NationStates Jolt Archive

This (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05220/550484.stm) is one of the coolest stories I've ever read.

The fuel light had been on for the past eight hours and trying to break the unofficial record for most miles per gallon set by a hybrid in Japan had become more of a headache than an astonishing feat.

It started when a guy posted on Priuschat that he'd gotten 818 miles on a tank and challenged people to beat him. Before long someone hit 900, then 967, then 1,000.

But then these guys got together and ran a Prius with no modifications for 1400 miles over two days, driving in shifts. One of the drivers, when accused on Autoblog of not doing real world driving, replied "I do not know how much more real world you can get. Over the almost 48 hours of run time, we hit 300 stop lights and 175 slow downs to less then 20 mph when coming up to those stop lights before they changed green. The course was a std. every day slower speed 4-lane highway running along the west bank of the Ohio River near Pittsburgh, PA. We obeyed all traffic laws."

By the end, when the fuel light had been on for eight hours, they basically floored it to kill the last vestiges of gas, because they were so wiped by the effort. They could have gone longer.

What wimps, 47 hours and they had to have 5 drivers.

Have you heard any reports on how well cars with technology like this withstand salted roads in the winter? If they hold up well then something like that will be my next car.

Have you heard any reports on how well cars with technology like this withstand salted roads in the winter? If they hold up well then something like that will be my next car.
I haven't, but that's mostly because I'm not crazy enough to live in a place that salts the roads in the winter. :D

Seriously, though, at the rate the Prius has been selling all across the country, there can't be any major issues with it. I'd say it's got to be at least as reliable as a regular gas engine car.

I think that rust is an issue that is in the paint and such. It's really a matter of grip if you live in places like that, though I have to agree with The Nazz (suprise!) and wonder who put houses there, but hey-to each thier own.

It may not be realistic for everyone to have one of these at this point, but it is for enough and enough are starting to buy it that a dent will be made-and more car companies are going to have to join the party.

I'm still not in the market for a car more than $2Gs, otherwise I'd be all over it. Especially after this weekend knocking me on my ass for gas...

Well, this new form of endurance driving won't be getting featured weekly on the Speed Channel, but it IS impressive. I'll stick to my vintage sports car though I do respect this new technology.

I'm still not in the market for a car more than $2Gs, otherwise I'd be all over it. Especially after this weekend knocking me on my ass for gas...No kidding. My new ride set me back a cool $1800--a 1999 Hyundai Accent which gets about 30 mpg in mixed driving with the a/c on most of the time. I could probably get that up a touch if I roll the windows down more often, but considering that my last vehicle got about a third less, I'll take it and be happy.

A guy in England did a similiar thing. Jeremy Clarkson is a presenter on a prime time motoring show called Top Gear, and to prove a point he drove an audi (I think) from London to Edinburgh and back on one tank of petrol (gas for you yanks). It was quite funny watching him try to slipstream trucks to save fuel, and not having his radio or heating on, all to try and save miniscule amounts of fuel.

Mins you, it was usefull considering how much fuel costs here - getting close to £4 (about $8) a gallon now. I take it its a lot cheapeer in the states

No kidding. My new ride set me back a cool $1800--a 1999 Hyundai Accent which gets about 30 mpg in mixed driving with the a/c on most of the time. I could probably get that up a touch if I roll the windows down more often, but considering that my last vehicle got about a third less, I'll take it and be happy.
That same car would cost about twice that in Ireland. And that's before road taxes.
Sigh. :(
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Mins you, it was usefull considering how much fuel costs here - getting close to £4 (about $8) a gallon now. I take it its a lot cheapeer in the states
It's about half what it is in Ireland, and we are cheaper than the UK. (Remember that the UK gallon is bigger than the American. US=3.7854118 litres UK=4.54609188 litres.)
Europeans pay way too much.

It's about half what it is in Ireland, and we are cheaper than the UK. (Remember that the UK gallon is bigger than the American. US=3.7854118 litres UK=4.54609188 litres.)
Europeans pay way too much.
Nah--Americans pay way too little. It's what allows us to get away with our hulking SUVs and keeps us from developing effective public transportation sytems and pedestrian friendly urban areas. If we paid anything near what you paid for gas, I wouldn't be petrified I was going to get steamrolled by one of those behemoths every time I'm on the highway.

Nah--Americans pay way too little. It's what allows us to get away with our hulking SUVs and keeps us from developing effective public transportation sytems and pedestrian friendly urban areas. If we paid anything near what you paid for gas, I wouldn't be petrified I was going to get steamrolled by one of those behemoths every time I'm on the highway.
SUVs could easily be combatted by requiring them to meet the mileage requirements that Clinton exempted them from. Which should be done because having a vehicle with a bumper at the same height as many people's heads is just plain stupid.
And here in Ireland our public transport is pretty dire, especially once you leave Dublin. It's more about who's in charge than how much of your money they have.

SUVs could easily be combatted by requiring them to meet the mileage requirements that Clinton exempted them from. Which should be done because having a vehicle with a bumper at the same height as many people's heads is just plain stupid.
And here in Ireland our public transport is pretty dire, especially once you leave Dublin. It's more about who's in charge than how much of your money they have. :headbang:
I would love to see SUVs just added into the fleet requirements. We wouldn't even have to raise the CAFE standards for fleet mpg in order to make a difference, and if we forced a raise of just a couple of miles per gallon, we'd make significant inroads on our consumption problems.

But sometimes you have to make people hurt before they change, and gas prices definitely hurt people.

Have you heard any reports on how well cars with technology like this withstand salted roads in the winter? If they hold up well then something like that will be my next car.

If you want one (especially a new one) you'll be waiting a bit. You have to put yourself on the wait list in order to buy a new one. Originally the wait was about 4 months, then 6 months, then 7 months, then 10 months, now the average wait is about a year. I don't know how easy it is to find a used Prius, but I doubt that someone who had to wait for as long as people are waiting now is going to want to sell it, heh.

See here (http://www.aiada.org/article.asp?id=14136)

I would love to see SUVs just added into the fleet requirements. We wouldn't even have to raise the CAFE standards for fleet mpg in order to make a difference, and if we forced a raise of just a couple of miles per gallon, we'd make significant inroads on our consumption problems.

But sometimes you have to make people hurt before they change, and gas prices definitely hurt people.
Sadly true.

Great story, good reading, definitely not boring but very informative. Thanks, Nazz!

My parents have a Prius. I love it. I look forward to drive it (I'm just 14, I can't yet).

A guy in England did a similiar thing. Jeremy Clarkson is a presenter on a prime time motoring show called Top Gear, and to prove a point he drove an audi (I think) from London to Edinburgh and back on one tank of petrol (gas for you yanks). It was quite funny watching him try to slipstream trucks to save fuel, and not having his radio or heating on, all to try and save miniscule amounts of fuel.

Mins you, it was usefull considering how much fuel costs here - getting close to £4 (about $8) a gallon now. I take it its a lot cheapeer in the states
Off topic I know, but I loved the episodes where they tried to kill a Toyota Hilux. That was way cool.