Life is a State of Mind

Toyota to add Solar Panels, how cool is that. I notice my mileage slips a little whenever the heater or air conditioning has to be run, so this will offset at least the air conditioner loss and keep the mileage high.

In other news, my Prius broke a new personal record this morning, it reached 506 miles on the tank of gas when the alarm sounded telling me to go get some more gas. Previous record was 499 on a single tank. I also plugged all the fuel records from my car into a spreadsheet and came up with 48.35 miles per gallon average over the two years I’ve had the car (35,790 miles/740.153 gallons).

I typically put ~9 gallons in the tank every time I fill up; and that is the cheapest gas at the pump. It was a bit of a shock filling up Erci’s Porsche with high octane gas this weekend, and putting in over 17 gallons (ouch).

I’ve been driving the new Prius a lot and in general I love the thing, but I have a first complaint and suggestion.

This thing needs a relatively quiet, alternate horn in addition to the normal load one it has for emergencies.

Several times now I have nearly run over pedestrians when driving around parking lots looking for a space. What happens is that said pedestrian will be walking along in a straight line, and I will come up the path behind them slowly and the Prius has invariably shut off the gas engine because it does not need it any more. What I keep failing to realize is that said pedestrian cannot hear any engine noise and does not realize I am there at all! Often the pedestrian, without looking, suddenly darts out across the traffic lane which they assume is empty, and I need to brake suddenly to avoid a squishing.

It’s not really their fault, cars have made noise their entire lives; the sudden appearance of a near silent one takes getting used to. It’s not my fault, I am going very slow in parking lots (as evidenced by the complete shutdown of the gas motor).

I used to have similar situations while riding my bicycle in parking lots, but on the bike I can simply talk out loud or give mild warnings like “coming up on your left” which alert the walker of a risk without causing them to panic (like a sudden loud horn toot). In a my car, this is less instinctive; it does not occur to me quickly to talk out loud… and I don’t want to annoy anyone with the loud horn.

Prius needs a small rattle on the grill, or a quieter horn alternate…

I suppose this will fix itself when the heat of summer kicks in and running the A/C forces the motor to stay on and make the car just a little noisier.

BTW - so far, 50.7mpg is my average and they tell me it goes up slightly once the car is broken in. Filling the tank the first time was a shock. From empty to full was only 9.549 gallons of ordinary gas, and I have not put only $28.26 into a gas tank since it was less than $1.00/gallon and I was filling a 1971 Buick Electra 225 (24.5 gallon tank)!

Well, fate popped in and the Toyota dealer I pass every morning on the way to work called me back after this morning’s visit. They had a 2006 Prius, White with Tan interior, option package #6 available today!

I considered it a sign, and grapped that machine. I drove the Prius off the lot after accepting $7000 for my old Saab. Not what I wanted for the Saab, nor what it should be worth after only ~5 years, but I see the writing on the wall. It was becoming very unreliable and very expensive in repairs. The portents were reinforced; as I was pulling my junk from the Saab and putting it in the Prius, the Saab stalled again and was unable to start without a jump. At least the folks at the Toyota dealership know what they are getting.

Anyone need 4 winter tires (16×7.5) 5-110 lug pattern? I also have one mounted and new wheel and tire (225/45-17 with the same 5-110 lug pattern, wheel is fancy alloy, and tire is a Sumitomo HTR+ 90W I think).

I’ll add a picture of the Prius when I get one. I am thinking of custom stickers to make it look outrageous - perhaps tiger stripes or zebra stripes… perhaps giant sunflowers? Tropical fish? Suggestions?

Well, it is time to face the fact that my 2001 Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon has become a lemon as it has aged. The truth is I love the ergonomics of the car and especially the ventilated seats so much that I have poured far more money than is sensible into keeping this thing running, but system after system keeps failing. I cannot help wondering if the 1999 Saab 9-5 2.3T (Sedan) I used to own has failed any better through the ravages of time/age. I’d like to think it was a better car.

My car has stalled and been unable to restart, or failed to start without serious efforts too many times now, so I find myself in the car market again prematurely. My next car will be the cleanest, greenest machine I can find, and as a bare minimum will be AT-PZEV rated in California. That limits the choices down to a small number (about 24 last I checked) of mainstream models. The Toyota Prius is at the top of the list because of it’s extraordinary light impact on the environment, and because I know my lovely HP Velotechnik Street Machine GT recumbent bicycle will fit in the back (something most of the allegedly bigger “SUV” light trucks cannot claim).

I am not sure how I will survive the heat of the Washington D.C. area without those ventilated seats, but I will figure out something (do the wooden beads work? what about installing my own fans?).

Well, Erci went and beat me to it. We picked up her Barcelona Red 2006 Toyota Prius this evening. It is very, very nice. I want one too. I balked at the non-negotiable prices earlier this fall, and I am glad I waited because the 2006 models will play MP3 encoded CDs and alarm when a tire pressure is low, but I am now thinking I want to replace my Saab 9-5 Wagon. AT-PZEV rating and 50+ MPG are calling me.

Erci went ahead and ordered a Prius, she has details at In my Field of Paper Flowers. She chose red, which we expect to be a bit darker than the one in this picture: