My new Prius: More of my observations

So I've now had my Prius for a grand total of 2.5 days, and I've driven about 160 km (100 miles) of mostly city/suburb driving. Here are some more of my observations, again in no particular order ...

• I neglected to reset the MFD when I picked up the car on Tuesday evening and will probably end up with a wacky consumption figure by the time I fill up, BUT even so, right now, I'm averaging 5.9 l/100 km (40 mpg US / 48 mpg IMP). I am quickly getting in tune with how the Prius works, and I'm very conscientious of what I should do to lower my fuel consumption (been reading up on the subject on other forums of PriusChat). Therefore, I am positive that when I fill up and reset, I should be able to get much lower than 5.9.

• Some PriusChatters have commented about how they didn't like the feel of the steering wheel. I don't really notice much of a difference between that of my ex-C230 and my Prius, but then again, the C230 just had a standard one, not covered in leather or anything.

• The Prius' climate control system works exactly the same as that in the C230. I've put it on AUTO, set my setpoint, and left it alone. It's really cool (pun intended :eyebrows how on a warm day the air conditioner pumps out cold air when the engine is off! I've also found that even though it's been a little cold in the mornings--around 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit)--the Prius warms up the interior more quickly than the C230 did.

• Not really related to the Prius, I guess, but I love having a hatchback again; it's so convenient and useful. Kinda reminds me of the red 1989 Honda Civic hatchback I bought new so many years ago ... I loved that car!

• Tried connecting my Treo 680 to the Prius but couldn't. I've read up on it elsewhere on PriusChat, and I'm going to try again....

• I changed the way the car unlocks when approaching the driver's door to having all doors unlock at the same rather than the default. It was easy to make the change on the first attempt.

• Some PriusChatters have debated whether or not to add mudflaps. My Prius was delivered to me with mudflaps at no extra charge. do not know if that's a Canadian thing or not.

• I haven't silenced the reverse beep yet. Initially, I thought that that would be one of the first things I'd do, but I haven't quite gotten used to the shift lever yet. As a result, on a couple of occasions, I've shifted into D rather than R, and the lack of the beep has warned me not to proceed. Maybe once I get used to shifting, I'll make the change.

• Partially because of the Prius, my wife and I have decided to "green" other parts of our life through recycling, reusing, reducing. Two (of many) examples: we've bought fabric grocery bags and will no longer accept plastic bags, and I'm looking into composting our kitchen waste instead of garburating it. We're thinking about other things we can do, too.

Including my first "observations" post, that's about all that I can think of. I'm sure that other things will crop up as I get used to the Prius, but for now ... there you have it.

As anyone should be able to tell, I love the car! If anyone out there is debating buying a Prius, I'd be happy to share what I've experienced after going from an entry-level luxury car to the Prius.