Toyota not pushing Prius

FWIW soccer is a game of two halves, each of 45 mins (plus any extra time added).
Although games occasionally result in no score, it's the skill of the players and accuracy of passes is where much of the spectator entertainment come from. Sometime one teams excellent strong attack (offence) can be countered by the opposing team's defence and the match (battle) results in stalemate.
It was always said in my youth that football (soccer) was a gentleman's game played by ruffians, whereas rugby was a ruffian's game played by gentlemen. Opinions will doubtless vary even today!

 

The main thing that impresses me about soccer (football for some of you) is the endurance of those people. That's a lot of running. I've heard American football described as 22 men in desperate need of rest being watched by 75,000 people in desperate need of exercise. Even more so with soccer!

 

Regarding Toyota and the Prius, they're pushing them around here. The Prius and especially the Prime are being advertised like I've never seen before. As I mentioned in another thread, I received a flier in the mail that was a full size rendition of the large multimedia screen.

 

They don't need to be pushed where I live. They sell as quickly as they make them.

 

I can list to the left...

Maybe I'm alone on this, but I watched in dismay as that screen took over on all levels, in 2012 I think. Our 2010 Canadian Touring has no screen, and I prefer it thus. If they would go further, replace uniform, anonymous buttons (some requiring multiple pushes while you take your eyes off the road and watch an LCD) with large, tactile knobs and sliders, I'd be all over it.

 

Screens are the future and more reliable than several dozen mechanical buttons. We are going to have to learn to adapt because they aren't going to go away... Eventually, I believe we will do most of our communicating with our car by voice.

 

My main concern is heating and ventilating, especially at night in rain, doubly so on twisty roads. Once upon a time there was ONE slider, with detents and the most important modes of vent and defogger at either extreme, and a large diameter knob for fan speed. Hardly dozens of buttons.

 

Don't get me wrong. I miss the buttons too... Based on past history and the economy of scale, the computers that run our cars are best accessed by a screen. The screen was very distracting at first and still requires more attention to manipulate which equates to more distracted driving. Voice interaction will eventually take over. JMHO....

Oh, and my Advanced Prius Prime has 42 buttons as well as 2 knobs (I just went out and counted) and it has the 12 inch screen to boot. That's over 3 dozen buttons still. Just saying...

 

Don't tell my wife. I bought a VOLVO in 1974 - it had about 10-12 buttons and knobs - 4 times the number of buttons our VW Microbus had. She kept saying "why do you always have to be pressing buttons" - I think she didn't understand some of them.

 

Puts me in mind of blenders. Some have simple dial that goes from off to full speed. Others (often the cheap ones) have a row of buttons with various semi-cryptic descriptions, and really: they're just speed increments.

 

Puts me in mind of when I was an electrician. One of my co-workers, when adding a new function to a press, liked to make the indicator lights do double duty. If an indicator normally came on solid, he would program it to flash to indicate some other condition. Drove the operators nuts. Not long before I changed careers, touch screens were becoming more common. No more temptation to get lazy with the indicator lights, but we had to learn a whole new way of making the machine communicate with its operators. Easier in the long run and way more flexible, but quite a learning curve for the old guys.

 

Like AirConditioner remotes - in the semi-dark with a bedlamp, which of these changes it from cold to hot (while nearly asleep)?



Or worse, when Dad has always operated the A/C, he goes into Aged Care leaving Mum, age 87 with this:


"It's easy Mum, just ... ".

 

Whilst that's true, you still have to focus on the mid to make the changes....

 

But it what you are use to. Remember being in a hurry to get to the airport and stating driving the wrong way on a freeway in London. My passenger started screaming at me, "turn around". very scary moment I do not care to repeat.

Curious as the US and Canada are former colonies why they don't drive on the left? What caused the change early on? Must have started in the horse days for sure.

Any logic behind all of this? Oh this makes sense.

BTW/China drives on the right side.

Why do some countries drive on the left and others on the right? - World Standards

History and origin
About a 35% of the world population drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies.

Furthermore, a right-handed person finds it easier to mount a horse from the left side of the horse, and it would be very difficult to do otherwise if wearing a sword (which would be worn on the left). It is safer to mount and dismount towards the side of the road, rather than in the middle of traffic, so if one mounts on the left, then the horse should be ridden on the left side of the road.

In the late 1700s, however, teamsters in France and the United States began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. These wagons had no driver’s seat; instead the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the team. Since he was sitting on the left, he naturally wanted everybody to pass on the left so he could look down and make sure he kept clear of the oncoming wagon’s wheels. Therefore he kept to the right side of the road.

So the question of the day is, "which saves the most fuel?"

 

Just as likely to be due to the roundabout. The US doesn't seem to do roundabouts (at least on the left coast). Those we do have, are just wrong.

 

yeah, we've got a ton of 'em. every cow path eventually came to one.

 

You didn't have to send your extras to us!
Roundabout & mini roundabout plans seem to be multiplying around here.