No Prii in TX!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boulder Bum @ May 8 2007, 11:34 PM) [snapback]438069[/snapback]</div>

Come on down to Austin. The Prii ratio is probably on par with Boulder.

The Prii ratio in Salado is probably on par with Grand Junction

 

It's starting to pickup in the Dallas area, but still probably not as much as other big cities. In Texas, if you go outside the D/FW area, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, rural communities are going to have a lot of Fords and GMs.

 

In NH, I expected very few because of the cold climate. But, afer buying one, it is amazing how many I see each day now. At once point, it seemed I was seeing once every minutes or two. Amazing. People at work are amazed at my milage. 50+ n the first week, and I live in the hills.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boulder Bum @ May 8 2007, 11:34 PM) [snapback]438069[/snapback]</div>

Don't generalize by your brief visit to a very large state.

There are a zillion Prii here in Houston. I got mine used at a Toyota dealer and the salesman said that there is still a waiting list for new ones.

Houston is a pretty ideal city for Prius driving. It's very flat, not particularly windy and hot, humid air gives you the least air resistance. Our highways have long feeder roads and have "stealthable" or "glidable" straight exit ramps, as opposed to momentum-robbing cloverleaves. We have great "slow-and-go" traffic that can give you some 80-100+ MPG bars on the Consumption graph. You get a whole new perspective on traffic slows when there is such a great reward on the graph!

Living in Houston means turning lemons into lemonade. High humidity is normally considered a drawback, but it's great for the skin!! The city is a big, spread-out mess. The advantage to that is when you really know the roads, you can almost always avoid real bad traffic with alternate routes.

Also, it never gets REALLY cold here, so you engine oil and catalytic converter quickly get up to operating temperature, so EV modes are available much more quickly than in cold climes.

We're probably going to form a Prius Club here pretty soon, even if I have to do it myself. (I'd prefer to be a charter member, so if any other fellow Houstonian has the urge, I'll be happy to help out where I can.)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(avdavsim @ May 9 2007, 11:14 PM) [snapback]438827[/snapback]</div>

Count me in... I usually over at CleanMPG, but I know there might be some GH members interested, heck I think Jason is still over at Rice.

As far as Prii density goes... yes, very dense here in suburbia. I know of 4 Prii in a 100 yard radius of my driveway. Two neighbors just got one, and of the 4, three are '07 metalic gray.

11011011

 

There is an identical one just across the street from me - same year , same color as mine.
I'm seeing more and more on the roads around here (north dallas / plano)

 

I saw very few until I bought mine in March. Now I notice them all the time. There is one of every color in my town just east of Dallas. I drive to Dallas 3x week and see them often. Granted not as many as the trucks, but they are catching on! It is nice to see them daily in my town, though. Can't go to Lowes or Wal-mart without one being in the parking lot, either when I get there or when I come out.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pewd @ May 10 2007, 12:18 AM) [snapback]438860[/snapback]</div>

I see Prius in my neighborhood.
Yes, and I will be one of them very sooon. I have four collegues who drive Prius and two of them live in Plano. They love it very much.

 

I work at the airport DFW, in the parking lot every week 4 Prii, a G1 and 3 G2.

One of the G2 is silver same as mine, boy thank god for smart keys.

 

Count me in as another Prius owner in Houston who is willing to join a group.....

There's at least one other Prius in my apartment complex....I see one on the roads every once in awhile, too. It's not nearly as rare as it used to be.

 

<_< No offense, avdavsim -

Quote "...and hot, humid air gives you the least air resistance..." My opinon stems in part from being a light aircraft pilot. I believe you will find that the opposite is partly true. It's the "humid" part. Hot and dry would offer the least air resistance. Living in Dallas, which offers generally hotter temperatures and somewhat lower humidity, I would expect margianilly better MPG.

Overall, there would be almost imperceptable difference. The MPG is much more dependent on driving habits.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boulder Bum @ May 8 2007, 10:34 PM) [snapback]438069[/snapback]</div>

NOT TRUE in the big cities !
Here in SAN ANTONIO there are LOTS OF THEM... it seems like every 20th car is a Prius..
Not kidding !

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ May 11 2007, 11:19 AM) [snapback]440002[/snapback]</div>

Humid air has lower density and lower viscosity than dry air, therefore the air resistance should be lower. However, I do agree that the difference in MPG would probably be imperceptible.

I drove around SW Houston for about 30 minutes total today and I saw three Prii (green,blue and gold) on the road in that short time (I didn't comb the parking lots I stopped it to add more.) That should cheer Boulder Bum up.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(avdavsim @ May 10 2007, 12:14 AM) [snapback]438827[/snapback]</div>

I will be moving back to the Houston area late next month, so this should be interesting. Last time I was there the waiting list was still pretty heavy at one dealership I went to near Humble.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boulder Bum @ May 8 2007, 11:34 PM) [snapback]438069[/snapback]</div>

I live up I-35 about 45 minutes north of Salado. I work at a factory with 1,000 people. I have owned my Prius for over a year now and I'm still the only at work driving one. I wish gasoline was $4/gallon in Texas and maybe, just maybe, you would see fewer speeding SUVs and Trucks here. It could be possible

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ServoScanMan @ May 16 2007, 02:01 AM) [snapback]443160[/snapback]</div>

Nah. They don't know there's a direct relationship between high speed and high gas consumption. for sure.

Dave M.