Have there been any gatherings in Colorado? Are any planned? Is anybody in Colorado even interested in such a thing? :-)

Hi Rod. I would really like to plan a Colorado Hybrid Gathering.
Though this site and others, I've made quite a few contacts.

I would really like to develop a street and/or Scenic Mountain course, and track people's fuel ecomony rates, and have some sort of contest.

I know a few Hybrid owners in Greeley, as well as Denver and other states too.

I was thinking about maybe making bumper stickers on the spot with a laptop and printer ( I have 110v AC in my car, do you? ) that said someting like

"I crossed the Rockies on X.XX gallons" or something like that if there was a good turn-out.

If the Harley people have road rallies, and the Corvette people have road rallies, then the Hybrid people should too!

What did you have in mind? In the summer, we'd have better results, and could have a BBQ cookout or something too as a meet & greet sort of thing.

I think great minds think alike! Take Care,

-John

A "cruise"/"mpg rally" does sound interesting.... OTH driving for driving sake seems contradictory to [my] hybrid philosophy, conservation. But there is no need to be prudish about this. :-) Maybe a driving event in the 20-30 mile range judged on MPG (see other postings in this forum)


Nope, but I do have 2 12v outlets.


RE "...summer...": Agreed, a JUN, JUL, AUG time frame is what I was thinking.

RE "...BBQ, cookout...": Not too keen on this idea, lots of extra work that takes away time from... "meet & greet"

The whole "meet & greet" thing is what I had in mind. I was thinking about an event that would facilitate discussion and maybe demonstrations of how to get the most out of our respective cars. I was also hoping that the event would get a little "PR" via the news media to attract non-hybrids drivers, but that my be asking too much.

What ever we do, if we do anything, should probably be simple with a few focused activities. Let's hear from other CO Hybrid drivers and what would be interesting to them... Anybody?

Yes... I agree the focus should be on Hybrid technology, and how to get the most from it. I went to a Hybrid event Hosted by Ford last October.

They had 30-60 minutes of "meet the engineers" behind the product...
Followed by a 30 minute power-point presentation about the Hybrid Escape...
Follwed by 30 minutes of Q&A...

Then, a Ford engineer took every Hybrid driver on a circular city course...similar to the EPA test... but only about 8 miles / 15 minutes. When we got back, they recorded everyone's data for their own internal records...

The point of the city drive, was to show everyone how to get EPA numbers... or in some cases ( myself ) better than EPA.

I consider myself a pretty darn near expert on the Ford Escape Hybrid.
It would be nice to have an event with an expert for each model.
It would be mostly for education... and to show with a little change in driving style, it is easy to get the EPA mileage. But a little friendly "competition" to see who can move the most mass with the least amount of gas I think is also in order!.
Pound for pound... I'll put my Ford against any Toyota or Honda!

If we can get many people, and many models of Hybrid to show, I think it would be a Press event.

I also have concerns about "driving for driving's sake".
But if we spend (use) a gallon or two to show people how to save a gallon per week... well... the benefits out weigh the cost.

To attract people from distance... maybe we could hold it someplace nice, like Estes Park or something similar... The beautiful surroundings and National Park could attract families from out-of-state that would just come to our get-together as one day of their vacation sort of thing.

I have high hopes of something larger then just 3 guys getting together one afternoon.

I think it would be nice to have bumper stickers ( wheather or not you actually put them on your beloved car is up to you... ) and even loaner ScanGauges on hand for people to perhaps see car data they have never seen before.

Whatcha think? I have at least 3 Ford owners interested. One from out of state!

-John

I would like to see a Prius / Honda event for Central Fla on a sat.

Pound for pound... I'll put my Ford against any Toyota or Honda!

LOL, I think the honda insight would have us all beat..

I could see it now (mind you im a toyota man) ford vs the Honda insight for best mpg's the race for pink slips, Insight owners would be trading in the Fords for more Hondas...

04' # 5, W/leather & JBL omitted.
"Prius, Just ask the person that drives one"
04' Tundra, 18mpg city & 22mpg hwy.
04' Prius, 60mpg city & 53mpg hwy.

Kenstyle NHW20 AERO Kit

I did a quick calculation accounting for weight and CoEf of drag, for Prius vs. Escape.

Even giving a handicap to the the Prius for being lighter, and lower to the ground...
The Prius still has about a 5% advantage.

I'll revise my statement.

"I'll put my experienced Escape Hybrid driving up against any novice Prius driver!"


On other words, on a good day, my Ford will beat a Prius having a bad day.
Still, within 5% all things considered is pretty good I think.

???????........?????.......??????

04' # 5, W/leather & JBL omitted.
"Prius, Just ask the person that drives one"
04' Tundra, 18mpg city & 22mpg hwy.
04' Prius, 60mpg city & 53mpg hwy.

Kenstyle NHW20 AERO Kit

Sorry... this is supposed to be a spot for finding people in Colorado.
This is off topic.

When adjusting the average MPG of a Prius downward to compensate for it's lighter weight and less air drag compared to a Ford Escape, it still beats the Ford Escape by roughly 5% to 9%. But then my friend pointed out, the Escape has more "utility"... that is, it may be more useful, or more versatile, which is worth something.

A good Prius driver, should be able to beat a good Escape driver's gas mileage, when only the two facts below are considered:

I used Prius curb weight of 2890 lbs and drag of 0.26.
I used Escape curb weight of 3627 lbs and drag of 0.29.

I was trying to compare apples to apples.
( as always, your results may varry )

Folks:


Keep up the discussion. I grew up in CO but am now in Kansas City. Depending upon the date, I would be interested in heading back to CO. The grandparents would love a little extra time with the grandaughter anyway.

Kace

Doesn't seem to be much interest in a specific CO gathering, but here are two events that may be of interest to those in and around northern Colorado. From http://www.ci.fort-collins.co.us/utilities/eps.php

Fort Collins in Motion—The Future of Transit in Our Community and Region
March 22
Explore the past, present and future of public transit in Fort Collins and around the region. Learn the role transit plays in easing traffic congestion, improving our quality of life and building a sustainable community. Discover what BRT stands for and how it can help you save time and money. A variety of alternative-fueled vehicles will be on site. For questions, call 416-2040.


Fueling Our Future—Transportation Beyond the Age of Oil
March 29
Many experts believe that world oil production is peaking. Learn about fuel alternatives such as biodiesel, ethanol, compressed natural gas, hydrogen and hybrid-electric vehicles. For questions, call 221-6395.

Work schedule permitting, I plan to attend these programs. Send me a PM if you will be attending, perhaps a few of us GHers can manage a quick "eyeball" hello.