Intimidating Drivers

[houstonscott]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e-tG4gCXT5Y&desktop_uri=/watch?v=e-tG4gCXT5Y


Mine is a 2010.

HS

 

[Bird]

Good example is our 2000 Impala. It gets an honest 29mpg average on the highway while driving highway speeds over distances greater than a hundred miles or more. In town, its lucky to get 18 average in summer. In winter, its closer to 14 because I let it warm up for 5-10 minutes when its below 20. 10 minute warm-up + 10 minute five mile drive = really bad gas mileage when averaged stricktly on "how many miles I drove divided by how much gas I put in the tank". A better method to me is "how much gas did I use to drive X miles" and how much gas did I waste warming up, side trips, stuck in traffic, etc...

I don't have it broken down as in your last sentence, but I do have the mileage for each individual tank of gas and the overall average milage. Even such things as topping off the tank, or not, can affect individual tank mileage. Four months after we got our 2002 Ford Crown Vic in 2009 with 41k miles on it, we went to West Virginia in it; 1100 miles each way, but a little running around while we were there. Individual fill-ups ranged from a low of 24.756 mpg to 28.232 mpg but a lot of my wife's driving around here to the mall, grocery store, etc. make a big difference, so our overall average for 33k miles we've put on the car is 20.385 mpg. But the individual tanks have ranged this year from less than 17 mpg to more than 22 mpg. It's always a little better when that car goes to our younger daughter's house some 31 miles away via the Interstate highway.:laughing:

 

[Lou66]

I have a one ton F-350 crewcab, 6.0 diesel,4x4, didn't buy it for the mileage,, got it to pull stock trailers and equipment trailers with.. 40 gallon tank,, if it gets low I fill it up.. I have 93k miles on it and it ten years old.. so put 9k miles a year on it more or less.. if I get 20 mpg,, and I have 40 gallon tank.. then I fill it up once a month.. but it more like every three weeks cause I fill it at 3/4 tank.. that sound about right to me.. For as tailgating,, I don't tailgate,, if someone tailgates me then I slow down and let them pass.. I am in no hurry,, I drive mostly the same roads all the time.. if it more than five hundreds mile one way trip then I take a plane and read a car.. My wife drives a jeep because it sets up high and it's easy for her to get in and out,, she has one leg,, the jeep being short she can get to the back end and get her wheelchair out,, ,mileage on it is very low.. maybe 15 at the most.. when it gets low on gas I take it and fill it up.. she will be 65 next month,, I wanted to buy her a new car.. but she said I like this one.. its a 2007 hard top so I will buy her a gun instead,, she like killing things.:laughing:. Lou

 

[dave1949]

To own one vehicle that was total electric, recharged from solar panels at home, would be good for me, and I suspect many others. Forget about gas stations and mileage.

The Prius and similar technologies are a stepping stone to that solution. I think that is their value in the big picture/long game. In that sense, I agree with Dennis on the game-changing nature of the Prius.

As far as intimidation, I get the same differential in other drivers' behaviors if I am driving our Honda Civic 2-door, or I am out in the 1-ton with an 8x12 bed. People actually pay attention to the lines in the middle of the road when I'm driving the truck. Go figure.

 

[hawkeye08]

The Prius is not that great...

Toyota's Prius is Less Efficient and Environmentally Friendly than a Hummer? (The Torque Report)

 

[Midniteoyl]

It's interesting, when I drive the wife's Prius, I noticed that some folks who are driving in much larger vehicles, usually with over-sized tires, tend to tailgate me, pass unsafely and generally try to intimidate, using the size of their vehicle as a weapon. I don't get this behavior much when I drive my truck. Now, I'm going to generalize here, I'm aware: Sometimes, after something like this happens, the other driver and I will happen be headed to the same destination and when we each get out of our vehicles I can't help but notice that the other driver tends to be on the small side, physically. Rarely does this happen with big people in big trucks. I think perhaps they don't have self-image problems nearly as much, or at least don't use their vehicles to make up for their small size. I'm guessing they buy those big trucks to actually haul something big. I'm 6'2" at 220 lbs. and I sense that the other driver is sometimes a little surprised that the person they just tried to intimidate is not the person they envisioned driving a smaller car so they avoid eye contact at all costs. I'm not the type of person who intimidates others, the opposite in fact, but sometimes I would like to pick them up by the collar and say, "Hey, do you feel like intimidating me now, Punk?" :laughing:

Thats funny... I tend to fend the speeders and tailgaters are driving Prius's..

 

[powerpace]

I never notice people tailgating me because I tend to drive faster in my Prius than my Dodge 4X4.
Large vehicles around here are driven by women just as often as men.

 

[powerpace]

The Prius is not that great...

Toyota's Prius is Less Efficient and Environmentally Friendly than a Hummer? (The Torque Report)

You sir need to do some research on your own instead of reading articles like the above. Almost every point they made is questionable. I am on my second prius the first had 200,000 miles (4 years) on it when we sold it to the kids. Now approaching 250,000 still getting 47 mpg and very little maintenance. We put about 50,000 mile per year on the Prius. I couldn't afford to do that with a Hummer, much less the purchase price and insurance for the Hummer. You might want to read the comments below the article also. Go drive one before you express a opinion.
Taxi companys are buying Prius because the can get minimum 350,000 miles easily. The battery is guaranteed for 180,000 miles and the two dealers I have dealt with have only changed a few under warrantee because of manufacturing problems. None because of failure after 200,000 miles.

 

[hawkeye08]

You sir need to do some research on your own instead of reading articles like the above. Almost every point they made is questionable. I am on my second prius the first had 200,000 miles (4 years) on it when we sold it to the kids. Now approaching 250,000 still getting 47 mpg and very little maintenance. We put about 50,000 mile per year on the Prius. I couldn't afford to do that with a Hummer, much less the purchase price and insurance for the Hummer. You might want to read the comments below the article also. Go drive one before you express a opinion.
Taxi companys are buying Prius because the can get minimum 350,000 miles easily. The battery is guaranteed for 180,000 miles and the two dealers I have dealt with have only changed a few under warrantee because of manufacturing problems. None because of failure after 200,000 miles.

I've done my research, thank you very much. Glad you like yours. I bet you are against exporting coal to China too..

 

[powerpace]

http://cf.cdn.vid.ly/y0r5c2/mp4.mp4


Sometimes people just think they are buying high tech. Prius is marketing success. I average 38 in mixed driving and can exceed 42 if i can find the will power to stay down below 62mph. Remember now this car has 425 foot pounds of torque, (think F250 with power stroke diesel) and will go to 60 in 5.3 (think mustang GT). If up at speed think Porsche 911gts. This is where all the gas technology is flowing from, the high pressure diesels, been around for about 15 years now, just getting into American gas cars.

HS

What they should have done is drive from Los Angeles to New York through Denver. Half on the Interstate and half off. That's a test.
Either way the purchase price and upkeep is half that of any model you mentioned. Insurance for a midsize 4 door is also less than any of those vehicles.

 

[houstonscott]

They didn't have to build a freeway through the Serengeti to get the rare earth minerals need to make Prius batteries to make a Hummer. No lions or elephants world heritage sites were and are being destroyed to make a hummer. Same can't be said for Prius.

HS

 

[powerpace]

I've done my research, thank you very much. Glad you like yours. I bet you are against exporting coal to China too..

No actually I think Shipping Coal to China would be great. Coal can be burned cleanly. But not in China. They don't care too much for the health of their people.

 

[hawkeye08]

They didn't have to build a freeway through the Serengeti to get the rare earth minerals need to make Prius batteries to make a Hummer. No lions or elephants world heritage sites were and are being destroyed to make a hummer. Same can't be said for Prius.

HS

What? You mean that they are not using all environment friendly, no emissions parts and manufacturing processes to make this modern marvel of marketing?? How can that be? I bet you are going to tell me next that these are made by a greedy profit generating company using non union labor whenever they can...

Just kidding, I agree that the environmental cost is higher for Prius...

 

[powerpace]

I've done my research, thank you very much. Glad you like yours. I bet you are against exporting coal to China too..

Worried about Hybrid Battery Environmental Impact | PriusChat

This is a quite old and totally debunked topic. We will probably be hearing about it for some time.

So here are the salient points one more time:

Sudburry Nickel Mine is more than 100 years old. It has been refining sulfurous nickel ore all that time.

For those un-aware of history, man landed on the moon in 1969. The moon buggy training occured previous or shortly thereafter. The Prius Design Project started in 1992. There is no way the Prius was even around when the ecological destruction was already done while the Moon Buggies were scooting around the damaged Sudbury landscape.

The source of the picture used in the article was found by PC'ers. It is available for purchase from a picture supply company, and is dated well before 1992.

INCO (the company that owns the mine) has done much since the 1970's to recover the damaged areas. In fact they have won awards for their efforts in recent decades, and actually have gotten trees to grow again in some of the areas.

Nickel is an industrial metal used in a myriad of everyday items. Stainless Steel is the main use. Next time you pick up your eating utensils, "The Mail on Sunday" would like you to think about Sudbury too. The next time you take a trip by turbine powered aircraft, think about Sudbury - turbine blade alloys are mostly nickel. The next time you do not need to replace the exhaust system in a car in 2 years - Sudbury. The list goes on and on (metal platings, cutlery, connectors, magnetic shielding...). This is probably why "The Mail on Sunday" retracted the article. Toyota's nickel purchase is less than 1 % of yearly production at Sudbury.

Unfortunately, every lazy politico wanna-be (like Rush Limbauh, George Will and college student muscle car enthusiasts - Chris Demoro) out there keeps regurgitating the faulty information from the misleading The Mail on Sunday article. Rather than fully researching the topic.


Toyota has a recycling plant for the batteries, and a $200 bounty for the scrap batteries. Does your local Household Goods store have such a program for the stainless steel eating utensils, cutlery and oven grates they sell? Does "This Old House" list a place to send those Stainless Steel kitchens they are fond of installing after they are used up?

Read more: Worried about Hybrid Battery Environmental Impact | PriusChat
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[houstonscott]

http://www.theecologist.org/News/ne...way_plan_could_destroy_major_carbon_sink.html

What You will find is this highway links the rare earth mineral mines on the west side of the park with the maritime ports to the east. Most of those minerals will be used in the hybrid battery market in Japan, yeah your Prius.

I guess what people are trying to say about Prius drivers is, drop the I'm so smart I bought a Prius, I am better then you smirk on your face, and put on the I'm embarrassed an got sold a tall tail face. Prius has major environmental issues, more than most cars, enough is already known that hybrid and electric is not the future.

HS

 

[powerpace]

What? You mean that they are not using all environment friendly, no emissions parts and manufacturing processes to make this modern marvel of marketing?? How can that be? I bet you are going to tell me next that these are made by a greedy profit generating company using non union labor whenever they can...

Just kidding, I agree that the environmental cost is higher for Prius...

Not everything is environmentally friendly but they use less petrochemical originating material than others. Fish oil and natural fibers are used to make the plastic instead of oil.


Lithium-Ion Battery
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/05/2...m-ion-battery-production-6x-for-introduction/

 

[troutsqueezer]

Dave1949 has it right. Prius, while not perfect, was an important stepping stone on the path to finding new ways to build motor vehicles. That is another reason I bought one, I wanted to port some of my money over to a company like Toyota which has the gumption to try something groundbreaking than to keep giving it to big oil.

I know many people who drive one. They're all nice folks.

 

[houstonscott]

What a sucker. You didn't do any of that....I guess as long as long some people believe that junk and the government subsidizes them and they can make a nice profit on you and government they will make them. You know the government has bought 25% of them propping up the market or they would have gone away long ago. Most people I know who bought toyota's were women who nothing about cars but they were good folks. Oh, what cars do the bad folks drive?


HS

 

[brain55]

My wife has a 2009 Camry Hybrid, it's been a great car. Obviously it doesn't quite get the mileage that the Prius does, but I wanted her to have a little bigger car than the Prius and she didn't like the giant dash in the Prius anyway. It gets nearly double the mileage her 2001 Chrysler 300M did. The 300M averaged 19 mpg the Camry gets 36 mpg with her driving it.

I believe in the hybrid technology and would buy another one.

Brian

 

[murphy1244]

My wife has a 2009 Camry Hybrid, it's been a great car. Obviously it doesn't quite get the mileage that the Prius does, but I wanted her to have a little bigger car than the Prius and she didn't like the giant dash in the Prius anyway. It gets nearly double the mileage her 2001 Chrysler 300M did. The 300M averaged 19 mpg the Camry gets 36 mpg with her driving it.

I believe in the hybrid technology and would buy another one.

Brian

Would like to get a Tesla sports car if and when the prices go down.