Well, I used to drive like a maniac with my 2002 Pathfinder. That SUV was torquey and I could really push it. Since switching to the Prius C, I've definitely slowed down. I go with the flow of the traffic in the morning when I'm on my way to work(~45mpg). On they way back, I take it easy. I even welcome traffic, I actually seek it. LoL The gas mileage soars. Even in the cold(35-40 degrees F), I can achieve 65mpg(displayed, not actual) on a 50 mile trip. Yes, time is more important than money. However, I'm glad that this car has that kind of potential. I used to be the guy zipping by on the passing lane. Now, I'm always on the right lane cruising and letting everyone pass me. So, did it change the way you drive?
Yes. the C changed me. I am not in a hurry no more. I am more relaxed. My username on here really tells the story.
I learned a lot from this car. The biggest lesson I've learned so far that in the city rush, people can push on the gas pedal as hard as they want, but what the facts show to me is that I will see the same car on the next or the following light anyway. So good luck to everyone who is trying to catch the green light which is slowly changes to yellow and red while most of them trying to pass the intersection by.
You can ignore the information the dashboard gauges give you, and just drive like you always did. But they can be pretty persuasive. I was already in the process of changing some old habits, like following too close, and the C only cemented that change. I used to think that cruise control was a good way to get better gas mileage, but the Prius made me realize that was only true while on flat level roads. Throw in enough hills and it can actually be less efficient. My highways speeds have dropped from 75-80 to 65-70. A little experimentation has shown that, at least for me in my daily commute, if I exceed 71 mph, my average miles per gallon drops into the 40s. If I stay at 71 or less, its in the 50s. I still drive predominantly in the left lane, and I keep up with the flow without tailgating, which is a real gas waster, in addition to being obviously dangerous, until conditions allow speeds above 70 in that lane. Then I move to the right. It would have taken speeds close to 90 to get me out of the left lane previously. Other than that, in rural and city driving I drop a few mph when going up hills - just enough to keep the ECO gauge out of the red zone, and take full advantage of downhill stretches to coast to whatever speed I feel comfortable with. It bugs me now when I run into those people who insist on braking on downhills just to keep under the speed limit. Arrgghhh! And I start slower and more gradually from a stop. So yes, I have been Priusized!
My driving habits have changed for sure. There is something about watching the miles per gallon go up as the miles per hour go down while highway driving that keeps me from my old habits of pushing for 10 -12 mph over the speed limit. The problem now is not to fall 10 -12 mph when going up a hill just to keep the mpg up. I do enjoy this little car however and I love the fuel savings. I may still vote conservative but I'm a tree hugger when it comes to my little C 2.
I think anyone would be hard pressed to say that driving a Prius (any Prius) as a daily driver didn't change their driving habits. The quest for mpg's just becomes addictive. I call it the mpg bug. When it bites you, it doesn't let you go. It drives you to do crazy stuff like, go slower or, take a route with side streets or, look forward to 55mph highways. Needless to say since I started driving a Prius, I haven't gotten a speeding ticket. And... I'm even considering getting the snapshot from Progressive b/c I know I will qualifiy based on my driving.
I'd say the car has expanded my "eco" driving style. I was used to driving efficiently with my TDI, however learning to maximize regeneration and stay within EV modes when relevant have been new to me. It's also caused me to be slightly out of practice with my normal heel-n-toe practice, since the car is missing the pedal on the left. I'm still not used to DD'ing a non-manual-trans car. I have been taking the bored left-foot time to practice my left-foot braking however. That's certainly made me smoother at the kart track!
Despite my driving no slower, I find people hate to find a Prius in front of them and see a lot of aggression from them.
I sometimes find this is a delayed reaction - as if it takes them a moment to realise that they are indeed following a Prius, given the different look at the rear.
The dash readout along with my instant mileage report on the Ultra Gauge have certainly kept me from hotrodding the C. Some kind of psychological thing going on while looking at those readouts. My daily driver is a 66 vdub baja with no readouts. I keep it on the floor most of the time. Have a ScanGauge just sitting on the shelf. No way to hook it to the Vdub or I would. It came from our Vibe gt that I totalled last month. I find it interesting that I see more regular Prius cars on the road than anything else, when traveling. They all seem to pass me right on by. I often wonder if they even realize that the C is a Prius, as they pass. Also wonder what their mileage looks like. Dan still an old hotrodder at heart
I drive differently than my last car and it was a hybrid lol. I love having a lot of feedback on the dash. My HCH didn't have anything other than a battery gauge and instant MPG. How boring. I have also found people don't particularly like following me...even though half of the time my acceleration is similar to the cars around me. I've also noticed that with my car being such a bright color, I often surprise people around bends/hills and they jerk away from me while passing. Never have seen that before, but my cars before were dark green, black, silverly blue, and blue. LOL.
I have scaled back on sweating over mpg because in the end it turned into another stressor/distraction. But now I am pretty much conditioned to accelerate slowly and drive the speed limit for the first time in my life. It wasn't just the gauges that conditioned me. The driving is simply much less stressful and a lot easier this way. I don't get into altercations as much because my veins don't have adrenaline coursing through for an entire driving session. And people who get mad at me don't want to slow down as much as they would need to in order to give me a piece of their minds. And when I stopped driving like a maniac, all of a sudden everything seemed so much safer because it is all taking place in slow motion, with plenty of time for stopping or swerving if necessary...
I caught the bug a few weeks ago when I bought mine. I almost always welcome traffic as that skyrockets my MPG with pulse and glide. I rarely drive over 65, and typically set my cruise control to 60 on flat stretches. I also drift behind big rigs with a big smile. I don't care what people think, they don't pay for my gas. I often hit 70mpg over long stretches of freeway traffic, which I would be doing anyways, so why not take advantage of the technology I have...
