[wolftec]

Hi to all.
After about a month of just looking thru your forum, i finaly have the oportunity to participate on it.

I'm looking to exchange my Audi TT for a somehow more economical and "peacefull" car. Gasoline prices and speed tickets are starting to get on my nerves now.

So this Sunday i'll be test driving a new Prius.

Can you give me some directions on what should i do to get the general felling of a day by day use?

thx,

and greetings from Portugal.

 

[Hep]

Hi to all.
After about a month of just looking thru your forum, i finaly have the oportunity to participate on it.

I'm looking to exchange my Audi TT for a somehow more economical and "peacefull" car. Gasoline prices and speed tickets are starting to get on my nerves now.

So this Sunday i'll be test driving a new Prius.

Can you give me some directions on what should i do to get the general felling of a day by day use?

thx,


and greetings from Portugal.

It is easy to be distracted by the MFD and fail to appreciate the other features of the car. For at least part of your drive turn it off. You will have plenty of time to admire it later if you buy.

 

[finman]

driving tips

Just drive it! seems to be popular. Notice the quiet, especially at low, all-electric speeds. Notice the smoothness, even smoother than your TT. There's no 'shifting', just smooth go and smooth stop. Notice the regeneration drag as you let up on the gas. Those electric motors are doing double duty: moving you forward and helping to slow you. Notice all the thumbs up from people 'in the know' as you drive around. Notice the room (both front and rear), as well as the versatility of the hatchback. I've put 8' lumber AND a fullsize wheelbarrow back there with seats folded down. My Prius is an "eco-UV" (green utility vehicle!). Enjoy the clean emissions. I've not noticed ANY gas smell or exhaust for a full year now and feel pretty good about that. Say, what's gas cost in Portugal?

 

[DanMan32]

Drive into a quiet neighborhood with windows down weather permitting and listen for the engine at a traffic stop. Or should I say, lack of engine.

 

[dgstan]

My primary concern before getting mine was it's acceleration. Can it merge onto the freeway as quick as I'd like? Can it climb steep hills? How does it do on a freeway onramp that goes uphill (I have one like that on my commute)?

Ask the dealer if you can bring it on the freeway. See how it handles at cruising speed. does it have enough power to do what you want it to?

Needless to say, the car passed all my tests with flying colors. Coming out of a TT, you're probably used to a little "get up and go". So was I, but I don't miss those 285 HP at all.


DGStan

 

[Astrowoman]

My SO was also really skeptical about the acceleration. I accidentally peeled out when I first started my test drive! OK, it's NOT a sports car, but convince yourself it can get out of its own way.

I'd say, ignore all the hybridness of it and see if it is a car that you can feel comfortable driving, in all senses of the word. Visibility, handling, instrumentation (or lack thereof).

Basically drive it as if it were any other car. THEN get the sales guy to demo and emphasize all the computerized goodies.

Some things NOT to get hung up on: the MPG you get while test driving. The first 5 minutes pretty much are not impressive. Also, don't expect to get the EPA ratings! No one does! I was at a "thank you" event at my dealer last night, and one woman was practically disemboweling the service manager because she wasn't getting 60 mpg even though she drives "in the city".

 

[ChasSuitt]

:roll: I've NEVER had a problem merging onto a freeway in my Prius. Perhaps the absence of a gutteral ROAR when you accellerate causes some drivers to discount the smooth acceleration. But then... my orientation is not that of a dragster driver - I don't feel the necessity of being FIRST, or the LOUDEST, or the MOST POWERFUL car on the road. Maybe it's that "MACHO" gene. **SIGH**

 

[wolftec]

Thx for the tips

Gas prices in Portugal (as in most of Europe) are expensive about 3.9USD per gallon. So it's weird for me reading your complaints about having to pay 0.6 USD per gallon.

Last week i was in a autoshow, and they had a Prius on stand, i got in and press the power button and it went to acc mode!!! later i discovered the key inside the armrest. so i've took the opportunity to fiddle around with the MFD.
Even to attach my mobile phone with the car bluetooth system.

In Portugal the Prius is sold in 2 configuration, Basic and High Line.

Basic is just a empty prius, with the MFD but with almost no extras on it, it custs around 28.000 USD, High Line is similar to your package #6 but without the satellite radio, and homelink, it custs around 31.000 USD.

I've been that told all the Prius sold in Portugal have a EV switch on it.

The dealer is nearby a freeway, so i'll test it for about 8 miles on the freeway then headback to the city, as i will be testing it on a sunday it won't have much traffic or noise, so i'll follow your recomendations.

i'll post my impressions afterwards.

 

[Ray Moore]

Astrowoman- I have driven thousands of miles at the EPA rated mileage. Three of my last four tanks were 650 miles at 58 MPG. My best was 763 miles at 59.6 MPG. I'm not the only one. There are other nobodies like me out there easily getting over 55 MPG in mixed driving. There is a thread on Priuschat with pictures of the screen and pump. Maybe the fact that my license plate says 56 MPG makes my car believe in itself. It's the little Prius that could.

 

[Hobbit]

Would you care to detail some of your driving
techniques? Relatively *few* people are getting mileage
that high, from what I can see... what model year, btw?
_
_H*

 

[Tideland Prius]

It also depends on topgraphy. For example, where I live, going to my university is a very efficient trip. The trip home consists for 4 short hills where I need to use the ICE, otherwise it's mostly coasting or EV mode.

However, if I need to go downtown, my mileage will drop because it's uphill for most of the trip and I almost never recover it back on the way home.

 

[Ray Moore]

There are lots of good tips sprinkled throughout these treads. The first two links are from some tanks where I tried for great mileage. The third is a thread that discusses coasting in neutral and the last is the thread on beating the EPA figures.

I drive a 2004 pkg 9. My wife just bought a 2005 pkg 5. She is still on her first tank at 540 miles at 51.5 miles per gallon. Her last bar is not flashing yet. The first half of that tank was a 234 mile drive with the cruise control set at 68 mph for an average of 50.2 so her mileage has improved on the second half of the tank.

That's better than my first tank by a long shot. My worst tanks were driving on the highway with the cruise control set at 76 and 81 mph. I averaged 41 MPG for over 1700 miles.

At this point, I just drive it sensibly and get 58 MPG without trying. With more AC demand it will fall to 55 MPG, the same as in the winter. I don't hold up traffic. It is not my goal to convince other drivers that the Prius is slow.

http://www.priuschat.com/forums/703-mil ... highlight=

http://www.priuschat.com/forums/763-mil ... highlight=

http://www.priuschat.com/forums/is-coas ... highlight=

and the ever popular thread:

http://www.priuschat.com/forums/i-beat- ... t=beat+epa

 

[bshef]

My primary concern before getting mine was it's acceleration. Can it merge onto the freeway as quick as I'd like? Can it climb steep hills? How does it do on a freeway onramp that goes uphill (I have one like that on my commute)

omg.....just last week.....I was driving up this reallly steep hill.....I got about 2/3's the way up.........My P* just stopped and started rolling backwards.....so I put my foot on the brake and had my wife and kid get out and start pushing because we only had like 2 feet to go. Finally, with a few good pushes we reached the top of our driveway and thank god no-one got hurt.

Typically, to merge onto the freeway, I have my kid keep his skateboard in the car so he can pull me into traffic.....but this is only on down-hill on ramps.....I wouldn't even consider attempting any uphill onramps. :wink:

 

[DanMan32]

763 at 59.6? That's 12.8 gallons! Something very wrong there.

 

[DanMan32]

By the way Wolftec, we pay about $2-$2.50 in the US, not 0.6.

 

[Ray Moore]

Dan-
As you can see by the photo, I pumped 12.75 gallons. Your Bladder May Vary.

 

[mrv]

You may wish to hear from some more local owners over here:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius-Europe/

For a test drive, I really recommend trying to take an extended one, where you can pick your route and drive places you would normally go (preferrably without a salesperson in the car with you). Even better would be to get a day rental, take it to work, shopping, errands, etc.

My #1 suggestion for when you're in the car - ignore the sounds (or lack thereof) of the car. The sound of the engine has to do with the amount of power you are requesting, and has nothing to do with the speed you are doing. If it's loud, there's a rev limiter at around 5000rpm, so you aren't red-lining or hurting it. Some people on their test drives will test out the acceleration (highway on-ramp merging, taking a turn onto a busy multi-lane street), hear the engine get loud as you're asking for a lot of power quickly, and from the sound they instinctively take their foot off of the accelerator to quiet the engine down, and then they complain that the Prius is slow (because they themselves took their foot off of the accelerator). The sound of the engine turning off at a stop sometimes worries previously manual transmission drivers, that think that the car either stalled or is dieseling. Ignore the sounds, just drive it (keep an eye on the speedometer), and you'll be fine.

(For example, you have the cruise control on. You go up an incline in the road, the engine gets louder as it spins up to provide more power. You then get to the downhill, and your gasoline engine could be off (or at least not burning fuel) for the same speed...)

yeah, during the display off might be helpful at first as it can be distracting to new drivers.

 

[Rmarchena]

What you will drive...!!!

You will be driving an small luxury car with the latest and best technology in the automobile industry up to the year 2005. Gas saving well above average. Contamination level well below average. In other words "The best your money can buy today".

 

[hyperion]

Just scratch the word "LUXURY" The rest fits somewhat. "Different" might be more appropriate.

 

[DanMan32]

Wow! Rmarchena saying something positive about the Prius, and not a complaint! And we have it in writing!