How the Prius wastes fuel

[niky]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

I think a couple things are at play here. First Prius drivers are guilty of being obnoxious hypermilers which is what was first pointed out. That may help you save gas but in the overall big picture actually contributes to wasting more gas then if you just did what everybody else was doing. Not only Prius drivers are at fault, everybody needs to do their part to make driving a better experience and very few people seem to want to help. That brings us to a 2nd part. Prius are very unique looking so they tend to get noticed whatever dumb thing they are doing. 3rd Prius drivers seem to be a little sensitive of these facts, maybe they are just more sensitive people in general. (Just teasing)

I think the more general lesson here is, if you're the following driver, it's never your fault for not simply matching the speed of the guy in front of you and sitting in his draft. Because, you know, that would totally not make any sense, right?

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by niky

I think the more general lesson here is, if you're the following driver, it's never your fault for not simply matching the speed of the guy in front of you and sitting in his draft. Because, you know, that would totally not make any sense, right?

The problem I don't think was a single car on a single lane, but a car beside another car going the same speed (or so close to it you are not really passing) blocking the flow of traffic and creating a bottleneck. Wouldn't it be better for those two cars to get in line and draft and leave the other lane open for passing? A fast draft and a slow draft. In Montana driving slow in the left lane alone really isn't a big deal as most cars have no problem blowing by you on the right without even taking off the cruise control. It's when 2 cars get side by side.
Like I said there needs to be more courtesy and awareness by everyone. Personally when coming up on a slower car will look way back for even faster traffic and do a quick glide and pulse waiting for the faster cars to get by first. If I'm passing another car and they suddenly speed up and match my speed (wierd but seems to happen all the time) I will slow down and draft in behind them, I have a new best friend as far as I'm concerned, better MPG and you can take out the animals for me.

[niky]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

The problem I don't think was a single car on a single lane, but a car beside another car going the same speed (or so close to it you are not really passing) blocking the flow of traffic and creating a bottleneck. Wouldn't it be better for those two cars to get in line and draft and leave the other lane open for passing? A fast draft and a slow draft. In Montana driving slow in the left lane alone really isn't a big deal as most cars have no problem blowing by you on the right without even taking off the cruise control. It's when 2 cars get side by side.
Like I said there needs to be more courtesy and awareness by everyone. Personally when coming up on a slower car will look way back for even faster traffic and do a quick glide and pulse waiting for the faster cars to get by first. If I'm passing another car and they suddenly speed up and match my speed (wierd but seems to happen all the time) I will slow down and draft in behind them, I have a new best friend as far as I'm concerned, better MPG and you can take out the animals for me.

Oh definitely, left-laners are the worst. Surprised Montana doesn't have a left-lane law.

LOL on the approach to blockers... seems a perfectly reasonable way to deal with wannabe racers.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

If I'm passing another car and they suddenly speed up and match my speed (wierd but seems to happen all the time) I will slow down and draft in behind them...

This is one of the most frustrating things to me. I'll have the cruise set at the same speed for hours on end and begin passing someone that is going 5 MPH slower, and then they hammer the accelerator and match my speed.

The principle of it makes me stubborn. Why should I have to modify my speed just because some Troglodyte drives by emotion? The worst is when passing someone along a limited passing lane and they speed up to prevent being passed. What's up with that?

I don't know what car these people typically drive, but there sure are a lot of irrational motorists out there.

[Frank Lee]

First world problems...

Don't know what you guys are talking about; I never pass anyone! LOL

(Not quite true, but almost)

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Anecdotes and bias. I'm not buying it.

If you wanted to talk about "kinetic ripple", that's what you should have talked about. Blaming one type of car is silly and distracts from the point you're trying to make.

I've been meaning to get back to this one for quite a while.

Blaming one type of car isn't necessarily irrational.

I do it all the time and in my mind I'm rational! (Truth: in my mind I'm not, but on this topic I am!)

For example, there are several types of blame I place specifically on full-size 4x4 pickups and SUVs (even though I have one). You know the ones:

*there's not a scratch on 'em and they have hard tonneaus- tells me the owner threw in the towel on it being anything but a ginormous commuter car.

*lifted, diesel, dually, or some combination thereof- rarely seen doing actual work that requires anywhere near that capacity. Compensating for "shortcomings".

*prone to exaggeration in other areas too, like mpg claims.

[Xist]

How about people that pass me and then hit the brakes? I am the slowest one on the road and they make me slow down?

[Frank Lee]

But they always turn off within a tenth of a mile of passing, right?

[adam728]

Did a 2100 mile road trip this past weekend. Didn't notice any slow Priuses, Pri-i, what ever plural is for Prius. Anyway, the only one I did notice was the one blowing by us somewhere in Illinois. I had the cruise set at 78 mph, he was going a good 15 mph more than us. And was probably still getting better mileage.

I will say, there are some BAD drivers out there. Wife drove for a leg and was getting pretty damn sick of one Nissan. We were running 72 or so, cruise set. We'd come up on him doing about 50-55 mph and cruise around in the left lane. A few miles later he'd motor by at maybe 85 mph and continue on into the distance. Then we'd suddenly catch him going 50-55 again on the freeway (I-80). We must have went back and forth 7 or 8 times. Same car, same guy, I couldn't see him doing anything in the car, like distracted by a cell phone, etc. Just wildly varying speed.

Then of course the pricks everyone already complained about, pass you while you are on cruise control, then nearly immediately after the pull in you have to switch it off because they are going slower than you were when they passed you.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

First world problems...

Don't know what you guys are talking about; I never pass anyone! LOL

(Not quite true, but almost)

Ha! First world problems is right. This is why no matter what happens out there I refuse to let it ruin my day or escalate at all. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react right?