I was pulling into the parking lot at work today, and there were a bunch of people out back on their break tossing a football around. As my battery was nice and jiuced, I was in stealth mode, looking for a parking spot, when I hear from the crowd: "Hey, it's one of those electric cars! Shhhh, let's listen to it!" A hush fell over the crowd as I parked, powered off the car, rolled up the windows, and got out. A couple people jumped at the BEEP the car emitted when I locked the car. Shortly thereafter, I was in a couple conversations with people about what mileage I really get (50 to 55 MPG), and how much I like the car (very much!). A cool moment I haven't had too many of since moving to Arizona.
Haha "lets listen to it"... it bothers me that there are 4 or so people where I work who own Prii and every time I see one leaving the parking lot while I am outside I listen to see if they are running in stealth mode and never once has one of them failed to floor it on the way out of the parking lot. I hope none of them ever complain about their mileage while I am around <_< Once I have mine I will be sure not to do the same as my fellow employees I will be much more satisfied by following you example Gohti.
hah, sounds similar to something i experienced lately. my neighbors were all out tossing a football at the entrance to the parking lot. i backed out silently and waited for them to notice me, they all moved, i drove through, they went back to playing their football game. later, one of them recounted the story to me of what happened after i left. one guy asked "where did she go? i didn't hear her go through, i thought she forgot something and went back and parked her car again." heh. :lol: stealth sweet stealth.
how do you make the car beep?. mine only flashes the parking lights... well now that i think about it...forget it...dont want mine making noise
Hey Ghoti, that sounds like a really cool experience! A neat Prius Moment, I agree! I can relate to that crowd. Months before I even considered a Prius, I found myself turning down the radio, rolling down the window, or stopping whatever I was doing in order to focus my attention on any Prius that drove by because of the common knowledge about the car (electric propulsion). I wanted to witness a Prius drive by with the electric whirring sounds and no combustion sounds at all. When it happened to me the first time, I was awestruck. It was one of the stages I went through, maybe it should be called the curiosity stage. The next stage was research. Then I rented one. Then I ordered one! The rest is history - I'm patiently waiting to take delivery of my 2006 Prius next week!
when i first got my Prius, i was disappointed for a very very very short period of time that the Prius didnt make some sort of distinctive noise when in stealth mode. i guess i was hooked on the Wankel Rotary's humming sound based on their commerical. (in real life, i thought they were loud and whinny) only then did i realize that the lack of sound was actually quite striking
It beeps once when the doors are locked when I push the neat black button by the door handle, and twice when the door(s) are unlocked. I believe that's the stock configuration. Huzzah, SKS!
lolz.... if only I could have a "prius moment" with 12 buxom cheerleaders.... other than that its usually geeks and technofreaks that bother me about my 2004...
As an aside, DaveinOlyWA, I love your license plate, and am seriously considering getting that plate here in lieu of 'Ghoti' when I get my car registered - hope you don't mind!
Sounds like you were in Amish country. I did have one person comment on how quiet it is. Everyone here is so burned out on Prius that my dad gets way more compliments on his SUV. I even witnessed a mother and daughter who wanted to test drive it. "Oh it's so cute" It's just a big old truck for Christ sakes!
Awesome moment. My favorite moment happened this past weekend when my son and I drove down the driveway only to startle the beejeebers out of my wife. She was getting something out of the trunk of her car (she'd just gotten home too) and BAM there we were. She practically jumped out of her skin. Priceless! Second place was a few weeks ago... right after I'd installed the EV switch. Took my dad for his first ride in a hybrid and was able to go all the way downtown (1.2 miles or so... mostly flat or downhill) to get pizza without the ICE coming on.
Once I get my EV button installed, I'm planning on usingit every day as I stealth through the work parking lot. It's a really big one going through a campus of four buildings. Oh yeah, Tony and Priapus stalthing through the parking lot. I can't wait.
One morning I was pulling out of my garage and heard a terrible crunching. Oh, no! What did I run over? It was a dry sycamore leaf. I couldn't believe that I could hear it with my windows rolled up! Got new tires for Christmas - ComforTred Assurance - and my car is even more quiet. Watch out world.
as long as you are not in WA state GO 4 it... if you are in WA state...ummm...well on my way to get some longer screws...
