"Road Calm", or "How I learned to love driving once again" The traffic is horrendous. Hundreds of cars pack the busy roads, and everyone is on edge. A red beamer takes off from a dead stop in his lane and swerves two lanes over only to move half a car length before slamming the brakes on once again. That semi driver isn't going to let anyone in, he's two days late on his delivery. Everyone around you is 15 minutes late for work, just like every other day. The tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Everywhere, the drivers are succumbing to road rage. You, however, don't even notice this. You're spending too much time checking out your screen, and trying to keep your MPG above 50 for the whole tank of gas. You see an H2 in the left lane floor it uphill to move 15 feet, and your brain immediately begins to calculate how much gas was wasted with that movement. You come over the top of the hill, keeping it completely electric and your MPG never dips below 99.9. You see the traffic is like this as far as the eye can see, and think "cool, looks like I'll have some great mileage today!". That H2 who has been flooring it and breaking hard is finally along side of you. You look over at the driver, and smile. He doesn't smile back. He, afterall, had to put $35 of gas in the truck this morning after just filling up two days ago, and not only the traffic outrages him, but the gas prices do as well. You continue to smile though, since you're driving car of the year, and don't even remember what you last paid for gas. You, my friend, have become the next victim of the newest psychological term on driving - you have experienced road calm. -m.
Well put ! Sometimes I imagine the streets filled with Prii and sense how peacefull it could become. Everyone easing up a hill and coasting down the other side rejoicing in "99.9" !
I :cussing: =Hummer in action. Note acid reflex and heartburn. High blood pressure. Sickening feeling , realizing 100k spent on a four door outhouse. :mrgreen: :lol: = driver of Prius, CivicHB, Insight, or TDI on biodiesel. Note lack of heartburn and distress. Note, please, Buddha-like demeanor. Note also internal good feeling of having put money where mouth is about environment. Hopefully note signs of petroleum withdrawal.
Had this same feeling on my way home last week. I passed an H2, and couldn't help smiling. Ahhh... the Zen of Prius driving...
Too true. It takes great effort not to be smug. Sitting at an intersection on a chilly morning I could not help but notice the continual vapor from all the vehicles around me while the Prius sits quietly waiting untill the ICE is needed. How nice it is going to be when the majority of cars shut off at lights. I think that some day we will look at old movies and see cars idling and it will seem almost comic in the way it is now when we see movies where everyone is smoking cigarettes. John :lol:
I like to think of it like biofeedback. I'm certainly much happier in my car, partly because I've stopped listening to the radio and am enjoying mellow music on the CD player, but mostly because I take joy in anything that increases my mileage. I don't mind getting stuck at a light for two cycles ... doesn't hurt my mileage. If the light up ahead turns yellow, no problem, I'll just coast and regenerate. Some days I can actually get up to 20 MPH on electric alone (I don't do that when folks are behind me). I'm so pleased that it's turning warmer, not because I didn't like winter (as if we have one in LA) but I'm already noticing two or three more MPG!
Oh yes.....I call it 'Priusanti', the sense of peace that one feels driving a Prius. Even my wife's Corolla seems like a mean little car to me now, the transmission shifts, the engine growls at stop lights, the acceleration is abrupt. Everything about the Prius is peaceful, even the way the glove box doors and cupholders open and close. It's almost as theraputic as my big garden.
OMG! This is so "spot-on". I feel exactly the same way. At first, I was wondering what made everyone else get so much more uptight, and then I realized that I was the one who had finally calmed down. I don't mind delayed traffic as much anymore. I'm a big kid sitting in my mobile toy box with plenty of things to amuse myself - energy monitor, consumption history, radio, CD, XM, and don't forget about the Calendar organizer. If it's a dead stop, I'll just start entering upcoming appointment reminders or dates to remember. Can't remember something I should add to the calendar? I'll just use the Bluetooth phone to call someone to find out. Hey, if I run out things to pass the time, I'll just use the Nav to find me a quick detour....
What great posts! rflagg, when I was reading your post, I kept thinking of it as a haiku. Maybe that's also why we're drawn to this engineering marvel.... Jim
rflagg, I think you nailed it. I keep telling people how much fun it is to drive this car and could never really articulate it, but you did very well. I only get a bit uneasy when I'm cruising along at 99.9 mpg at the speed limit or slightly below, and a car is on my tail. I then feel obligated to waste some gas to go faster. I am trying to fight that urge especially if I am going the speed limit. I get some satisfaction if the car DOES pass me only to end up waiting for the light ahead to change. Meanwhile I get to my destination at the same time they do - only with less rage, less gasoline and fewer emissions.
I have to agree with everyone on this topic. I don't think I have ever enjoyed driving a car before two weeks ago tomorrow. That is when I picked up my Tideland Pearl. Driving has always been stressful for me. Now it's fun! It used to really bug me when I was cut in front of. No more, as long as I can keep the car coasting at 99.9 mpg. Stopping at all the lights on the way home really used to get to me. I counted once and there are over 30 in 11.5 miles. Now I just slow down, let the car coast, and stop when I have to. I love sitting at the light with a totally silent engine. To make me even calmer, the air conditioner works great. My last car, a Honda Civic, the air conditioner was horrible. It wouldn't cool the car down if it was over 85 degrees. It has been over 90 this week the part of L.A. I live in. I have been cool the entire way home. What a nice change. The icing on the cake is the display reading 50.6 mpg right now and that's with half the time with the air on. I couldn't be happier with the car. :lol:
I'm on my second tank of gas and am at that point were my MPG average has been increasing by over 1.5 MPG each day. The first 100 miles are a bit trobling - only because the average takes a dip each time you have a long acceration using the ICE. However, the last couple hundred miles have really epitomized that zen-like feeling you all have been talking about. I find myself taking side streets rather than freeway or highway stretches just so I can get more time at 99.9 MPG. Getting from point A to point B in the fastest time is no longer my game. Getteng there with the highest MPG is more rewarding, and much less stressful.
i guess this post came out just before i joined this forum because i know i would have read it. but as everyone has said, you hit it on the head. well said, but considering that you are on the opposite corner of the country from me, i was wondering... how exactly were you able to read my mind so effectively??
