Rented a Prius

So I went to Chicago this past weekend for the annual AAAS meeting and I booked my car rental with enterprise. I booked a chevy aveo online but when I got to the place, they told me they were out of economy cars and for $10.00 more a day I could have a Malibu or a prius. I said "no berkeleyig way. I booked an economy car. I want the crappiest car you guys have and I'm not paying your $400.00 a day premium car rates for a berkeleying Prius.". The guy behind the counter said they have a ton of Prii and he agreed to give it to me for the aveo rate! (I was excited at this prospect!)

So yeah, I drove the car 200 miles in total, I averaged 49 mpg, but I saw 52 average at one point. When you sit at idle on the phone with the heat on, the engine has to run and it hurt my mileage. I easily could have found 53 mpg in this little thing. But what a nifty little car. I didn't spend much time with my foot burried in the gas pedal, but I did open it up once. It had some giddyup!

I even tried to see how far I could drive without using the gas engine at all. I was driving for miles at a time like this during rush hour on I-90 one day. Granted, I never exceeded 25 mph while doing this but it was pretty cool.

What I've been curious about is how the 3 cylinder motor in there put in a car that weighed 2200 pounds would do? Probably same mpg, cheaper car.

I always book the smallest car and the last time in Minneapolis; wha-la: they actually had it.

Rio Kia thing. I would be interested in renting a prius for boredom's sake.

It really was pretty cool. And if you want a cheap, light toyota buy a yaris. It's a wonderful little thing and it weighs as much as my Miata. Just over 100 hp but that thing can't get 50 mpg.

HiTempguy wrote: What I've been curious about is how the 3 cylinder motor in there put in a car that weighed 2200 pounds would do? Probably same mpg, cheaper car.

The Prius has a 4-cylinder, it's the Atkinson-cycle version of the engine in the Echo and Scion Xa/Xb. Swap cams and tune into an Echo sedan and you would have 74hp instead of 107 and probably get 45+ mpg highway.

That or swap the cams and tune from the Echo into the Prius and add 30hp...

It doesn't have a 3 cylinder engine though. It's a small 4 cylinder.

SUPER-EDIT: what he said ^^^^

FYI, there was a Prius listed on the local craigslist for $8k the past week - I presume in need of a battery pack. There was also a Beetle TDI with greasecar kit & all the refining goodies for $7k.

I guess people really have forgotten about high gas prices.

confuZion3 wrote: So yeah, I drove the car 200 miles in total, I averaged 49 mpg, but I saw 52 average at one point. When you sit at idle on the phone with the heat on, the engine has to run and it hurt my mileage. I easily could have found 53 mpg in this little thing. But what a nifty little car. I didn't spend much time with my foot burried in the gas pedal, but I did open it up once. It had some giddyup! I even tried to see how far I could drive without using the gas engine at all. I was driving for miles at a time like this during rush hour on I-90 one day. Granted, I never exceeded 25 mph while doing this but it was pretty cool.

How many of those 200 miles were you in the left lane holding up traffic and trying to look sanctimonious? If you didn't do that for at least half of your miles you didn't get the true Prius experieince.

Haha. Then I guess I only got part of the experience. I stuck to the slow lanes. Funny thing though: mid-western drivers are the most laid-back drivers I have yet encountered. I was driving the speed limit and nobody tail-gated me or cut me off. It was a breath of fresh air. Hell, I found myself passing quite a few people.

nice review.. I'd like to try one..

There is one in the city here that has a GIGANTIC Yakima basket on the roof. I wonder if the owner ever thought to remove the damn thing when it wasn't full to save fuel..

There are two Camry hybris up here with gold trim and fake convertible tops.
They look wrong in so many ways, though it's good to know the Landau Iron industry hasn't died off yet.

how was the insrument panel set up? Is it all in the central Dash pod? Also nice job on getting the free upgrade

neon4891 wrote: Also nice job on getting the free upgrade

I second that....I once went 4 rentals in a row where I was "upgraded" from compact to a minivan. So I am not very good at the game, although last month I got a brand new Sebring convertible in San Diego for a week at the compact rate.

I rented an Altima (or maybe it was the sentra?) with the CVT and 2.5L. It had an auto/manual shifter. It blew my mind. How on earth does a car company make a car with a fake manual shifter driving fake gears? I guess there are more people involved in the designing of cars then just engineers. I hated that car. I normally take note of a Prius on the highway and count the people in the car. Its normally one. So 4 people in my cherokee getting 18 mpg on the highway is better then four individuals in their own prii? Take that hippies! (and before you say it, I normally only have one person in my vehicle, me, so my arguement doesnt really hold water...)

confuZion3 wrote: Just over 100 hp but that thing can't get 50 mpg.

With some hypermiling techniques I bet it could!

confuZion3 wrote: Funny thing though: mid-western drivers are the most laid-back drivers I have yet encountered. I was driving the speed limit and nobody tail-gated me or cut me off. It was a breath of fresh air. Hell, I found myself passing quite a few people.

How much driving did you do in the actual city of Chicago? Scary stuff. But otherwise, I'd agree.

The gauges are spread logically about the dash board. The digital speedometer is right In front of you along with your fuel gauge (like you need it). The computer in the middle does the economy stuff, displays the radio info., and allows access to the HVAC system. It's touch screen too with big "buttons" so you don't get too distracted.

Chicago city driving was half of my driving. I had to drive through the city completely. It was a cakewalk, actually. But I usually drive in Baltimore and New York. One is illogically laid out and has a scary high murder rate, and the other is full of shiny happy person drivers (except Wally). So yeah, with the exception of all the streets having pretty names instead of logical numbers, C-Town is a breeze. (I did get stuck on lower wacker for a while but that washed me out onto the freeway I wanted to be on (the chase scene in "wanted" was filmed partly on Lower wacker drive).

You would be suprised about the fuel gauge. Some people seem to think that it is OK to drive a Prius with no gas, not realizing that once you run the main battery dead your SOL. The dealer has a special charger, and they do get used.

IIRC the japanese prius has a 'stealthmode' button that allows you to run on only battery until the charge level gets to a certain point. Nifty, but dangerous feature. They are astonishingly silent on electric only.

Ok, so it has something in front of the driver. Sounds better than the Ion, the dash alone on that means I will never buy one.

xci_ed6 wrote: IIRC the japanese prius has a 'NINJA mode' button that allows you to run on only battery until the charge level gets to a certain point. Nifty, but dangerous feature. They are astonishingly silent on electric only. This mode is especially deadly to any pirates in the area.

Fixed.

Oh yes. The ion and the little yaris have those weird dash pods. I'm alright with the one in the yaris because I like that car so much, but the idea that it Is somehow better or safer seems irrational. The prius really didn't have any weird quirks about it.

The interesting thing about battery technology is that people don't realize just how much potiental energy is stored in even the little Nickle Metal Hydride battery onboard the prius. The problem with these batteries though, is that they can't be charged much beyond 70% of their full charge capacity or discharged below 40% or so. The cars CPU monitors all of this of course, but you are forced to operate inside a narrow window. Lithium based batteries hold a lot of promise not only in their greater energy density, but also in their much more broad capacity (something like 80% / 20%). I'm excited to drive a Volt when it comes out. I hope GM can make this thing work.

mtn wrote:

confuZion3 wrote: Funny thing though: mid-western drivers are the most laid-back drivers I have yet encountered. I was driving the speed limit and nobody tail-gated me or cut me off. It was a breath of fresh air. Hell, I found myself passing quite a few people.

How much driving did you do in the actual city of Chicago? Scary stuff. But otherwise, I'd agree.

I actually liked driving in Chicago. There's a certain freedom to driving in a place where everyone drives like an ass.

MrJoshua wrote: I actually liked driving in Chicago. There's a certain freedom to driving in a place where everyone drives like an ass.

oh yes...I do love that aspect of Chicago. It's almost like a license to do whatever you want. You know that even if there IS a cop around, somewhere nearby someone is doing something worse and even if the cop wanted to pull you over, there is nowhere to pull over to, so they can't!

RossD wrote: So 4 people in my cherokee getting 18 mpg on the highway is better then four individuals in their own prii?

If you could haul 3 cars with a truck that got 10mpg, that'd be like all three cars getting 30mpg each!

MrJoshua wrote: I actually liked driving in Chicago. There's a certain freedom to driving in a place where everyone drives like an ass.

That's why I liked driving in Philly. Hit the blinker, make sure the spot is clear, go. Here in Va if you're a tad too close you'll get honked at. There if you had room for your car it was all good.