I've noticed that driving my Prius has had a great effect on how I drive my Tundra. I now minimize braking, I ease over hills and even pop into neutral for long, safe descents. I drive it so little that it will be a while until I know the results. Can anyone else give me an idea of how your change of habits has increased your mpg in a V8/V6? Thanks, Patrick
Patrick, I suggest you 'STOP' driving down hill in neutral. This is potentially dangerous, and will wear out your break pads quickly. If you need to react quickly to an emergency being in neutral does not give any engine braking and lets your car get out of control. As you can see from the Prius and Yaris consumption displays it does'nt even save that much fuel!. (The Yaris is just an ordinary economy car and shows minimum consumption levels(>100 mpg) going downhill (in gear!) The Shark
Interestingly, it hasn't affected how I drive my Expedition much. I think I tend to stay closer to the posted speed limit than in the past (routinely drove 10mph over). Other than that, nothing really. Even if I somehow saved 10% by changing my technique the fact that I drive that vehicle only about 3000 miles per year (max) since getting the Prius and that the trips are so short and the mileage is so terrible to start with (~12mpg) the savings in fuel would barely be measureable if at all. So, I just jump on it. I think that if it became my primary vehicle again (horrors!) I'd probably try to be a bit more fuel conscious.
What habit I can't shake is.. When I drive my wife's Venture the damn door never unlocks by just touching it...Your gotta unlock it with the remote and when i sit down I have to dig down in my pocket for the key to start it...How old fashoned!
While driving my Acura Integra, a manual, the other day, I noticed that I had a tendency to put it into neutral a bit more than I used to when I was driving it as my regular vehicle. I got it up to a certain speed customary for the road, then shifted into nuetral and coasted. It occurred to me that this is probably the reason that the manual Honda Insight gets its 60+ mph rating.
From experience with a Toyota 4 Runner for 14 years, •drive as if you have no brakes•. Drive in gear, but anticipate acceleration and deccelaration. Using this approach I averaged 50k between brake replacement. Systematic and faithful oil, oil filter and air filter changes.
Yeah, i can't tell you the number of times I've raeched for the dashboard to push the non-existent (POWER) button in my wife's car.
I have the "NeedAKey?" problem on my Dakota pickup as well. But as efusco says, I find I drive a little slower on freeways and I also tend to anticipate/coast more than I did before we got CarMyne. It's partly a concern about mileage but it's also seems to be just habits developed driving the Prius. I can't say that I've noticed a change in mileage but that may be due to the reduced mileage and trip length for the Dakota. Unless, there is a real reason to use it, such as hauling something or a trip to the snow (4 wheel advantage) then the pickup stays home.
Same here with my wife's Windstar. I've even grabbed the front door knob of our house at times expecting it to unlock. :lol:
Conversely, I got nuts. :huh: It's like "unleashing the beast"! My other car is a 5 speed Mustang, and I also have my bike. When driving/riding either one of these two, I think I drive far MORE lead-footed and aggressively (generally within reason, of course... :lol: ). Granted, neither are daily commuters, and I don't care about fuel consumption in either. Just as well, as they aren't vehicles for the fuel conscious ANYWAY. It's like the Prius "confines" me within the prison of gas mileage, and when I get to break free, well, you know...
