I am impressed with the effort that has gone into the mileage database. As far as improvement, the one thing that seems to interest a lot of people is discussing the various technical aspects of each of the various hybrid systems. There are often posts that have excellent discussions and/or informative links, but as they age they often drift away into the historical back pages. Sticky posts are ok, but too many just get annoying for daily chatter (I've seen other forums where most of the 1st page is old sticky posts). I'm wondering if each car, or maybe each hybrid system, could get a "Technical References" hall of fame type listing that would allow people to easily refer to the best technical reference postings made. Probably would take a lot of administrative work to maintain and ensure the quality of such a listing though, but I think having such a listing would be an excellent one stop starting point for newcomers to help them understand how what they have works.

 

The mileage database is unique and adds value. So my first thought is to add other metrics that are not being recorded by any user community:

1) engine oil test results - a place where members who test their oil can bring the results and compare them to the results of others. This allows us to develop a broader understanding of how different oils work and their wear patterns.

2) transaxle oil test results - same idea but another fluid

3) major repair records - a way to start tracking battery, engine or other major componet failures

What I'm describing is adding data recording and analysis so we can effectively become a voluntary fleet of hybrid vehicles. We still manage our individual vehicles but in sharing our results, we can gain insights and avoid problems others discover. Heck, I wouldn't mind if a 'recommended reminder' would pop up after entering a tank.

How about metric and US and Canadian units? It may be there but it isn't clear how to flip between the different standards.

Also, I wouldn't mind if all posts were first 'spell checked' and a "are you sure?" popped up if it detected an error.

Bob Wilson

 

I'll secnd that spel chec.

 

Yes, I know, quoting oneself is oafish but I wanted to add something:
There are competing web sites that to a greater or lessor extent allow folks to post 'technical write-ups' and pontificate on whatever moves the membership. IMHO, trying to do what they are doing 'only better' is death and won't work. What is needed is something unique and GreenHybrid.com has that with the mileage database and NO ONE has figured out how to do it equal or better!

What I'm suggesting is a database for collecting oil testing results, both ICE and transaxle, and a log of major malfunctions, that provides value beyond the current ad hoc reporting systems. Doug has at least a dozen oil test results and I have six Prius transaxle oil test results, which I suspect we both would be willing to 'bootstrap' supporting vehicle databases. These are not someone's opinion but real, honest to God, lab test results and it is time to make a home for them so we don't have to be the "keepers."

Adding oil test results along with a log of major malfunctions would be something totally unique, like the mileage database, and would attract the types of disciplined posters who 'live in the real world.' It won't happen overnight, nothing good does, but it will happen overtime. Best of all, good folks like Doug won't have to carry the burden alone.

One other 'record' that I'd like to suggest is a little 'out of the norm' but I'd like to see tracking of used hybrid prices and possibly new ones too. One of the frequent questions asked is "How much . . ." and this is always answered by a cataphony of "I paid . . ." with no database record. This won't be competition for Blue Book or any other service because it will be driven by: (1) what individuals bought and sold, and/or (2) observed Ebay prices for deals. It also allows us to start noting what works and doesn't work.

GreenHybrid.com brought a disciplined approach to tracking vehicle mileage, a D*mn Good Thing! Do the same for the rest of our vehicle profiles and you will have made a major advance in the art.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

ps. I will now get off of the soap box . . .

 

I like the spritmonitor.de site for comparative fuel economy; it's metric and available in English now too. Their database is MASSIVE.

 

There are choices, personal preferences and I'm fine with that. But "MASSIVE" is a problem. I checked spritmonitor.de for the number of Toyota Prius with at least 50 km and they have 117 gasoline and 1 LPG compared to GreenHybrid.com:Then too, the GreenHybrid.com database shows vehicle performance for hybrids driven in the N. American continent, Canadian and US roads and highways. There is a difference in how we drive on this side of the Atlantic. In fact, we already know the Japanese hybrid enthusiasts are getting much better MPG performance on their side of the Pacific because their driving conditions and climate are different.

If size were all that mattered, we'd all be driving Hummers but we also need locally reproducable data. As for style, that is a question of individual taste. Still, I would agree that a multi-lingual GreenHybrid.com with both Spanish and French would make sense for the N. American continent.

Bob Wilson

 

I would like to see database results capable of being filtered by the user by type of driving (city/highway), by time of year (spring/summer/fall/winter), and finally by date (month/year).

More technical discussions (or links to) details of the various propulsion systems on the market, with an added feature of up and coming technologies (not only hybrid).

 

Excellent idea for the database. I would certainly contribute my repair data.

 

Well I of course wasn't referring to the hybrid cars alone here....I think you will see that 39,000+ vehicles in total is a decent enough database, particularly if comparisons with diesels and other models are deemed to be appropriate.



With the smart cars, despite the tuning of CDN cars to account for the (presently) crappy Diesel fuel in Canada - which burns more fuel, Canadians are quite competitive with the German-operated cdis.

Driving over there - particularly amongst those who bother to post in a fuel economy forum like that - is not as different as you may think.

 

Something tells me Smart drivers don't spend much (any) time in the Autobahn left lane club. But I will have to say that I'm amazed how fast even the smaller economy cars go over there. I've had a few opportunities to left lane it over there and a car that in North America might top out at 150/160kph, a similar sized car/engine size will easily cruise at 200kph. But even at that speed you still have to keep a constant eye in the mirror, the speed differentials are quite big. Only place I've seen worse is on the highways around Shanghai. I've seen trucks lumbering along at 60kph and two lanes over cars moving at 180kph. Worse yet, they don't have a left lane club, it's whatever lanes happen to be free at the time...