Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
I have to say I was mildly disappointed when you decided to trade the Accord rather than mod it out, but I understand. The Prius is a fun & capable machine.
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I can't blame you for that. Truth is that I would have kept it except for one thing: space. My mistake was buying the coupe, which made it nearly impossible to carry any single item larger than ~20" square. There was room in the car, of course, but no opening big enough to get said cargo into the cabin. After more than a few times beating my head to find another vehicle to borrow, I decided it was time to trade. I do miss it for its style, comfort, and efficincy/price ratio, but the Prius is a real winner when in comes to fitting the lifestyle of someone who has moved three times in the last four years, takes trips, and likes to DIY to the greatest extent possible. So please don't be too hard on me.
I'd be up for some control runs. But even that might not do the trick. Mine has 100k fewer miles on it, different wear on the tires, probably different oil, different battery condition, different ECU settings (for fuel trim, etc.), etc. I understand the problem, though, since I'm involved in this Pulstar plug trial for CleanMPG. The only thing I know to do is collect as much data as humanly possible and do A-B-A trials as conditions change. So I have been recording FE and conditions info from my daily commutes on the same route for the last couple of tanks, and I'll do the same once I install the plugs next weekend. Rinse and repeat for a couple of months, then mine the data for any effect. I'm lucky in that I have access to some fairly powerful statistical analysis software and the training to use it properly. But even then, it isn't perfect! So we'll see what happens with that.