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Put it under any load and the MPG goes in the toilet.
No. Put it under a load the BMW is designed to handle and of course the Prius mileage goes in the tank. Racetrack driving in no way compares to regular driving.
The Prius does very well for what it is...a city commuter car. I might end up getting one because I'll be looking at 100 mile a day commute. I guarantee the Prius will return much, much better mileage than a BMW.
In DC and LA, I see people of all political persuasions driving Prius, mainly because they have the ability to use the carpool lanes with only one passenger if they have special-use tags that were issued before a certain date in LA and on one highway outside DC. It's not at all unfathomable to see people from all walks of life in one. They just stand out more than the other hybrids, but it's easy to find a "typical" diver of any car and assign it to them.
I don't let rental cars bother me, unless it's a safety issue.
THat's interesting, I thought the point of the carpool lanes was to cut down on congestion! Maybe Toyota had some political influence locally to get this passed?
I live in Tennessee and I see quite a few Priuses daily. Also, you may not be especially pleased to hear that, when an Asian customers enters our store, it is always my very conservative coworkers who talk badly about him/her after he/she leaves. My few liberal coworkers never act like that toward anyone. These are people you would probably admire if you came to visit, having no idea what they'd be saying about you behind your back.
Where in Tennessee to do you? I'll be going through Memphis and Nashville on I-40 and probably stopping at a friend's place around Johnson City. Is this very common and does this happen with most people of Asian descent or just recent immigrants or those who are not very assimilated? Unfortunately the same thing happens here, not with all blacks or Hispanics but people perceived to be from the ghetto or to be illegal.
Shouldn't this crap be in the political forum? The topic's not about a car, it's about liberals vs conservatives.
It actually IS about the car and how a driver will be judged based on it. Using clothes for example I know many people who see someone wearing North Face or Abercrombie or a girl having expensive bags and automatically judge them as a "tool" or a snob vs. a regular more down to Earth person who wears clothes from Walmart or Target. My mom always says Jaguar drivers are the most arrogant of all, even worse than BMWs and Mercedes and always notice rude driving and double parking with these makes.
You don't want to be misjudged as a liberal but you're traveling to the most liberal state/city in the country?
We're actually seeing the whole country. The Midwest, California, the Southwest, the South and back here which is now a cross between the Northeast and the South. I'm actually not political eough to boycott Los Angeles despite their ridiculousness regarding boycotting Arizona, we'll be actaully in both California and Arizona. Also even in California, Orange County and the inland areas actually are not very liberal, not like LA itself or the San Francisco area or the portions with lots of illegal immigrants.
My real car still has a McCain-Palin sticker on, as well as one that says "I'll keep my guns, my money and my Freedom you keep the Change" and "HOnk If I'm Paying Your Mortgage." Maybe I'll get a couple magnets that should clear stuff up. Plus I guess trying to save money is the opposite of being a liberal elitist.
Trust me I'm surrounded by a LOT of these folks in my school environment, the ones who insist on spending $4 on Starbucks every morning and still think they can "change the world" and be "progressive". by supporting illegal immigration, abortion, gay marriage, etc. Among a lot of homegrown folks here in Maryland, some tension has arisen lately since some folks now blame minorities for putting Obama in office....I don't know about Asians but many see a black or Hispanic person and automatically assume they are an Obama voter and hence the tension, that's what I was concerned about. And the hatred toward Obama and his agenda is understandable honestly given what he's done and what he still plans to do. At the same time there is a lot of prejudice toward conservatives especially small town folks and blue collar whites from the urban liberals and yuppies.
To reply to an early post too, liberals in the US (not that I ever agreed with abortion or illegal immigration) have always been different from Marxists and socialists....under Barack Obama took office. We see it in his tax policy, health care, and the redistribution of wealth, ACORN etc.
i would spend the extra money, rid yourself of the stigma which you seem to be worried about, and opt for a faster more comfortable car.
seats are whats important to me, and the seats in the prius are flat at best, giving no support or comfort.
i guarentee you'll have a better road trip if you opt for a fun to drive car. it will change your experience of the countryside and you wont' loathe the idea of going on a road trip again.
if you rent a prius, any gas you would save is offset by the extra money the company charges you to specifically drive their gas efficient models.
in conclusion: you won't save gas by paying extra to drive a prius, the seats will kill you, and the stigma won't sit well down south.
get a luxury car or a large sports car, you won't regret it
How comfortable are the seats compared to a Honda Civic, VW Jetta, honda CRV or a Ford Fusion?
Hybrids are designed for urban commuting - not long haul, cross-country road trips. At highway speeds on the open road, the gas engine is going to be doing most of the work. It's going to be dragging you, your friends, your luggage, and 1,000lbs of batteries and electric motor from one side of the continent to the other. You might get 40mpg out of it, fully loaded with the AC on at 75mph if you hyper-mile the sh*t out of it, but I doubt that would be any fun at all.
On a road trip of this magnitude, you want to ensure you're comfortable for the duration and, if you're not a gearhead interested in cars and driving, the car should be invisible. The more time you have to spend thinking about the car, the less time you have to enjoy your surroundings.
As for the left-right, liberal-conservative nonsense... Who gives a sh*t?
A Prius isn't a sign of a socio-political belief as much as it is a sign of pseudo-environmentalism and blind consumerism. You are taking a ROAD trip. You will be DRIVING. You should rent a CAR not an APPLIANCE.
Thanks for this info, maybe we need to rethink the car if its won't save money after all and the seats indeed will be an issue if they're as uncomfortable as many people here say. See none of us actually knows anyone who drives a Prius for real.
So....other hybrids that actually do work well long distance, are more comfortable to drive in and ride in and are less conspicuous?
I might be wrong but I think most cars don't vote in elections or sign petitions or run for office, so I wouldn't worried whether your car is 'liberal' or 'conservative.' I've driven a Prius and it's cool to drive something that's so quiet...a very interesting experience. And it's apolitical to want to save money on buying gas--it's just smart.
LOL quiet. On Wikipedia it actually says that poses a danger to pedestrians and the National Federation for the Blind wants the cars to be "noisier" to help blind pedestrians who depend on car noise for their safety in crossing streets.
On a side note anyone know about the quality of the sound systems and air conditioning/heat and the Prius? We'll be going over the Rockies and also the desert including the notoriously hot stretch between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Shouldn't this crap be in the political forum? The topic's not about a car, it's about liberals vs conservatives.
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