it takes actually owning one

to appreciate a Prius. I just got my first--I hereby enthusiastically join the chorus of "I wish I had gotten one sooner"-- but, re tire pressure/mileage: I picked up the car with 8 miles on the odo and drove home 80 miles, making the foolish mistake of assuming the dealer's predelivery would include checking that the tires were at least filled to factory spec. 40.5 miles per gallon on that trip. I was somewhat disappointed but figured that the car was brand new. Then I discovered 30-31 lbs in all 4 tires. Hmm. Filled them to 42 fr/40 rear, as I've seen many here recommend (with no appreciable change is ride quality, btw). The next 80 miles: 53.4 average over similar terrain, hill and dale north of NYC. I'm curious as to the accuracy of these mileage meters on cars, but I'd like to think that they are close: not until I actually saw the 53.4 reading did it really hit me that the Prius is an amazing vehicle. I've driven three Subaru wagons-- '95, '96, '03--22, 24 mpg tops. Our '07 Volvo V70 gets 26--so to be able to travel more than twice as far on a gallon of gas is amazing. Price of oil aside, the environment aside--it simply makes no sense not to have such efficiency in transportation. There will always be a need for specialty vehicles. But for normal use, no other vehicle makes sense. And I enjoy driving the car much more than I anticipated. On test experiences I felt that the Prius was less than solid (judging by closing the doors, for example, esp compared to Subaru & Volvo), and I felt somewhat cramped on test drives (I'm 6-2), but no longer feel that. Fantastic car. Eff'ing fantastic, in fact.