The September 2008 Car Update

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The September 2008 Car Update

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

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September 28, 2008 at 5:32 pm

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Comments posted to this topic are about the item The September 2008 Car Update

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Someguy SSCrazy Points: 2207 More actions · Answer 1

Steve,

Thanks for the update. It's extremely helpful to hear a perspective from someone who is using the technology on a regular basis and who makes such a balanced presentation.

A note on hydrogen - it's showing a lot of promise for some scenarios. For example, in New York city not too far from where I live some of the city buses are powered by hydrogen. That makes a lot of sense since they don't travel far from their refueling stations. You don't need to create massive infrastructure (just add a few tanks at the current depots), and it's a big help in cleaning up dirty city air. I'm not sure about cost-effectiveness for now, but that will certainly change at some point in the future.

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James Goodwin Hall of Fame Points: 3691 More actions · Answer 2

Steve,

Great to see it working out for you. Your numbers at the bottom don't look right, however. It looks like the "conservative" and "realistic" numbers might be swapped.

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JimFive

Timothy-313907 Ten Centuries Points: 1226 More actions · Answer 3

Yeah, I was going to ask about your conservative and realistic savings. Generally speaking I'd expect conservative estimates to be lower than realistic since, by definition, you're being cautious.

richard.rabe SSC Enthusiast Points: 184 More actions · Answer 4

Thanks for posting your update on the Prius. I own a 2002 prius we were fortunate to pick up used in January. My wife and I car pool (110 miles a day) and we were replacing a 22mpg Mazda van. The savings we realize are incredible.

On the batteries, our Prius has 114,000 miles on it, we put on the last 22k ourselves including trips to D.C. for delivering and picking up college kids, etc. Our only service to-date has been routine. We don't get as good a mileage as you do (ours is the ealier generation model) but still average 48mpg 9 months out of the year and 44mpg the rest (deep winter New england).

Would I recommend a hybrid? Yes. It really changes the way you drive (although you don't have to change the way you drive). I also have a friend who has a Honda Fit, she routinely gets 38 - 40 mpg on that non-hybrid car. Rummors have it Honda is planning on a hybrid version getting 60mpg...

All this is good news.

do it right, or do it over and over, it's up to you

Jim SSCrazy Eights Points: 8720 More actions · Answer 5

The real time feedback is an amazing training tool. While I don't own a hybrid, I purchased a ScanGuage II that connects to the OBDII port on my 2004 Ford Freestar. With the real time feedback, I have made changes that increased my MPG by nearly 3 miles per gallon. At the current prices for gas, I paid off the ScanGuage in less than a month and now just keep realizing the savings.

Go to www.cleanmpg.com for tips to improve your mileage as well as a group purchase discount for your very own ScanGuage.

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736478 More actions · Answer 6

Yep, had the numbers switched. With my tax credit, I think I've paid off the hybrid extra cost (about $4k) and am doing better now every month.

With the new tires we're looking to take it skiing a few times this winter, so the next update or two should have some notes about hybrid slaloming in the mountains.

GSquared SSC Guru Points: 260824 More actions · Answer 7

My wife's car (the one we use 90% of the time, since she likes to drive and I don't) is an old Mazda Protege. Standard transmission, non-hybrid, etc. We get a little over 30 mpg with it city, and between 45 and 50 highway (which we don't drive very often). Our commute is just about 1 mile each way. We've owned the car since '99, and it just hit the 60k miles mark, which includes moves from Montana to Washington DC, and from DC to Texas. It's had routine maintenance and been very inexpensive to own.

I keep thinking about upgrading that to a hybrid, but the numbers don't add up quite yet. Probably will in another year or two.

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Wayne West SSC-Insane Points: 22586 More actions · Answer 8

Steve Jones - Editor (9/29/2008)
... With the new tires we're looking to take it skiing a few times this winter, so the next update or two should have some notes about hybrid slaloming in the mountains.

That's what I'm interested in knowing. We get a fair amount of snow at my wife's house and I'd like to know how a front-wheel drive hybrid does in mountain snow. A Toyota salesman told me that the main battery is effectively in a thermos, so as long as you drive it at least every other day, the battery stays warm in cold weather.

We drive to Phoenix seemingly every other month, and that's probably around 1200 miles round trip, so a hybrid has a definite appeal to us. And we'll be replacing my wife's car in the near future, so definite interest for us.

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John Kandrovy Right there with Babe Points: 751 More actions · Answer 9

kinda off the topic/ relevant question is: would fuel/gas mileage be higher if we neglected safety features that put more weight in a car and if we ditch all the electronic gadgets(dvds/cd players, ipods,rechargers,tom toms etc) that require more power?

notquitexena SSCrazy Points: 2674 More actions · Answer 10

I bought my 2005 Prius just over three years ago, and am currently at about 77.5K miles, most of that put on in the first 2.25 years when I had a 65 mile one-way commute, split about 12 miles surface street to 53 miles freeway. At that time I was averaging 45 to 48 mpg per fill up, even (I confess) speeding much more than I should have. With that gas mileage, and before the price per gallon shot up so high, I was spending between 35 and 50 bucks a week on gas.

Now I drive only 6.2 miles one way, all surface streets, and am averaging 46 to 50 mpg per fill up. Twenty bucks now usually buys me two weeks driving, so I am getting about a threefold savings, even though price per gallon has been much higher this year.:cool:

I'll be interested in finding out if your change of tires will affect your gas mileage. I was cautioned that the installed tires were especially designed to improve gas mileage. But I think they were Yokohamas, so maybe your dealer installed the wrong brand on your car originally.

Also, I purchased early enough that I qualified for one of the car pool stickers, which was a big factor in my decision to buy the car, given the long commute I had back then. I was recently told that that sticker adds about $2k to the value of the car.

Jim SSCrazy Eights Points: 8720 More actions · Answer 11

John Kandrovy (9/29/2008)
kinda off the topic/ relevant question is: would fuel/gas mileage be higher if we neglected safety features that put more weight in a car and if we ditch all the electronic gadgets(dvds/cd players, ipods,rechargers,tom toms etc) that require more power?

Absolutely! A car with nothing more than the absolute basic necessities would get far better mileage. The extra weight requires more horsepower from the engine to get the vehicle moving. Each time we turn on an electronic device, it creates more load on the alternator. All of these are cumulative in lowering your gas mileage.

notquitexena SSCrazy Points: 2674 More actions · Answer 12

John Kandrovy (9/29/2008)
kinda off the topic/ relevant question is: would fuel/gas mileage be higher if we neglected safety features that put more weight in a car and if we ditch all the electronic gadgets(dvds/cd players, ipods,rechargers,tom toms etc) that require more power?

One of the cool things about the Prius is that it recharges the battery from the motion of the wheels, so I don't think the number of gadgets is an issue. The only problem I have had with mileage going down is if I am stuck in a gridlock condition, where you have to wait 15-30 minutes to get through an intersection, out a gate, or past an accident. Without the wheels turning the battery drains down to the point where the gas engine kicks in to recharge it, so you end up with gas mileage way down for that fill-up.

Kbear SSC Eights! Points: 861 More actions · Answer 13

I have had a 2007 Camry Hybrid for over two years and have averaged 36 mpg during that time. I wish I had kept track of the cost of gas over the two years to see what I have saved. We took a trip this summer from So. Calif to Utah - 2150 miles - and averaged 38 mpg. It's a great car, comfortable. I would definitely buy it again.

hallam.steve@gmail.com SSC-Addicted Points: 402 More actions · Answer 14

A perspective from the UK from a non-Prius owner.

I have a Citroen C4, a comfortable 4-seat saloon with a 1.6 litre HDI diesel as fitted to many Citroens and Peugeots (and a lot of other European cars I think).

I have never got LESS than 50mpg from it. Admittedly these are imperial gallons not US - so let's say 42mpg US. Over the last 350 miles, I have averaged 57mpg (say 47.5 US). This is mixed motorway and urban driving. All this with no batteries...

A Prius in the UK costs nearly 50% more than my Citroen... no wonder they are a rare sight in the UK. I'd have to do a huge number of miles to recoup this, even at UK fuel prices (£1.18 per litre today - say $8.50 a US gallon!)

I see there is to be an ethanol-powered Hummer - nice to see the US auto industry going green :blink: