Silly hybrid drivers

[usmclowrider]

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.

[sarguy01]

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!

[War_Wagon]

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!

[Frank Lee]

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.

[2000mc]

Originally Posted by War_Wagon

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!

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.

[RedDevil]

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

[gone-ot]

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

[Cobb]

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.

[vskid3]

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.

[Cobb]

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.