Are Hybrid Vehicles fun to drive?
What makes the experience different than a regular powered vehicle?

I'm not referring to non-hybird system options specific like Blue Tooth or a nice radio, but rather the Hybrid experience...

One experience for me is:
As I'm tooling along in the Right lane with traffic and see my MPG results it can truly be thrilling. I look over in the Left lanes and see cars fighting, whizzing by going 85-90MPH and am satisfied with my fuel savings.
Sometimes I think "I could never drive like that again...don't they realize how much fuel they consume...I'll bet they're the first to complain at the pump! "
Ironically they are likely looking at the slower Righ lanes and wondering how people can drive the boring speed limit. I'm not one to divulge to them my secret. :ph34r:

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

Since I am still new to this "game" I enjoy trying to figure out what is the best way to drive and the best route.

Being an engineer I often try to determine the most MPG friendly route when I am going someplace. I try to visualize how many hills and the least red light direction.

I enjoy engaging our 12 year old daughter to think about how much gas is being used. We once saw a Hummer filling up at a gas station and figured how far we could go in the HCH on his ONE tank of gas.

Billy

I have to agree that the "mileage game" is a big part of the fun. On the Prius, it gets taken to a different level, because as well as maximizing the mileage, the game turns into the always-entertaining "keep the engine off" game.

More than once, I've been caught letting my speed drop as we climb a hill on a 50- or 60-km road, and taken a gentle prompting form my fiancee to remember that there are worse fates in life than the engine turning off. But are there, really?

I don't know. I find the Prius very fun to drive. Serious performance freaks, probably wouldn't so much. But then, I also quite enjoyed driving my Echo, and the ancient Tempo before that. I just find driving fun in general. Add to that the "mileage game" and you've got all the more fun.

I especially enjoy the pickup from a red light to about 40 or 50 km/h afforded by the electric motor system. And yes, I do occaisionally enjoy the "fun" of the "holier than thou" game, particularly when I'm stuck on the main artery into downtown Toronto which we affectionately call the Don Valley Parking Lot, and I know I'm one of the very few people on that road not idling.

But there's a sad side to that game too, because I think about it deeper, and realize that while it's one victory fo me, it's also thousands of losses for myself and for the next generations, because of all those cars sitting there, going nowhere, NOT shutting down as they idle.

Reading the thread's topic, I thought the subject was:"how road worthy is your hybrid".

It's fun to go slow, but also fun to show other drivers how superior the machine you're driving is to theirs.

I may be going off topic, but bear with me.

I go slow like most of you. 55 miles per hour is not the speed I go to, it's my religion. :lol:

So, sometimes these "people in a hurry" tailgate or are too close before a turn (highway ramp most of the time).

So I keep it on the CC and go through the curve (usually a 45 kilometers per hour curve can be taken at 90 kilometers per hour (56 miles per hour) with my car, no problem).

When in the curve, I look to my back view mirror to see their car practically lose control because they entered the curve way too fast for their vehicule's hability...

Then back on the straight way, they speed up and come next to me. They look at me like it's my fault they practically crashed.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Gotta have some fun on the road....

Rammstein

Different and efficient by choice!

Hi Rammstein:

___Not to burst any bubbles but many HCH and Insight hypermilers tend to drive w/out the brakes coming into any turn so we do see those individuals taking the turn behind and locking them up because they came in a bit hot and got scared :unsure: We on the other hands just enjoy the “G’s” as well the FE

___Hot Georgia, I know you belong to this sub-category of hybrid drivers

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

Oh, you should try Synergy Drive, Mr. Wayne. To shut the power supply off, you actually press the gas.

Visit my newly-acquired website, Volconvo Debate Forums!

Hi Jason:

___I have. 3 HSD test drives actually … But I didn’t receive the overall FE economy I could achieve from an IMA equipped automobile nor were they as fun Hopefully you will get the chance to pilot an HCH or Insight to see and feel up close and personal the other side of the Hybrid lineup someday. I have not yet driven an HCH myself however.

___The HCH even with its LRR scores a very respectable skid pad number in comparison to both the Insight and Prius II … The higher end Prius II’s can’t be tested to their skid pad limits given VSC engages with non-regen braking blowing any momentum build and thus the FE hit. This also takes away some of the fun although in all reality, anything over .3 g’s is approaching the “Danger Zone” as you really never truly know the road surface you are driving on imho.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

People who ride with me know where those nifty handles on the ceiling are.
Ride with me for a couple of days and find them with your eyes closed.
I haven't seen anyone behind loose control in a turn but they slow WAY down or needlessly stop.
When they notice I'm already up the road they'll gas it hard to catch up. :wacko:

Sometimes a car will turn into the traffic buffer I've set up and I'll have to adjust a slow down to his acceleration.
Sometimes when the better half is riding she'll grab that ceiling handle, stretch her legs and exclaim "S-S-LLOWW D-D-OWN :o "
Guess that's kind of fun in a sinsiter way! :ph34r:

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

Hehe, O.S. handles are great! My friends think i'm crazy though. Yah, i drive slow....but i dont slow down for the turns...so it almost evens out.
Cheers,
Steven

Hidden Views Photography

Ha! Another Torontonian...

Actually, I enjoy the DVP during morning rush hour a lot The traffic jam slows things down enough that you can glide through pretty much the whole thing all the way to downtown (except for that little climb just before Eglinton). I don't need to drive downtown very often, but when I do, the trip down is often close to 80mpg.

The way up is a different story though. The climb is pretty brutal almost all the way up. Even when the traffic is moving well, you'll pretty much give back all the gain you get on the way down. And if you're in a traffic jam, the constant accelerating up slopes is going to kill you. So I usually go east on Bloor, north on Donlands to O'Connor. Then Eglinton east to Birchmount and then go north all the way home. The slower speed in the street allow you to glide a quite a bit so you can maintain a decent mpg even when you are climbing. It takes quite a bit longer than the DVP but it is possible to do 70+mpg round trip this way in the summer. It may be worth the time, depends on how hardcore you are...

Andy