Delta Flyer nailed it.. at least in my case.. It is like a Video Game. I am a 30 something video game player (thank goodness my wife tolerates my habit hehe). I have had my HCH2 <1 week.. but I absolutely love tweaking, analyzing and goofing with FE and optimizing my mileage.

Rather than high speed road rage.. I now get low speed rage when someone can't maintain a steady and predictable rate of speed.. even at 55mph DUDE YOU ARE KILLING MY FE! *finger*.

Just kidding.

Maybe I would have also liked the Prius with all its gizmos and gadgets, but every single day I am more and more enthralled by my hybrid. Its a blast. When a 14mpg SUV zooms by me at 80mph (probably getting <9mpg at that point), I just sit back.. know i'll get to work ~5 minutes later than if I went at 80mph, yet glide into the parking lot using a mere fraction of the fuel that other guy used.

I've used about 1/2 a tank of gas so far. In the same time.. I would have filled up the tank on my old car 1 1/2 or more times.

My -only- complaint about my HCH2 so far.. the interior is a light tan. I am freaked about getting it dirty. But I guess that is new car behavior. Eventually i'll settle down and stop acting stupid

I found this clever post on insightcentral.net that spoke of our addiction, and it gave me a big smile:

"Hello, my name is Arbek and I am a segment junkie. There, I've admitted it. It all started so simply, that green segmented bar with 150 on the right side, it demands my attention. So simple, so thin, yet so powerful. I'm a sucker for video games anyway, I should have known better. Anyway, it started with a single trip, the meter showed 73.1 mpg. I was hooked in an instant. If only I'd known how far my adiction would take me. Lately, I've been seen driving around with my windows up when it's warm outside. And, and, I've been seen coasting up to stop lights, I know, shameful, but, my addiction demands more and more from me as I reach for new highs and more segments. I've even gone as far as to add extra air to my tires in an attempt to keep my segment count up. I've learned new shifting patterns andbecome a slave to the trip meters. I've stooped so low as to drive UNDER the speed limit at times! Everyone around me thinks I'm a lunatic. I even slow down in advance of red lights so that I can coast through them when they change. I've become too lazy to stop and when I have to, I jack rabbit off the line like a race car driver in an attempt to view as many segments as possible as quickly as I can. Once I'm high on the count, I get a thrill from the soft, gentle acceleration and coasting on by. Sure, sure, others pass me with power and speed, but, that dosn't excite me any more. It's all about the segments now and reaching a new high. My friends and co-workers are concerned, inquiring daily about my new problem. I think some of them are thinking about segmenting now, others are in denial, they can't believe this is happening to someone they know. Some of you know what I'm talking about, is there any hope? Can anyone help?"

Steve Villatoro
www.stevenvillatoro.com
“An enlightened guide to small business mastery.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryW I have had my HCH2 <1 week.. but I absolutely love tweaking, analyzing and goofing with FE and optimizing my mileage. Rather than high speed road rage.. I now get low speed rage when someone can't maintain a steady and predictable rate of speed.. even at 55mph DUDE YOU ARE KILLING MY FE! *finger*. Just kidding. My -only- complaint about my HCH2 so far.. the interior is a light tan. I am freaked about getting it dirty. But I guess that is new car behavior. Eventually i'll settle down and stop acting stupid

This post just cracks me up, probably because I can relate to everything you've just said. Also, I put an all weather mats to my light tan interior because it does get dirty easily!

I don't have a hybrid either but neither do I have a fuel consumption gauge in my smart. The first year I got great joy in trying to best my previous fuel economy numbers, but now that it's settled into an overall average of 3.8 L/100 km, I don't try very hard any more.

In fact this winter I'll be buying some wider wheels/tires for the car to improve the handling, which should sap some of the fuel economy potential. My average will still be over 60 MPG US though, not to worry!

2008 Mercedes-Benz B 200
2005 smart fortwo cdi pulse cabriolet
1966 Peugeot 404 Coupé Injection
1989 Peugeot 405 DL