Well, I applaud your efforts for getting off the beaten freeway path krousdb. If the price of gas goes up a lot, you will probably have some company on that secondary road. I suspect that the only additional wear and tear is to the clutch throwout bearing, or do you shift to neutral in most glide periods?

 

Actually that brings up a good point. It disturbs me that the Prius forces one to take eyes off the road so frequently for common tasks like adjusting the heater or checking mileage. The HCH2 is much better in this regard.

If one often uses the MFD to train for better fuel economy, then one frequently is not looking at the road. I am now a bit more cautious around Prius drivers for this reason. IMHO, mpg info belongs in the front display, right next to the MPH. (Sure would be nice to have engine temp there too.)

 

Don't worry about prius drivers. Most of them aren't looking at the gauges. If they were they would probably not be passing me every day at high rates of speed.

/me puts on his asbestos suit.

 

I guess I don't see what your talking about??

The steering wheel has the radio controls, defroster controls & a/c, heat controls on it.. So you do not have to look alllaround while your driving..
As you can see the mph, fuel gauge & all the idiot lights are at the bottom of the windshield..

As far as I can tell you should have the same gripe with honda that you have with toyota on control locations and look out if you have that navigation option youll be sure to drive all over the road too..

notice below:


05' prius #1(this is the stripped base model..

************************************************** ***********


06' Civic EX Hybrid
************************************************** ************

06' Civic EX w/NAV

 

Well, neither car is perfect, but the Civic has the IMA info and water temp right in front of the driver's eyes. When I test drove it I thought it also showed calculated MPG there, but it's been over a month since the test drive, so I could be wrong. When I test drove the Civic it was absolutely miserable weather. Yet, in spite of the weather and traffic, I had no trouble setting the heater, defroster controls while driving. The layout was similar to our Honda and it was easy. In my Subaru, with a similar layout, I could always do it by feel. I'm not sure why the tachometer on the Civic, that would be a great spot for more systems data.

With the Prius, some, but not all the heater controls are on the wheel. To switch air directions from feet to windshield, change fan speed, etc. one needs to go to the MFD. That means, find the climate button, (eyes back on road), then find the location on the screen for the desired button, push it, eyes back on the road. There is no temp guage on the Prius, but my understanding is that if one has CAN view, it's back to the MFD. Same goes for trying to have the car teach one to drive for better mileage. It would be so much better to have this info right next to the MPH. I don't like this centralization of important systems data, out of my line of sight. Actually, the new Camry's dash looks like it might be the most practical yet.

 

Well, neither car is perfect I to agree neither car is perfect.
but the Civic has the IMA info and water temp right in front of the driver's eyes. When I test drove it I thought it also showed calculated MPG there, but it's been over a month since the test drive, so I could be wrong. When I test drove the Civic it was absolutely miserable weather. Yet, in spite of the weather and traffic, I had no trouble setting the heater, defroster controls while driving. The layout was similar to our Honda and it was easy. If I were to be test driving the car in bad weather I to would have to look at the heater controls (taking my eyes off the road) as you have stated the layout is similar, so your used to it and comfortable using the controls. In my Subaru, with a similar layout, I could always do it by feel. again your comfortble with the controls, I think if the this was flipped around and you where used to the layout of the toyota you would say the same for the toyota. I'm not sure why the tachometer on the Civic, that would be a great spot for more systems data. That I have no idea.?.

Actually, the new Camry's dash looks like it might be the most practical yet
Im looking forward to the test results on the new camry I will wait and see how it holds up for the first year, before I look into buying one.


I dont have a problem driving my prius, if you look at the screen you can still see the road unless your near sighted and have to put your face up to the display screen to see then that would be a scary ride on the out side lol..

Did you test drive a Prius the same amount of time as the Civic?
I do know of complaints about the prius/insight rear window issue as being a blind spot..

 

Once you get used to button positions and the layout of the application running on a touchscreen it's not so different than using manual controls. But I do have some beef with the temperature control, I think a **** (or a scroll type setting for on-screen) is much more intuitive and at least you don't have to keep pressing it to change it quite a bit all at once. Well designed applications on touchscreens are okay if you can get used to it, my friend and I have been using touchscreens in cars since we put one in his 1989 Chrysler K-Car, so he was well prepared for his Prius MFD and we even put a second screen in:



The most impostant thing is making the application as intuitive as possible so it becomes a mindless task in the shortest possible time.

 

No, you all were better than the movie.

Honestly - great job!

 

wow i forgot all about starting the car with your clutch! hmmmmmmm maybe I don't need a starter after all... question for dan when you FAS in the Del Sol do you turn off all the car's electronics so you don't drain the 12 volt battery (headlights, HUD, heater) during the coast? or do you think the energy spent is irreveleant during the coast? Also when you jump start with the clutch do you let it out slowly or really fast and hit the gas? its a smooth start right? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM i really evny those prius owners because everytime I FAS at a red light boy I'm really missing the luxury! But hey if Dan is exploiting this on his Honda... why haven't I've been doing that too...

I guess I'm really scared if something ever goes wrong with my car. I need it more than ever if I'm ever going to get a hybrid!

edit: well i go to school which is usually 10 km there and 10 on the way back. FAS indeed if I had to guesstimate gives me (20-30%) more coasting ability than opposed to just putting it in neutral. I forget sometimes to key off and the key on right away to regester the mileage and the speedometer. At this point I try not to abuse any electronics since I don't want to drain the 12 volt battery too fast ( HUD lights are already on, headlights on)

wow what a difference coasting with engine off makes! although personally road noise is still the same for me (thanks tires!) but my biggest problem and fear so far is bump starting. I suck at it so much everytime I try to do it I either fail or the car shakes very violently and then RPMs spike up. When trying to understand the science behind it I couldn't do a smooth bump start no matter what I tried: few examples

going 20km/h, clutch in pop it into 2nd and let go slowly, clutch grips engine still off

going 20km/h, clutch in pop it into 2nd and let go slowly at the same time add a little gas. Nothing happens until I let the clutch out all the way and gas a little more and then BOOM the engine comes back alive very violently like I awaken it from a very deep sleep.

I tried the same method at the same speed but 3rd and 4th gear, car sounded like it tried to jump the engine but it stalled. I guess not enough torque at 20km/h

oh yes i did at least 6 to 7 FAS and at least 5 bump NASTY starts. My fuel gauge was pointed at F until after my experiement the needle regestered half! i was shocked but then it settle back up to 3/4... not what I was expecting at all espically when I only have 45 km on the odometer. ( i reset everytime i fill my gas tank to the top) I used to keep the needle at F after at least 70 km, but now after this... my faith is kind of shaken.

Maybe I just need someone like exel or dan to properly show me how to hypermile. So far bump starting is my biggest hurdle and if I do anymore I'm sure my car's engine will attempt to pull itself without the car!

 

That is amazing! My Prius will only go up to 99.9 MPG. Is that the same for everyone else?