Driving for max mpg - not worth it?

[WPWoodJr]

I've been trying to eek out some great gas mileage from the FFH and having some success (currently at about 45mpg), but it requires a lot of concentration and sometimes painfully slow driving. I began thinking about what I was really saving per year - the answer might surprise you.

[Ranger_Rick]

I've been trying to eek out some great gas mileage from the FFH and having some success (currently at about 45mpg), but it requires a lot of concentration and sometimes painfully slow driving. I began thinking about what I was really saving per year - the answer might surprise you.

 

I don't think the economic argument is valid. Its all based on cost of opportunity. If you spend so much time on the road commuting from the house you lose all that time and all that gas money (and all that patience.) I live 4.5 miles from where I work, so my round trip is under 10 miles. This is why I have a FFH:

 

1. I want Ford to survive. Now I am adding to the fleet MPG.

2. I want to shake out their new technology. I will pester them until they get it right.

3. I don't want bicyclists flipping the bird at me anymore.

4. Hybrid is sexy, generates a nice buzz, turns heads.

5. The car was loaded with every hi-tech gizmo.

6. Solid, quiet, comfortable, flat in turns, gets on the highway = great car!

[WPWoodJr]

I don't think the economic argument is valid. Its all based on cost of opportunity. If you spend so much time on the road commuting from the house you lose all that time and all that gas money (and all that patience.) I live 4.5 miles from where I work, so my round trip is under 10 miles. This is why I have a FFH:

 

1. I want Ford to survive. Now I am adding to the fleet MPG.

2. I want to shake out their new technology. I will pester them until they get it right.

3. I don't want bicyclists flipping the bird at me anymore.

4. Hybrid is sexy, generates a nice buzz, turns heads.

5. The car was loaded with every hi-tech gizmo.

6. Solid, quiet, comfortable, flat in turns, gets on the highway = great car!

I agree with your reasons too, but I also got sick of going to the gas station and spending $35-$70 every 250 miles.

 

What are you doing to upset those bicyclists?!

[rfruth]

hopefully the new technology won't need too much shaking out (but I will pester them when needed)

 

signed stay to the right when hypermiling

[WPWoodJr]

A lot of good discussion on this topic over at Prius Chat:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-p...th-trouble.html

[Juris]

A lot of good discussion on this topic over at Prius Chat:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-p...th-trouble.html

 

WP -- Here's how I look at this. I bought the FFH mainly because I liked the styling and I liked the basic mileage. But I also like it because it adds something to my driving interest: I'm not looking for true hypermileage but I do set minitargets for myself on a per trip basis, e.g., can I get to and from the market across town today (ca 6 mi round trip) at + 40 mpg (yes I could: 42.3). This just makes driving fun.

 

The other aspect you point to, however, the possibility of annoying other drivers when you lug along at a slow speed I don't worry about so much because I try not to do that to my fellow drivers; however, I have changed the way I approach stops that I see ahead, and I like the feeling of turning my car into a very expensive golf-cart as I glide to a stop. I have been driving for almost 50 years (!) and driving the FFH is the most fun I've had driving any sedan (have driven some true sporty cars in my day, ranging from muscle cars to Alpha Romeos).

[WPWoodJr]

WP -- Here's how I look at this. I bought the FFH mainly because I liked the styling and I liked the basic mileage. But I also like it because it adds something to my driving interest: I'm not looking for true hypermileage but I do set minitargets for myself on a per trip basis, e.g., can I get to and from the market across town today (ca 6 mi round trip) at + 40 mpg (yes I could: 42.3). This just makes driving fun.

 

The other aspect you point to, however, the possibility of annoying other drivers when you lug along at a slow speed I don't worry about so much because I try not to do that to my fellow drivers; however, I have changed the way I approach stops that I see ahead, and I like the feeling of turning my car into a very expensive golf-cart as I glide to a stop. I have been driving for almost 50 years (!) and driving the FFH is the most fun I've had driving any sedan (have driven some true sporty cars in my day, ranging from muscle cars to Alpha Romeos).

I agree, I love driving around in stealth mode. I drove through Princeton, NJ today in EV mode the whole way.

 

Someone else posted that the FFH was more fun than any other sedan they'd driven too. It is fun, but not in the exciting way that a sports car is, more of a mental challenge.

 

What I don't like about driving for good mileage is that one slip-up can ruin the tank mpg :(