Big Thank You to everyone for your C tips. 1. When the C was introduced it leapt to the top of my car-comparison spreadsheet. Sure, it’s an econobox, but it’s eye-opening after a few 60 mpg drives. 2. Low (power) expectations: We skipped 15 years of an automotive arms race because we have other good cars that, like the C, are 0-to-60 weaklings. 3. Folks save money by keeping cars, and we hope to do the same with our C. (Knock wood) Once again it gets top reliability scores from the folks at CR who love to hate it. The C won overall honors in ’12, but not this year – despite the ’13 C’s *perfect* score. 4. Loving: a. Jumping from 20 mpg (SUV) to 50 on the C’s first tank, and knowing we can improve. b. Surprising comfort compared to the cheap and cheerful cars of my youth. c. In said youth I would watch for a rabbit to follow to help avoid radar. Now, on 4-lanes, I watch for a tortoise to follow, if we’re not impeding others. d. I pity the wee engine on climbs, but c.c. works great because there are no shift points. e. Please forgive my pride, but the C is (by one scale or another): the greenest, most fuel-efficient (non-plug-in), and cheapest car to own long term. Plus it’s kinda cute. 5. Still adjusting: a. A Miata went by and it didn’t look small! Yikes. b. Hate the rear headrests, but NHTSA says they’re safer, so in-n-out they go. c. Feeling ambivalent about this, but we go motoring (wasting gas!) like never before. I used to enjoy on-track driving schools, so “mahout” may be onto something… d. On my 2nd tank, I was disappointed to get 46mpg with 99% interstate highway miles. I know it’s the EPA rating, it was -1°C (30°F), and hilly NH/VT, but we can do better! Looking forward to many happy miles and lots of shared advice.
That just about sums up my feelings about my C4 too Skayaks. I have been driving this gem for 18 months with 38,000 kilometers on the odometer including an 8,100 kilometer month long vacation road trip through the western USA and it is still exhilarating every time that I slide into the driver's seat.
First thing I did was take out the rear headrests. Having improved rear-window visibility is safer too. While I do drive a bit more than I used to, most of the money I have saved on gas has gone toward washing my car. Freeway driving is not your mileage friend. I'm still trying to improve my mileage after a Colorado to California trip I took in August. However, it was a great trip made even more fun by driving such a great car!
While you drive a Prius C and I drive a Prius Plug In, we're related. Always good to hear positives about our Prii. My co-worker was bragging about his fuel mileage on his 2012 Mazda 6 with another Mazda 6 owner. A whole lot of back slapping and self actualization going on. I wanted to "throw up". While I didn't want to rain on their parade, I later made a comment regarding "real" fuel mileage. Long story short, he called my Prius "ugly". You can't reason with unreasonable, ignorant people.
