The 2 biggest fibs people tell are about
their sex lives and their gas mileage.
Dogmaticus
Home Depot has a $20 for 70 minute
deal that is great. I buy all the stuff I need rent the truck, drive home and dump it off and bring it back in under an hour. I needed a truck all of 4 times last year and used them twice and my buddy’s F150 twice. Even if I spent 80 or a 100 bucks on truck rental in a year it would be worth it to not have one full time.
Dogmaticus
The Wall Street Journal did a cost
anaysis on hybrids vs gas counterpart and the payback on the SUV versions was on the order of 10-11 years. It is lower for the small cars but still ran in the 3-5 year mark.
Dogmaticus
And how fast they paddle 
05 4 cylinder ranger
with f/glass shell and roof racks. 26 mpg with a canoe strapped on. But the ranger is a two wheel drive helpless creature in snow or mud or wet grass.
It does however haul plywood, steel, wet dogs, my tools, camping gear and anything else I need to haul. It’s my work and play vehicle. It has no class or status.
And I have no sex life! No lie.
This particular test was
flawed - not exactly the same conditions for both cars. Not sure how the BMW reacts to slower speeds, but the Prius is definitely not at its best when pushed over 70 mph on the highway.
That said, I did a 500 mile roundtrip this past Saturday, most of it with AC on. With the “old” prius, which is at least 10-15% less efficient than the new one.
The first leg was a 200 mile stretch of highway, where my GPS clocked me at 68.8 mph average speed over about 200 miles (there was not much traffic and the speed limit was 65). This is not my estimated speed - this is the average speed from the GPS trace, which included one quick bathroom/rest stop mid-way and I did not stop the trace for that 5 minutes or so.
My consumption was 48 mpg. My overall was also 48 at the end of the trip, but I could see it go well past 50 mpg on the back roads with rolling hills and speed of 40-50 mph. If I had stuck to the speed limits or a few miles under, I could have done 50 mpg.
But I’d rather be driving the Beemer, to be honest -
Sex is over rated anyway.
Sex is like oxygen
You never think about it till you aren’t getting any.
Maybe…
for you string.
I learned some hypermiling. No, I don’t tailgate semis,before your get you pants in a knot. I coast down hills,don’t use A/C,shut off the engine at long lights,even skip 4th gear. It’s fun to try & figure out when to kick out of gear to coast up to lights,and stop signs. Learn smoother driving,no rabbit starts.So far New 09 Toyota Matrix 2.4 /5speed is yielding me 26-27mpg around town,and it’s not even broke in yet.EPA sticker on car says 21/29{but drivers mileage may vary,as well as vehicle condition, disclaimer} No trips yet to yield highway miles.
billinpa
Spectra5 update
yay! I got 30 mpg around town with the AC on, under normal driving conditions. this is a really fast car that handles great. has all the features of the “sport” Matrix, but with a 2.0 instead of a 1.8 or 2.4.
I was a little worried the 2.0 might be too big for good MPG, but I can live with 30 mpg mixed driving all day.
This car is built so well that I bought one right after the text drive.
The Spectra5, Matrix, and Vibe are the exact same size, except the Spectra’s roof is 2 inches lower. Same headroom though.
The Vibe has the best warranty at 100,000 miles.
it’ll be intersting to see what happens
I wonder what retail will end up being. Anywho,this should spur Honda and Subaru.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/18/volkswagen-prices-2009-jetta-tdi-sedan-starts-at-21-990/