Silly hybrid drivers
 

My thread about convincing my got me thinking about others driving the prius and civic hybrids and cars of that nature. It seems like when I see them they are going faster than me by a significant margin. I currently live in Fredericksburg, VA and do a lot driving on 95 towards DC and I see a lot of efficient cars in my travels, but they always seem to be flying down the road. I typically drive the posted speed limit to about 5 under and I get Priuses rolling past me. I guess they have the same "it already gets better mileage" train of thought like my wife. Does anybody else notice this? Just a thought from a bored guy on the couch.

Yes, this happens all of the time. Friday morning I had an impatient woman tailgating me in her Prius. When she had the chance, she passed me and shot me a dirty look. Two minutes later we were sitting at the same red light!

Any idiot can write a cheque for a car. If the snooty soccer mom down the street wants to look "eco-friendly" to her rich friends, she can go buy a new Prius and play the role. Has nothing to do with her having the smarts to actually use it how it was intended however. I bet the fancy 4x4 SUV she had before was actually capable of going off road quite well, but I bet you she never once put it in 4wd or drove on anything other than pavement! :snail:

Many of us have noticed that Priuii are often driven like they're stolen. On the bright side, their superficially eco-conscious owners likely were hot-footin' it all over creation in a truck previously.

I would bet they did use it in 4wd, even if not really necessary, then leave it in 4wd until a different driver uses the vehicle.

Up to about 2 years ago I thought Prius drivers etc. were driving slower than average, as I overtook herds of them driving at a speed just below what would get me a speeding ticket.
(that strategy misfired sometimes - adding to motoring costs, but nvm.)

Then my wife lost her job, so I had to work fulltime and save money at the same time.
I already tried everything to improve FE except driving slow. Then I started doing just that. Took some getting used to, but now I happily roll along in the slow lane in the pace of whatever is giving me an excuse to go that slow. It worked ;)

Now I see those Priuses speeding by.

Point is, you will only meet cars that move at a different pace than you do. The cars that move your pace stay away as far as they started all the time.
If you see speeding Priuses it means you move sufficiently slow to be economic ;)
Ah, and I drive a Hybrid, silly me :)

...sounds like an ecomodder version of the old avian adage: "...birds (cars) of a feather, flock (drive) together..." (ha,ha).

I agree. I remember early on with the gen 2 prius and gen 1 insight they were always holding up traffic going 45 in the center lane of the highway with a 65mph limit.

Then with the release of the prius 3 that changed. Ive driven a prius 3 like i stole it and still managed 49.9 mpg. The gen 2 insight I own ranges from 52 to 47 depending on the weather.

Sure if I go slower it gets even more, but there is also a value to time and going 5-15 over the speed limit really adds up on a long commute. At that you are still sending out less pollutants than the other cars is icing on the cake. :thumbup:

Why not have speed and mileage? Haters gonna hate. ;)

In my Prius, I generally accelerate at least as fast as traffic, but I play the cruising and braking better. I get 55-62MPG during the summer doing my commute and whatever local driving. Over the whole trip to pick up my Insight (El Paso, TX to Farmington, NM and back, a little under 1000 miles total) it averaged 48MPG doing 70-75MPH, mainly with cruise (Insight got 61MPG coming back, attempting the same speeds with no cruise). Only mods are 51PSI in the LRR tires, a lower grill block, and a semi-WAI (popped the intake tube off the airbox).

I personally am more interested in playing the city MPG game. Highway mileage mainly depends on the car and speed. Most of my highway miles are long trips, so I go the speed limit to shave hours off the travel time, which leaves the car as the only variable I can change.

This was a rental prius, but the insight was mines. I find next to setting the cruse control to 55mph that if you keep up with traffic your mpg really doesnt take much of a hit. For one you are driving closer to the guy in front of you so you are drafting. Then you speed and slow with traffic, so you are doing a pulse n glide.

You guys think that people replace their SUVs with hybrids?

I bet that many hybrid owners still have their gas guzzlers, but now they brag about being green.

In my (Gen 1) Insight, I generally accelerate quicker than most traffic - the benefit of 1850 lbs vs several tons - cruise around 65 on the flat parts of freeways, and have been known to hit 80-85 or more on a good downhill - while showing 150 mpg on the instant mpg readout.

I don't think it's the least bit silly to buy a hybrid so you can use less gas while still driving at a reasonable speed. Indeed, if I ever break down and buy a Tesla Roadster. you sure won't see me spending much time at 55.

I keep my suv right next to my hybrid. At least it gets 30mpg. :thumbup:

i have only seen a prius hypermile in my city once,, everysingle hybrid owner drives faster then me,, ZERO coasting and i mean zero

Of course, the obvious solution is hybrid SUVs--that people will drive 80 MPH.

The more efficient the car the less hypermiling or slowing down pays.

Starting at 20 mpg increasing mileage by 25% goes to 25mpg.
For 1000 miles you go from 50 gallons to 40 gallons. You save 10 gallons.

Start at 40 mpg an increase of 25% gets you to 50mpg
for 1000 miles you go from 25 gallons to 20 gallons. You save 5 gallons.

One of the great reasons to ecomod a car or replace a vehicle with one significantly more efficient is that you can get better mileage without having to slow down.

Your point that people don't think about their driving remains valid. However to assume that every hybrid driver is oblivious to the savings and how they drive is likely false. It is very likely that some have done a cost benefit analysis and came up with the answer that their time is worth more than the fuel they could save.

Were I to find a very efficient car to commute in (1st gen insight for example) I would likely drive significantly faster than I do now as the money saved gets smaller and the time lost (5 min per trip) stays the same.

That should be illegal, both shooting a dirty look at an ecomodder and wasting fuel like that.

I see it happen all the time here too, infact its so common that nearly everybody does it.

The primary reason why anybody purchases anything is to brag to their friends that they have and/or own something.

How many times have you used that blender, really?

Its a primitive emotional reaction of jealousy towards someone else.

My bogan neighbour leaves the halogen porch light on all night. Because he can. 300 watts of power for 12 hours a day or longer, wasted.

But if I were to go over and smash the light globes, oh now that makes me a criminal.

People are idiots and severely misinformed about any scientific topic whatsoever.

"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology."
Carl Sagan


And science is all around us, yet nobody sees it, all they see is "shiney thing goes round, makes women horny".

You don't need a degree to purchase something, but you do need to be smart to actually use the product properly, or read the directions and interpret them accuratley. blame the failed education system for not giving people the tools to use tools properly.

If people were more logical and less emotional maybe the world wouldn't be so screwed up.

"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
Carl Sagan

Basically, we're doomed unless someone can sufficiently shove more energy efficient vehicles and devices down these peoples throats irregardless of weather they actually understand the inner workings of anything at all.

"We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces."
Carl Sagan

Even if the fact that trees spontaneously shot up out of the ground every time a Prius hit 88 miles per gallon, the earth would still be screwed, because none of us are living anywhere closer to the forest, the forest is disappearing and it is getting further away from us, not nearer. We are pummelling down our previously held homes for new homes that we've temporarily made from petroleum and concrete, nothing that we have made is permanent on this planet and the Prius isn't a cure for this.

We simply need to stop consuming, full stop. If we cannot completely stop then we need to slow down our consumption to a snails pace. That's what the hybrid is, a stop gap measure.

In my opinion, if he wants to waste his money, he should be able to waste it. I don't think someone(thing) else should control a person. A person who is weak in such an issue should be able to suffer the consequences when they do come. Now, if it directly hurt someone else, I would not be so "capitalistic".

I am in full agreement with yoyo when it comes to not purchasing or using something because of emotions. And intentionally impressing someone else for no reason other than being impressive is nothing more than pride.

I've read or heard a story about the Greek philosopher Socrates who, after crossing the market, stated: "There are so many things that Socrates does not want"...

It stuck. When I see ads I often doubt whether Socrates would want it.

Some folks just get a hybrid because it's just "easier" than learning to drive efficiently.

The berries are sour said the fox!

The few hybrids available in my country are too expensive anyway, but getting a hybrid just for the "bragging rights" is one of the most pointless deals. If someone wants to brag aout how "saver" is the hybrid, why not to learn how to drive it the most efficient way?

OK, enough. :P