I am so sick of these BS media stories about how the Prius doesn't get its advertised MPG. Right on the front page of this site is an article by CNN Money that stated the prius got 39MPG. How the could you drive it to get 39MPG? Oh gee, let me see like a SUV or V8 sedan!! Jack rabbit starts and sudden stops, pedal to the metal all the time. Are these people complete idiots? I drove home from the dealer and got like 47MPG. My average is 55.6 right now! Am I some driving guru? How about the lawsuit article? Oh you cry baby. As soon as life goes pear-shaped on you, you run to your attorney. Nice. How about you lay off the gas a little and try to figure out how to run on electric as much as possible?? Oh, can't figure it out on your own? Maybe you could drag your sorry self to the computer and come to this site to learn how to drive your car? Hmm do you think you can? As for your attorney: I'll save you a seat in hell when I get there. And Toyota, you are not totally without fault here. Lets make that gas pedal a little more sensitive! Yeah, lets make it so that when a gnat lands on my knee its enough to jerk the ICE to life! How about you guys tone it down a little? Could you do that? (that is a serious question by the way) I mean Jesus, I'm touching that pedal with one toe and holding my breath to keep it in running on the electric motor. Toyota you are really only guilty of not realizing how stupid people are. Other than that....I salute you. You have set an example for the entire world. We can do more with less and do it in style and comfort. Bravo Toyota!! Now as for that lawsuit thing...I say you litigate those retards into bankruptcy!! Don't take any crap from anyone over this. Don't you dare settle!!!! Your MPG numbers aren't bull. I get them every week right on the money. I'll come testify in court, under oath, as to my MPG, lifetime, current tank, the trip to the courthouse....whatever. [Edited for profanity, vulgarity and general anger at the less intelligent members of society. Highlights to be found in priusham's reply ]
DC, first, please tone it down a bit. We would like to keep this family friendly. That said, I'd be right by your side, along with my spreadsheets documenting my lifetime MPG since buying this car. I'd love nothing more than to see somebody suing the attornes for filing another frivolous lawsuit. I can almost picture the look on their faces.
I find it quite reassuring knowing that a genuine pursuit for the truth will reveal that some beliefs are actually misconceptions. Traditional vehicles suffer MPG claims quite a bit too. Seasonal temperature & fuel changes have a massive effect on them as well, but that fact is rarely ever even acknowledged. And the lack of data for traditional vehicles make virtually all EPA related claims a joke. All along people have made way too many assumptions about what the values actually mean and how they are measured. It's as if they have no understanding that driving style & speed has any impact on efficiency. And of course, test results are a total mystery... as far as you can get from objective. They don't realize that the bladder inside screws up single-tank-only measurements. And you never see any detail on the age of the testing vehicle. I suspect most are brand new, not broken-in at all. The tires are very likely underinflated. And of course, the oil is likely overfilled. The best way we can defend ourselves against all this nonsense is to document our own real-world data. That way, when whatever competing technology is introduced, we'll have an overwhelming amount of proof that our claims our genuine. Because, let's fact it. A traditional vehicle simply won't be able to compete after awhile. That will force the other automakers to come up with something. And that's what attention is going to be focused on, not the obsolete stuff from the 20th Century.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I might launch a lawsuit against Buick, my current car. You see, with no jackrabbit starts, no screeching braking, no speeding, and without even running the A/C, I did not achieve the EPA numbers for MPG on my current tank of gas. In fact, not even close. Granted, I started the car and let it sit in the driveway until the gas ran out, but that's just a minor detail. By my calculations, I got zero (0) miles to the gallon. The sticker on the car when I bought said something like 30 MPG. How on Earth can a car manufacturer think they can get away mass producing a car that I proved beyond a doubt got 0 MPG. It's an outrage! What do ya think? Do I have a case? What's that law firm's URL again? DC, I think you've articulately, though brashly, voiced the thoughts of many Prius owners and wanna-be's. I agree that Toyota should litigate the law firm for all time just for spite. Unfortunately, I fear that this would make them look like a mean evil company, even though they would be "in the right". The sad sick truth is that there are more lawyers than there are hybrid drivers and every one of them is looking for a cash cow settlement.
Agree in full!! I couldn't agree with you more. Unfortunately, there are those that want the Prius to fail miserably. They're afraid! Why, I haven't a clue. Reminds me of the idiots (they know who they are) that post on other boards about negative Prius comments (look at edmunds to get a laugh). Little do they know they're in the minority. I mean, let's face it... what idiot compares a Prius to a Focus, but shmucks like that are out there. We live in a litigious society, and there are always people looking to make a buck. Heck.. even Prius owners are having trouble debating on whether they should keep their cars. The demand is so high, that owners are being offered MORE than what they paid for it.
A comment on pedal pressure: The 01-03 Prius was far less sensitive, and actually a bit easier to "feather" since the pedal was more linear to response (akin to cars wtih engineered throttle linkage that opened the plate more slowly during most of the travel so that the increase in potential airflow was linear - the second generation Ford Probe GT V6 - Mazda engine - had this type of setup). The '04 is more "logarithmic" feeling - akin more to a regular car with direct throttle linkage. While the '04 responds more like a "normal car", it's consequently not as easy to get decent gas mileage as a result. IMHO - leave the brakes alone, but put the gas pedal back closer to the first gen Prius. It may take a bit for the average driver to get used to, and it may give the driver the impression that there's less power under the hood, but it will make it alot easier to meet EPA figures. Sorry for the long winded response.
Sorry Wolfman Sorry Wolfman... Feel free to edit my post some. I can't now or I would for you. The real problem here is just people are not that smart. Most people don't realize that this is a special car with a specific purpose. You gotta change the way you drive to get the most out of it. The sad part is that all people can focus on is the MPG. Sure I save money but I'm saving much more than that. I'd like to see one of these articles mention the polution that comes out of any of the other cars the Prius is compared to.
Since lots of Texans in my town drive SUVs, when they ask me about MPG and cost effectiveness of buying a hybrids...I show them my spread sheet...people need to wake up...I even use 45MPG as the number for my Prius. 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee 2004 Toyota Prius 100,000 100,000 Life Time Miles 16 45 MPG 6,250.0 2,222.2 Gallons used $1.80 $1.80 Price per Gallon $11,250.00 $4,000.00 Total Fuel Expenditure $7,250.00 Hybrid Fuel Savings
Re: Sorry Wolfman Oh, but you can. There is an Edit button on your own posts at the upper right corner of the text box near the Quote button.
Re: Media BS, law suits, what Toyota should do and my 2 cent LOL!!!! The "Tourettes Guy" visits the PriusChat!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!
I like the accelerator pedal the way it is in my '04. It feels pretty close to my old Civic. Granted, on the Civic I was not trying to maintain exact pedal pressure to keep it in electric mode, but really, that's not so hard, until the computer decides it wants to run the ICE, and then pedal pressure does not matter. Sometimes on the farm I had to drive a pickup that you had to be Arnold Schwartzenegger to get the gas pedal to move. If you're used to that kind of truck, I guess the Prius would take some getting used to the only thing I didn't like about my Prius was the lack of an EV switch, and now that that's taken care of, I've got no more complaints. ... Except maybe that the world is run by morons...
Rick said it all, I drive both interchangably one on one day or two and then switch to the other and I do notice that the 2k3 is a lot easier to start and hold in electric mode than the 2k4. Try as I might I have a heck of a time to use electric mode on the slight grade from work to the stop light in heavy traffic (stop and crawl) in the 2k4 but no problem in the 2k3. I was actually going to make a post on this. Maybe we'll take care of it here.
Is it really the pedal, or is the '04 more reluctant to stay in electric mode under load? It could be a difference in the programming. Maybe the Classic allows a greater current draw and/or greater swings in SOC.
