Bob,hey I missed a dust up? I'll have to search for it.I've been away.
I love arguments!Sorry I missed that one.
Ive sold 2 cars(needed the $$),and bought one recently.The Prizm(corolla clone) is gone,and so is the Honda Pilot.The Pilot,I miss; it was a great trip vehicle.I still have the Prius, of course.Replaced those two with a 1998 200,000 Suburban($2950 with a one year old trans rebuild,and AC rebuild) in surprisingly good shape(a lawyer owned it thru his partnership,so the maintenance was written off-he took good care of it).
The Suburban has loads of mpg improvement potential.In very short trip driving(average 2 miles with hours in between starts) it gets 12mpg.The Pilot would get about 13.5 on the same routes,the Prius 38-40,Prizm-24 or so).It more or less matches the Pilot in respect to lbs moved fuel used(4400 vs 5400).I was surprised that it was so close to the Pilot in city mpg(especially considering to 200,000 mile old 2 valve 5.7lt pushrod engine).The Pilot would get 22-24 mpg on very long hy trips(3000 miles) pure interstate driving. If I trust the Surburban I'll try it on a long trip.I think it will approach 20 mpg with no mods other than 42 psi in the tires.
In the future,I might put in taller diff gears(it does about 1650 rpms at 60 miles per hour now),and maybe a spring loaded chin spoiler.Narrower tires might help also.
The Suburban would be a 10 mpg vehicle if I didn't P&G (in pure city driving).It glides very well- it spends 5 seconds per miles per hour on smooth streets in glide mode.
I've run on.Where is the dust up?
Charlie