Wonderful Prius

I am a US Soldier stationed in Korea and as such I cannot own a car. I've been commuting to and from work for the past three years by bicycle, which is the ultimate LEV I do miss a car, though!!

Anyway, I am currently in California, and I rented a Prius from Avis, and wow, what a car! I love this super gadget on wheels! I have always been kind of a gadget man, and my home is littered with GPS, Ipod, Palm Pilot, laptop, etc, etc, etc. Now my next one will be a Prius as soon as I return to the US next February!

I have been driving this little car for a few days now, and managed to squeeze 43 mpg out of the first tank, and that did include two climbs to Big Bear Lake. For anyone that has ever been to Big Bear, you know how steep and how long a climb that is. I believe that without the hill climbs I could have managed over 50 mpg. Yesterday I refueled the Prius and managed 65 mpg for 20 miles

I love this, this car is like a moving video game, I keep trying to beat the numbers, keeping the green consumption bar as high as possible always. I am getting addicted :lol:

I have to return the Prius by September 10, and before that I will be driving it to San Francisco, possibly putting over 1000 miles on it. I'll report back here on the economy I achieve later. Then it's back to Korea and ridin' my road bike to work, saving money to afford that cool new Prius when I return to the old US of A.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(andyprius @ Sep 2 2007, 01:58 PM) [snapback]505943[/snapback]</div>

They do but only for US auto makers, their salesmen always hassle me about buying a car, but I told them to only talk to me when they start selling foreign cars... my experience with Chevy, Ford and Dodge has been nothing but headaches....

 

Doc Willie, you're welcome

Today I drove the the Prius from La Palma, CA (near Anaheim) to Fairfield, CA (near Napa Valley). Temps were high, from 99 to 111 degrees, so I had the a/c on the whole time. When doing pit stops I kept the engine on more to keep the cabin cool than to keep the engine warm (I don't think the engine would ever drop below 73F...). On one of the long uphills the engine fans kicked in, as I was pushing her hard and it was hot...

During the long downhills I'd feather the brakes, keeping the Prius below 75 mph even though it wanted to go faster. A few times I charged the battery to its max with all green bars, and the battery would drive the car even at 65 mph. I maximized use of the cruise control to keep the engine rpms more even, keeping the cruise speed from 65-75 mph. Before starting the trip I set the tires to 42/44 psi.

Arriving at Fairfield I refueled the Prius, topping it off with 9.15 gallons. The trip odometer read 485 miles, for a final 53 mpg... not bad for a long drive at 70 mph on a hot day!!