Got a Prius, Drivers Now Hate Me.
 

Any fellow Prius or hybrid drivers out there getting a #1 finger tosses there way more then in other cars? I drove a 1999 camry for 5 years and drove pretty conservatively but was hardly ever flipped off or had someone flash their brights at me ( not because my lights were off ). Now in my 2008 Prius I feel like the scum of the world. I drive the speed limit, definitely accelerate slowly but I'm not driving 35 in a 55 if you know what I mean. Anyone else experience this, or is it just Southern California crazy people who must be flooring it to a red light.

I find that I can accelerate pretty hard in my Prius and still get better mileage than the third gens. The key is to do the coasting and braking (or lack thereof) intelligently. It might cost a little mileage, but they Prius makes it easy to do a good amount of hypermiling without being hated.

I thought that accelerating hard was actually better for fuel economy.

Prius sales are strong in my area and they seem to be well accepted on the road.

There will always be those drivers out there that hate for no real reason.

I do agree with vskid. You don't have to accelerate slowly. I accelerate in my 04 usually between 2000 and 2500 rpm which is on the slower side of average, but not obnoxiously slow. I also don't hesitate to give it a bit more, it really doesn't seem to hurt FE much. I drive the speed limit above 40 mph. Under 40 I do P&G as traffic allows. I don't get too many angry passers by, but do get lots of passers by.

Welcome to California! State of the most idiotic drivers in the country! Tbh I either flip them off back, or in the case they flash their brights at me, I just pop it in neutral and coast until they either A. Get so tired of sitting behind me they move or B. My speed gets so low they can't stand it, they go around. In the case of retaliation by brake checking, I just slow down so much so that they can't possibly brake check me at that speed, they get so bored they just leave. All the aforementioned actions keep you out of trouble with the law, keep you and other drivers around you out of danger and get rid of the offending car.

Happens here. Drivers see the hybrid logo and seem to automatically get pissed off. I get a lot more tailgaiting now than in my last car, as well as other strange behaviors.

Yesterday I was doing 35 in a 30 (downhill) and had an F350 get on my bumper, wave his hands at me, and then pass at close to 60mph in downtown Tallahassee. Have had other vehicles nearly get into accidents trying to get around me, when I was moving with traffic no less.

I often make a point of out-accelerating them at the next stoplight, which we inevitably both end up at together.

I rarely get abused in traffic these days, mainly because:

#1 - I haul ass up to speed with full assist, not so much to pacify the other drivers, but more so because I want the shortest time possible between a dead stop and lean burn!

#2 - I completely de-badged the Turtle, except for the big ole Ecomodder decal on the back. Nobody even seems to realize it's a Hybrid, and I'm not going so much slower than traffic that I make a spectacle of myself

#3 - I never take I-4 (Interstate), and I now have modified my route to where I am on 4-lane roads almost the entire time where there is room to get around me, without a crazy amount of lights. Only the last three or four miles is on a two lane road, but it's not heavily traveled, and anybody behind me just goes around me anyway.

Does heavy acceleration net more mpg? I accelerate at 30% throttle 80% engine load up to speed, but have often wondered if 40/90 would be more fuel efficient.

I don't know at what throttle point the Insight starts enriching, but I've had my best numbers with gradual acceleration between maybe 2000 and 3000rpm. It may be more due to lower average speed in town than being the most efficient way to accelerate.

Its not just fuel enrichment you need to look out for. You can stay in closed loop mode in most modern cars at WOT for quite a while. However, the ignition timing starts to retard at high engine loads. This reduces efficiency first. Then, when the engine can't mitigate pinging with ignition timing, it dumps extra fuel to cool things down, aka open loop mode.

Somebody with more experience with Gen-1 Insights please pipe in, cause there at least three noobs with Insights here that would love some guidance.

Somebody prove me wrong or confirm my theory here:

My car coasts along getting around 100 mpg in lean burn at whatever cruising speed I'm at, up to about 55 mph, which is about my top speed anyway on my route.

My theory is that the quicker I punch it up to 5th gear and into lean burn, the better. I'm taking less than half the time to get there by accelerating hard than if I great-grandma it up to speed like Ecky's doing, and the mpg meter never goes below 20-30 while I'm accelerating. It takes me twice as long to hit lean burn if I gradually increase speed, and I'm still dipping below 50 mpg while accelerating, so maybe it's a wash?

I'm not sure which method works best, but I'll Mr. Bean it too if that gains me some mpgs! It's not like I didn't do it in the Black Widow!

It is, unless the throttle is mashed enough to engage the electric motors.

The ideal acceleration rate on a Prius would be as much engine load as possible before the electric motors kick in. I know there is a display on the Gen III Prii that indicates what portion of the gasoline power is being utilized, along with what portion the electrics.

I don't remember how the Gen II displays this. You might need a SG on a Gen II.

No need to retaliate. The other driver is already pissed, so they have already been punished for their impatience and rudeness.

I usually ignore other drivers, because maintaining my own happiness is a much better payback for others disrespect. It's a much better attitude than when I first started driving; honking and yelling at everyone on the road.

Re the Insight, I do tend to leave stop lights &c faster than about 90% of drivers*, and still have averaged over 70 mpg (for 130K+ miles). I'm not accelerating all that hard, either: maybe a bit over half throttle, and enough to kick in the assist. I've never done anything more than seat of the pants testing with my Insight (and really don't know how you would, without buying a lot of expensive measuring equipment), but brisk acceleration does seem better, in general, than a slow crawl.

*Though I put a lot of this down to reaction time: I tend to leave when the light turns green, not some seconds later when the stimulus finally trickles down to the dinosaur brain :-)

Ignoring other drivers passes up the greatest single source of amusement out there. If they really wanted past, they'd lay back, watch for a passing opportunity and gas it so that when that passing spot appears, they're right behind me at passing speed and pop out at the appropiate time. If they're not doing that then what they really want to do is sit there entertaining you.

Reaction time is funny. I can start up when the light turns green and still be first off the line. Kind of sad, really.

For the record, that's basically my definition of "punching it" in the Turtle! Pretty much keeping up with traffic, lol.

I kick it in with assist up to cruising speed, but I'm not red-lining it or anything, and I shift around 3K to 3500 rpm until 3rd, and sometimes skip 4th and jump straight into fifth.

I can't quite see this. Though I'm not familiar with the Prius, it would seem that the absolute optimum would be a Volt-like constant engine load (running at best BSFC), and using the electric motor to add power for acceleration. Especially since that power is (optimally) saved from what would otherwise be wasted as heat in braking.

I generally avoid situations where any confrontation even begins to evolve, but then I imagine most other drivers feel pity for me in my ancient car. They can laugh, they can get aggravated, but would have to look pretty hard for any reason. Generally I am behind something that they pass long before they get too close and when 90% of the drivers are passing me I get a mileage boost from the never ending stream of higher speed cars.

I watch my 6 most carefully but with peripheral vision so as not to allow something ahead to catch me unattentive. Tailgaters get tired of speed changes and usually pass without agressive actions.

Pop always says, " I would rather have the idiots in front of me instead of behind me."
I find that to be good advice as long as I can fingure out which ones are really stupid before they get me into a chain reaction event.

regards
mech

Welcome to our world. :D

I have a 2nd gen insight, which looks like a 2nd gen prius. :eek: I find this more often happens in rush hour. Its just asking for an accident to try to drive in an eco manner in regards to driving slower, accelerating slower, etc. I find in many cases I can go twice the posted limit with flow of traffic and police cars pass everyone. I usually end up driving it like a rental car, pushing either the gas or brake to the floor, making 90 degree turns at 45 mph, taking on/off ramp at 70 and there is usually a car 3 ft from my bumper.

The fun part is there are plenty of a holes out there. The few who have a POS that can exceed what Im doing just to get in front of me has 3 more cars waiting to cut them off or suddenly slow down for no reason.

Yeah, we got guys purposely drive slower when you approach them, then speed up when you go to pass. :D If I get in a situation like that I make sure there is a 15 mph gap so I can win.

In general hybrids are their most efficient the least you use of its electric system. :eek: Both the insight and prius work best to use gas to accelerate and load the engine to a point. Then coast to a stop with minor use of the electric system to extend coasting. With the gen 1 insight with lean burn you use lean burn while coasting to extend coasting and not use ima for triple digit mpg. Those who post that typically do not exceed 50 mph, P&G a lot.

You need to update your profile. When did you move to Massachusetts?

In my Mustang, 60 in a 60 and no one cares.

At 65, one of my G1 Insights, as soon as people see me, they start racing up. I always get passed faster in the Insights than the Mustang.

Do you wanna know why...???

This is what they secretly see in their minds eye... :)

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps1bceed7c.jpg

Lol...

>

Mustang you say? Those drivers are next to the worse, the ones who drive bmws.

Ill never forget the day I was leaving Langley and they had a car show somewhere on post and this guy had a rat rod type of car. Constantly revving it, chirping tires and hated being behind me. The road leading away had some nice turns and some straightaway.

On the straightaways he caught up to me and on the turns he kept getting farther away. Finally when I hit 64 we were neck and neck, once I hit 70 he swerved a few times, then merged behind me and slowed down. :thumbup:

Maybe that's true if you never exceed 50 mph, but not if you drive in an at least semi-reasonable fashion, with some consideration for other people on the road.

Like Cobb, I've also noticed that the people who ride my bumper on the straights seem to wind up quite a ways back on the curves.

I wonder if a racing stripe and raised letter tires would help? When some one rides my bumper, the four way flashers come on until they get 2-3 seconds separation. If they want to pass, I give them room. I try to stay within 5 mph of the posted limit and keep my speed up in the turns.

When they ride your bumper you can just work your windshield washers. :D

I saw an a hole in a lowered suv do that and it seemed to work well. Made a fog or mist appear above the top of his vehicle.

Ive entertained the idea of getting a prius v since it looks like either a mini van or lexus suv from the rear, not to mention more room inside for that vary reason it doesnt look like a hybrid. :thumbup:

Heh. Can't call them drivers. They're just passengers who happen to be behind the wheel.

I get passed by prius all the time the civic hybrid seem to be the slower hybrid around here. Because of the recent fuel price drop I seem to be the slowest car on the road. Trucks even used to drive 55 around here. Not any more.

I personally just don't like the car. It just seems like Toyota could have done a better job. I do like the yaris hybrid tho.

I do 51-55 in a 60 on my way to work in my Mustang Thursday-Monday, I don't recall getting tailgated or brights flashed at me a single time. Too bad I'm still only getting 5-9mpg :P.

Rotors
 

Hey my 08 Prius salavage had the steering rack and rear axle replaced but my front brake rotors can be made to move when the wheel is off/removed. The rotors are loose and can be made to move by hand.. Any suggestion on what to check