So hard to get used to not visiting the gas station....

glad it is still $3.69 a gallon down here. And that is the highest this year so far. Looking back...it was $3.15 back in December when I bought my Pri.

 

I know the feeling now, of passing the gas station wondering why I'm not stopping there. It really is strange to break old habits, I've been forced to do a lot of that this year and this habit may be the least stressful to break.

we are all intelligent here.

 

I wasn't encouraging it but very good point to make in u shouldn't go too far beyond when the bar starts blinking. It isn't worth it, in fact I've only let the last bar blink once & filled up right after.

 

Wow, those are some great prices. Here in Cali, we are currently $4.19 at minimum. I don't recall $3__something in awhile

 

I don't think it matters what you drive...Prius or SUV. If you slow down a little , you will get a little bit better MPG. BUT......I don't see anyone slowing down with gas going over $4.00 . So...maybe no one has a problem paying that much for gas.

You are either part of the solution...or part of the problem!

 

A lot of people are ignorant. They don't think speed has anything to do with gas mileage. Most don't even know what they average mpg wise. They know the EPA rating and assume that is what they get no matter how they drive. Then you have the ones who do know that speeding reduces mpg but they will make a million excuses for why they simply have to speed.

 

My brother bought my 2009 Prius Touring. We recently had this amusing exchange.

Brother: "Even though I don't need to, I still gas up every week, just to stay ahead of gas price increases."

Me: "So, how much gas do you get then?"

Brother: "Oh, about 3 gallons."

 

I dare say your VERY sound advice above is not just for newbies. As for me, I almost always fill up within 30 miles after I'm down to the third "ping". That MIGHT change after I trade in our '08 for our next Prius in a couple of years; after I can stop worrying about that damned gas-tank bladder and potentially significant "guess gauge" discrepancies ...

 

I remember being chastise for saying that 80km/h or 50mph is roughly the optimal fuel efficiency speed for ICE technology and got laughed at out of the discussion. The level of ignorance is amazing including seemingly intelligent individuals. Once you're above that speed, it's the aerodynamic drag that kills your MPG. Unless you continually wax your car and keep it waxed or if one day we ever use the better material to glide through the air drag will be our worse enemy...am way off on this one?

 

As goes Chicago, so goes Lafayette ... it seems we're JUST within the boundary that "causes" our local prices to go up / down in a nearly perfect co-relation with the Windy City; it's about 10-15 cents less per gallon here - as compared to Chicago prices - just about every day.

Also ... I sometimes find myself buying more frequently, too; that is IF the price has come down a lot. Ten days ago, the going rate was about $3.95 ... but then it dropped about 20 cents in two days! Mithril only needed 5.2 gallons, and I got a "bargain" at $3.749 ...

 

Ain't it the truth ... everyone - seemingly! - who doesn't drive a Prius or similarly / relatively efficient vehicle complains about "pain at the pump", but they all - seemingly! - speed and jack-rabbit start and slam-stop and idle while stepping inside the bank for 4/5/6 minutes and idle at the drive-thru restaurant 3/4/5 minutes and REFUSE to car-pool and INSIST on driving a Yukon-or-what-have-you to the store for a loaf of bread and on-and-on ...

A long time ago - at least 25 years ... I was driving an '83 Nissan Pulsar at the time - I had not one but TWO acquaintances tell me that they were pretty confident they actually got BETTER mpg when speeding on lengthy, highway trips because the engine wasn't running as long ... because it was running only, say, 4 hours on a 300 mile trip instead of 5 hours ...

 

We're in Atlanta and drivers here are absolutely crazy and we have the endless complaining about gas prices, yet the complainers have no problem driving at 80+ mph down the highway in their gas guzzlers.

 

My last car was a 2004 Nissan Murano SL AWD, 245 HP V6 engine which amazingly gave me 24 mpg, thanks to its CVT. It also had a 22 gallon tank, and last time I filled up using premium, it cost me $88.....Not missing stopping at gas stations at all...

 

Hahahaha......:rockon:

 

For someone to do 50 mph when every one else is doing 75 mph, that's false economy as you can easily cause an accident. When I'm driving in light traffic I do the PSL. Heavy traffic I go with the flow.