My week without my C

After 2 months or so of ownership, someone backed into me at a stop sign. This did $2,000 in damage (somehow). Either way, I was without my C for a week and instead I was with a sporty Mazda 2.

This is my first Hybrid, but its odd how quickly you "forget" how to drive normal cars. The Mazda accelerated differently then the C and it took me a few miles to re-adjust. I found myself the next day falling into old driving habits of accelerating and breaking at a whim and navigating in and out of traffic like it is a game. In the back of my mind I kept thinking "this is counter-intuative, you are just going to see the same cars at the stop light, etc.".

However, in this car, which did not report to me how my reckless driving was influencing gas mileage, I quickly forgot some of what the prius had taught me. I still costed to stop lights when given the chance, but accelerating quickly was something the car seemed to not just promote, but encourage. The rev of the engine, the red lights, the gauge as it went from 0 to 60+, the short thrill of plotting how to navigate the complex traffic patterns to reach the stop light before the others. Feeling the breaks stop without regeneration. I was suprised how quickly I became the driver I was before the C.

I guess what I learned is that the car makes the driver. The C has things built in to counteract my years of learned bad city driving. It tells me "if you do this, gas mileage will suffer" and I try different ways to improve it (coast and glide, accelerating fast when needed, catiously otherwise, etc). Even on my stressed out days where I just want to drive recklessly, the C tells me, "whoa, just chill out, things will be alright". In a way, the car is a partner in the driving experience. Every car is. This car is just more vocal about what it is doing, and how your behavior is either helping you or harming you.

It's been a few days back with my C and I have fallen back into my C driving habits. I now see those same cars that accelerate fast and dodge in and out of traffic at the various stop lights we all stop at. I think a lot more about traffic patterns, how fast other cars are driving, and timing the stop lights then when I was in the Mazda. I am a more thoughtful driver due to the more technical C. And I am saving gas. In this way, technology is not an impedement to driving as we have gotten use to in the recent years. More is less in a paradoxical way. And the car is not just passive participant.

On a side note, I had to fill up the Mazda once (drove out about 2/3rds of a tank in 5 days). It cost me like $25 dollars. I actually forgot how to use the pump when I first got there. I filled up my C today, it costs me $30 and will last 2 weeks.

 

Thanks guys. It was more in-depth then I was expecting. I defiantly enjoy having my C back.