I've been lurking here for a few weeks now, learning as much as I can and considering the HCH2 and Prius. I have the lucky circumstance of working at a company where I can easily borrow both a Prius and a HCH2 pool vehicles to test out for a while. I spent a week in each one about a year ago, then another week recently in the HCH2 again now that I'm getting serious about purchasing.
There are some very good arguments for buying the Prius instead. I spent some time on the Prius sites also. It has better rear seat room, a trunk passthrough, more cargo space, very slightly better city mpg, etc. But when I drove it, it felt more like an appliance. There was no driving joy in it at all. It was built for those "get from point A to point B" people, or maybe some who want to advertise to everyone that they're in a hybrid. I want a car that's pretty practical, but also fun to drive and gets great mileage. I'd like a trunk passthrough, but otherwise the HCH2 was an easy choice. The hybrid tires don't suck nearly as bad as I was expecting. The handling is nice and flat w/out any squeaking from the rubber. Plus, since you can easily get one at invoice price now AND apply a tax credit, the Prius starts to seem rather pricey in comparison.
In my week of playing (including times when I was checking out maximum acceleration), I averaged 43.2 mpg. On one two day average, I managed to eek out 47.5mpg. This was on cold, sub-freezing days too, w/tires at a pathetic 31psi! I find it to be a very fun game to try and get that number up as high as possible. It really appeals to the geek engineer in me. If I can save money and reduce the amount of my income going to the middle east in this whole 'gaming' process, even better!
I originally was shopping for my wife, but she's convinced the trunk size is inadequate for the kid's junk and such. I've enjoyed driving the pool car so much, I decided to get one for myself instead! I am literally leaving to go pick up my new car (Mag Pearl, no Nav) from the dealer in about 35 minutes! Try as I might, I can't quite part with my current car (Evo VIII), so I plan to keep them both, at least for now. Am I the only Evo owner on here?
Anyway, I just wanted to post real quick and say Thanks to MSantos, Orient Express, and all the other enthusiasts on this site. I appreciate all the info you've shared with the community to make this an easier decision. I'm sure I'll be back in the future with lots of questions.
-Rob
New member to the HCHII Club
