Since these hypermilers obviously have no life they're welcome to waste vast amounts of time eeking out more mpg. Just stay out of my damned way.

In the past few days I did a 500 mile round trip, pretty much all interstate.

Just for fun, I did a comparison calculation for my gas hog SUV and my gas sipping Miata.

If I'd done it in my V8 Explorer, I would have gotten about 18mpg (I wasn't going 60 ). And it uses regular gas.

I did it in my Miata instead, and I got 28mpg. It uses premium.

Explorer at 18mpg = 27.8 gallons used @$4 (regular) = $111.2
Miata at 28mpg = 17.8 gallons used @$4.30 (premium) $76.54

So the difference in round trip cost would be about: $34.66. (Big deal - it's not like I do this trip every week)

The Miata was fine doing the trip, but the Explorer is a lot more comfortable and quieter, for a long drive.

 

So this is the reason the prius hybrids i occasionally see on the freeway go 50 mph .... they **** so many people off...

 

I just filled up. I drove 250 miles, 70% highway. I've slowed down a bit and as a result 31 MPGs. No complaints here, especially since I did quite a bit of stop and go in this AWD vehicle. I guess I have Subaru to thank since my Legacy is quite light for midsize vehicle, though it lacks the side impact airbags, etc. of today.

 

that was a joke...

and yes you are right, i have all of those things. But i have similar features for alot less...the only things i lack that comes standard on lexus are woodgrain, leather, nav and the name...

not saying the civic is nearly as good by any means, but it gets me where i need to go in an efficient manner, and even can be fun if i want it to be. it really isnt all that slow for what it is...

but believe me, i have had alot of cars, and this one has been by far the most solid feeling car i have owned.

 

One time I was driving up the mountain tunnel that connects the two half of the Island and I see this HID lights way back coming up fast. I too was going pretty fast to it took a little while to catch up. To my surprise it was a Prius. The guy was kind of flying, Going about 70-80 on the highway which is actually pretty fast. I let him pass and take the lead. I have to admit that was the first time I've ever seen a Prius driven so aggressively Brought a smile too my face.

 

Bingo. And don't forget that the Prius can put your instantaneous mileage up on the screen and you can be a lot more concerned about mileage than causing accidents. Bit, a couple of others, have already mentioned the anger these hypermilers can build up in other drivers. OK, so maybe some of them have more testosterone than they should, but I don't like to ignore it.

Over the holiday weekend I noticed two dangerous situations on the road and they were both related to being on a freeway and having the traffic suddenly clog up. Inevitably it was either moronsign (cell phone user) or some econo car doing 50. And what was really annoying was there are now people picking any lane, including far left, to get in to and do 55 and flip the rest of the world off. These Idiotic Economy Drivers (IEDs) can be just as dangerous as the Iraq variety IMO.

I am certainly not a big fan of trying to drag every last MPG out of my car but no one yet has mentioned one of the easier things to do, use the cruise control. It even gets to be entertaining. It's just amazing how poor throttle control most people have as they go roaring past you on a down slope and how you pass them again on an upslope because the cc is keeping a constant speed. But I won't be in a lane or set the cc for less than what my sense is appropriate for traffic. If the right lane is doing 65, that is what I do. If I want to set 70 and that means one lane over, that's fine too. But the IEDs are quickly becoming rolling roadblocks.

 

There appears to be a small group of Prius owners that are fascinated with how fast they can drive the Prius. Maybe they figure the cops would never write a Prius up for doing 100?

 

I can say with absolute certainty that I have NEVER seen a Prius speeding ever!! Usually they are just going with the flow of traffic.

 

When I had a prius rental driving from SF to LA I was averaging 85 mph down rt1 after it veered from the coast cuz I didnt feel like spending 11 hours driving to LA haha...

I would not want to drive that thing up to 100 lol, with both of my parent in the back seat, the car felt really unstable... maybe its the horrid steering feel but I was white knuckled the whole time, dont even want to mention the coast experience, bad steering feel, no break feel, no power to climb

 

Not sure what part of Cali you are in but come spend some time in Silicon Valley. There seem to be a small percentage of Prius owners that are convinced that they are the most advanced life form in the universe if they can get 50mpg and beat you from a stop light. If you don't see a Prius in the fast lane up here (which means generally over 75), you're not looking.

 

That's really funny. I drove my Supra today to keep the battery up and give it a little exercise. I got passed by a Prius while indicating 80.

 

...which is speeding, lol.

When is the flow of traffic ever going only 65 (when that is the limit)?

The flow is usually 80 in a 65.

 

Are you saying you only see Prius's occasionally in Cali? With 1,000,000 Prius's on the road and CA being one of the biggest markets for it, you should be seeing them more than stop signs.

Or, are you saying that only only few drive around 50? All the Prius's I see usually average 70-75.

 

true that and the fact that they get to drive in carpool lane?

 

Well they have to either have the required number of people or be one of the lucky 100,000 that got the stickers letting them in with only the driver. I believe Cali has stopped that program and the stickers are not transferable, they stay with the car, so the people with them will probably keep those Prius's and other hybrids, for a long, long time.