gang

thanks for the new info regarding the tire pressure. I will bump mine up to 3 psi below max sidewall. That seems reasonalbe. NOT to what some of these jokers bump it up to however.

i will NOT bring apparatus in my car like wet towels and ice just so i dont put the AC on. I will NOT spend my waking hours obsessed with being able to post the best MPG on this site or lose sight of the fact it ALREADY gets much better mileage than a regular gas car. Can we just get on with our lives without going way overboard?

To the casual observer, going crazy on the MPG to the point of where it starts to really look ridiculous actually cheapens the site as average folks cant relate to it, and conclude we are a 'fringe group' of obsessed freaks.

My hope was to promote the benefits of the hybrid, as a normal american would enjoy it, so that more and more of us will switch to hybrids.

I didnt come here to become part of some cult that goes to ridiculous lengths to embellish MPG to the point where nothing else in life matters.

Boasting MPG numbers that are 'dubious' at best, obscure scenerios, and outright bragging about ridiculous technics does not help our cause. Its done to showcase the egos of those involved -which saddens me

Helium in the tires???? cmon man..........


Automakers no doubt read our blog , eagerly seeking what the real world MPG is on their vehicles. They end up having to take it with a 'large margin' grain of salt when they see the ridiculous lengths these guys go to to 'put up numbers' like its a contest or something. They are not interested in obscure scenerio trumped up numbers that wont be realistically duplicated in normal situation driving.

Do you honestly believe toyota or honda is going to start handing out wet towels and ice -instead of AC -on their cars. Not very constructive a suggestion huh......

Even if the 'technics' can be taught, americans are not going to spend all this time 'relearing' how to drive to milk an extra mpg out of their car, and if they do -they will just use the new skills in their gas cars, defeating the purpose of driving a hybrid, as their 'state of the art' training will reap them better mileage in their gas cars. So why shell out the extra expense of the hybrid?

Do you now honestly expect honda and toyota to now include classes on how to 'pulse and glide' -instead of just drive the **** car?

Average americans come to this site , looking to get better mpg , and help the enviroment and foreign oil. They then are aghast to see hybrid drivers talking some 'funky' language about wholesale changes in driving and tire pressure and all this crap -when all they wanna do is buy a new car.

Didnt we purchase the hybrid for the enviroment? We all know the price was trumped up so that we have to drive about 100k miles to make up the diff in gas savings.

Automakers , nor consumers can take these overinflated numbers seriously as what an average consumer would do. I guess im asking for too much for all of us just to drive the **** things and report what we get as 'real world' without all the ego feeding ridiculous gyrations.

There are good common sense suggestions here to help the MPG slightly. However, there is also a bunch of nonsense and ego feeding going on that is turning off americans from buying a hybrid. This cheapens the site and takes away from the benefits that are here.

just my .02.

srry for the rant -it has been building up for some time now.