Gas Prices!!!!!!!!!!! (cars, engineer, average)

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

I've seen this term used in a couple of threads on C-D and then then was the recent Sarah Palin/ Bill Maher brouhaha and it makes me wonder why is it that people of the left/ progressive side of the political spectrum don't seem to have any problem with language that is generally considered to be offensive toward the mentally handicapped?

I've seen a very steady decrease in the use of the word "retarded" by people in general. Maybe it's my group of friends (who fall anywhere from center-right to social-justice-obsessed left), but I haven't seen the phrase used almost at all, and it when it does come out, it's quickly chastised.

Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever

Just not any that might connote "eco-Nazism" eh?

One might say that. I think he has softened to the idea of electric cars and hybrids. He even recommended that one might work for me as I live in the city and don't have a long commute. I think what drove him away from hybrids was the smugness of those who touted the environmental benefits of driving a hybrid (and telling others they should be driving one as well) while also living a wasteful lifestyle. I know a couple who lives out in Champlin and commutes into inner-ring burbs and downtown Minneapolis with their first-gen Prius. Sure, they have better MPGs, but guess who has a smaller carbon footprint: the couple in a ticky-tacky suburb driving everywhere in their Prius or me, the city-dweller with a commute under 2 miles in my old 4-cyclinder VW with 200,000 miles?

Originally Posted by dravogadro

If your father loves cars, I would recommend the Honda hybrids - at least a first-gen Insight would be fairly interesting to use with a manual transmission. I don't know how the newer ones ride.

The Nissan Leaf (at least when I sat in it two years ago) had a terrible, cheap plastic interior. The Prius has no soul but is 'neat', technology-wise. The rear sight lines are pretty terrible though. Have not had any experience with the Volt.


Car lovers can be eco-geeks.....

I don't think I could ever convince my dad to get a Honda. They're economical, but they're some of the least inspired cars around. Most of them are pretty boring. In general, my family tends to buy American (mostly Ford) and a lot of German (VW, Audi, etc.) with a smattering of Japanese (some Subaru, Suzuki, etc). He's more likely to buy a hybrid Jetta or a clean-diesel/TDI VW than any of the recommendations above.

[Beenhere4ever]

Ah yes, the "smugness factor". You ever see the South Park episode devoted to that issue? Funny. I think a biodiesel vehicle would be nice. Just think: I'm running on McDonald grease!!! By the way, the Twin Cities is now at $3.564. That's a nickel below the USA average. About 78 cents down from the peak.

[xandrex]

My family loves that episode, especially those who lean to the right. It really did embody early adopters of hybrid cars (and still does somewhat to this day).

It probably didn't help the case that so many hybrids just don't drive that well. The people I know with the Prius in Champlin are related to a friend. She was driving it and said it had horrible performance and struggled to accelerate onto the highway at anything that would be deemed reasonable. VW has a turbo-charged hybrid that gets 48 MPG. That looks intriguing. Performance with good gas mileage.

[Beenhere4ever]

Electric vehicles have great pickup. That's part of the reason that diesel locomotives drive their wheels with electric motors. And if you ride a hybrid bus, you also notice how quickly it can get up to speed.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever

Electric vehicles have great pickup. That's part of the reason that diesel locomotives drive their wheels with electric motors. And if you ride a hybrid bus, you also notice how quickly it can get up to speed.

I can only report on what I was told from experience with that car. Probably just that it wasn't a very great model as it was one of the earlier versions Toyota released. Doesn't change the smug factor, though.

[dravogadro]

We recently rented a Prius and tested the acceleration on the highway -- and it is a bit pokey. Electric motors are great but the size matters. I imagine the train motors are bit larger than those driving the Prius....it really plays a role in how much 'Oomphf' you're going to get.

[Beenhere4ever]

I looked up a test drive of a 2014 Prius. Not great acceleration specs. None of the owners I know ever complained. Guess they figured "good mileage means acceleration sucks". Back before Prius, when the Geo Metro was MPG champ, that was its one flaw. No pep. Guess the people getting 50 MPG didn't mind.

(On the prices subject, paid $3.39 for my gas today)

[golfgal]

The Prius and similar are designed for city driving. If you look at their specs, the gas mileage on the highway is lower (because it uses gas then). If you do a lot of freeway driving, the Prius really isn't that much better than smaller sedans.

[Beenhere4ever]

Prius really shines in city driving where the distances are shorter and the electric motor is doing more of the powering. And fast acceleration is less important there.

By the way, for some reason, gas prices in Michigan are far higher than what we have now. About 35 cents higher per gallon.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever

I looked up a test drive of a 2014 Prius. Not great acceleration specs. None of the owners I know ever complained. Guess they figured "good mileage means acceleration sucks". Back before Prius, when the Geo Metro was MPG champ, that was its one flaw. No pep. Guess the people getting 50 MPG didn't mind.

(On the prices subject, paid $3.39 for my gas today)

I think you just sort of get used to it. My 4-cylinder VW has pretty average acceleration. I didn't realize how pokey it felt until I had to drive my friend's Camry...you can really accelerate in that thing compared to what I was able to do in my car!