salesman told me it was a video game that came with the car.

I think the obsession over MPG comes from my OCD. I guess it beats counting the white dashes as I drive by. People tend to get annoyed when I am driving 10 mph on the freeway.

Do tend to drive the speed limit. Take for instance this morning. I was in a 25 mph zone and some guy annoyed with my speed limit drving after tailgating me went into the second lane to speed. Probably around 35-45 mph. I caught up to him at every light until we both reached the same parking lot. :lol: Unless it is a 7+ hour trip it really does not make much of a difference to speed. Too many external factors which slow you down - lights, traffic, bladder, kids in the back seat, hot looking person driving in the right hand lane ... err oops did I say that outloud.

 

well driving a little slower than the speedlimit to save fuel or to be safer, ok as long other people that want to drive at speedlimit can pass You easily.
I see too many people doing scary dangerous passings of cars that go 75km/h on a 80km/h road here in Norway. sure those people are responsible for what they can cause doing crazy passings .,but people driving slower than speed limit have to keep in mind that they can be the trigger of an dangerous stupid passing that can cause havoc an death for other inocent drivers...there are many stupid drivers ,and the smart ones have to "help" them to keep themself and other safe..


Andreas

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Jun 8 2006, 12:30 PM) [snapback]268153[/snapback]</div>

An EV. And the engine NEVER runs.

An EV. And your mileage is infinite to begin with.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jrct9454 @ Jun 9 2006, 08:35 AM) [snapback]268537[/snapback]</div>

I am also a long time car enthusiast. Have been customizing and playing with cars since the mid 50's. I just ordered a new Prius. It should be just as much fun to tinker with as everything I have owned in the past. If the old school cars guys and enthusiasts can't understand the appeal, well thats just thier loss....