So, A Prius Is Slow?

The 1968 VW Beetle that we drove over the top of the Rocky Mountains in 1972 was 53BHP.

 

It sounds like you still have very impressive hands in that case.

That said, what is a "small SUV" in America? A Hummer?

Maniac.

I don't know why anyone would need more than 45.

You may well be right. I think there were times I dropped to 15. I just didn't think the Americans would believe me.

It's the screaming past lorries on the way downhill and getting overtaken by them on the way up the next hill that I will always remember.

When I was at school and university, the underpowered rot-box was very much a thing among my friends. My housemate in 3rd year had a 1.0 Fiesta that was pitifully slow.



But it seemed like a rocket compared to my housemate in 4th year's Morris Minor.



At school, one of my friends would sometimes pick us up on the way to the pub (when he was designated driver) in his mum's Fiat Panda, which was barely faster than walking. Also, its deckchair-style rear seat could cripple you in the rare event that he went over a bump at more than 15mph.

Yes, there is real fun to that.

One of my friends is a farmer, with about 10,000 acres. She and her family have races - either one-one-one or timed - along the tracks between her paddocks (fields). She did have a couple of old unregistered Ford Falcons. They're reasonably fast, and have 4.0 litre engines. But then she found a couple of old unregistered Hyundai Accents, with 1.0 litre engines, and she says they're much more fun, for precisely the reasons you describe.

My parents rented a Renault Clio like that in Spain a couple of years ago: they had the same problem of having to turn off the AC to go up hills.

I rented a five-year-old Legacy wagon in New Zealand last year (you can rent five-year-old Japanese imports in New Zealand, and a five-year-old Legacy wagon was half the price of a new Nissan Micra or Mitsubishi Mirage). I was very thankful for the 4WD when I had to get over a mountain pass in the snow.

The Fiat Tipo was one of the first mass-market cars with a digital speedo in Britain. One of my friends used to borrow his dad's.

He would sneakily switch it from mph to km/h when he was driving his friends around, and go, "Look, lads! We're doing 110!".

On the other hand, when I lived in Hong Kong, a friend bought a 911. (In Hong Kong, they use km/h.) Before he bought it, he test-drove it on the motorways in the New Territories. When we saw him after the test drive, he said, "It's an amazing car. It just feels fast. Honestly, when I was doing 120, it felt like it was doing 200. So you're really buzzed after driving it. I love it."

He got it inspected by the HKAA before buying it. The inspection report said that the car was in excellent condition, but "Because it is a UK import, the speedometer must be converted from mph to km/h for it to be road legal." That kind of explained his feeling.

 

We have a Subaru Forester, replacing a old Subaru station wagon of similar capacity. Others in the same class include Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Ford Escape.

 

I kid you not, from a full stop, a metro bus will out accelerate my prius.


Going up hill, cars switch lanes and give me dirty looks as they pass by while joggers point and laugh at my prius and shout "is something wrong with your car? Do you need help getting up the hill? I can hear your engine roar, but you are hardly moving!".

Now I wear sunglasses no mater what time of day it is while I drive my Prius.

I am thinking about a more permanent solution and going to get my Prius' front and rear windows tinted.


iPhone ?

 

I tinted the front windows and the cops sure did notice. Gave me a ticket. I'll stick with the sunglasses and a beanie.

 

Ah, yes. They're medium SUVs here: small SUVs would be things like a Honda HR-V or a Ford EcoSport.

I'm sure you still have big hands, though.

Are you sure about that? From traffic lights up to about 30mph, I found my Prius was faster than most cars.

 

That picture made me laugh. I like my Leaf but the one thing I don't like is a lot of the fellow owners. They all look like the passengers in that Morris; aged, tweeds, beards and beany hats or knotted hankies in summer. Then when you're stuck on a rapid charging they know they have a captive audience and try and engage you in conversation. Urrgghh.

 

I had no idea that it would be like that.

Here, most Leafs are owned by local councils, and are driven by people in fluoro vests. But the few that are privately-owned tend to be driven by the young, rich and fashionable types (so, not me then). It was the same in Japan. I'm really surprised that that's what Leaf drivers are like in Britain.

It's lucky you're so cool, just to even things out a bit.

 

That's how I see it, so I'm glad you agree

 

I don't see how anyone couldn't.