An Architect's View

24 responses so far ↓

• 1 Peter J. Farrell // Apr 22, 2005 at 12:28 AM

  Both my uncle and my great uncle own Prius's. Since I live out of the country now, I haven't had the opportunity to test drive a Prius yet. However, what I know - both of them love their cars. Both of my parents have bought Toyota's for the past 25 years and found them to be a really reliable and great vehicles. I became a traitor when I bought my Honda Civic a few years ago. My Godmother made so much fun of me when I got a Honda - she kept on saying I was "the bad egg". ;-)
  
  Anyways, I'd be curious if you compared the Prius with the Civic Hybrid? You might check a site by a Prius owner - http://john1701a.com/.
  
  Best of luck getting your new car...keep us posted on your search.

• 2 Jared Rypka-Hauer // Apr 22, 2005 at 1:17 AM

  I know nothing of the Prius save that they look interesting and get grand gas mileage.
  
  I've also read that they do a pretty good 0-60 time with the right model.
  
  It's all about accelleration, dude...
  
  J

• 3 Matt Woodward // Apr 22, 2005 at 5:25 AM

  This isn't about the Prius specifically, but we have a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid and absolutely love it. Hybrids are definitely the way to go until they get fuel cells mainstreamed!

• 4 tonyoftheweegclan // Apr 22, 2005 at 5:37 AM

  a VERY good friend has one, and she swears by her "Pri-Pri"
  
  :) tw

• 5 void // Apr 22, 2005 at 5:41 AM

  Prius is FAR less interesting than civic Hybrid.
  Stick to honda ,they are far better...
  prius promise wonderful things but doesn't deliver them. Civic doesn't promise anything but is quite good

• 6 Scott Stroz // Apr 22, 2005 at 6:12 AM

  I remember reading an article, fromPopualr Mechanincs, I think that basically said the Hybrids don't gte much higher ACTUAL gas mileage that modern internal combustion engines.
  
  Apparently the formulas used to determine estimated gas mileage are outdated, and don't take into account new technology, so in your internal combustion engine, you may be getting higher mileage than the estimate.

• 7 Joe Rinehart // Apr 22, 2005 at 6:51 AM

  Scott - I compute my gas mileage by knowing how much my tank holds and seeing how far I get. Per gallon, I don't get nearly as far as my friend's Civic hybrid. :) They've been known to drive from DC to visit folks in Canada on one tank.
  
  As far as the Prius goes, I like them a lot - we had a corporate "1.0" Prius (the current one is a big redesign!) when I worked at Nat'l Wildlife, and it was pretty nice.
  
  I'd definitely try to drive both the Prius and the Civic to see which felt better.
  
  

• 8 Matt Woodward // Apr 22, 2005 at 6:57 AM

  We consistently get 45 mpg in our Civic Hybrid (yes, actual mileage that I calculate myself), and that's a pretty heavy mix of in-town and highway driving. The Prius gets better mileage than the Civic from what I understand, we just went with the Civic because it was more of a "regular" car (4 doors, etc.). Best car I've ever owned regardless of the Hybrid factor--it's just a really great little car.
  
  I did just buy a Jetta last week as well (got a 2001 used since we needed a second car), so I'll be curious to see how the mileage compares. I only drive it back and forth to my office once a week which is more or less all highway.

• 9 Scott Stroz // Apr 22, 2005 at 7:07 AM

  The point of my comment was not that I thought internal combustion engines get better gas mileage than Hybrids, but that the difference may not be as high as the EPA estimates would lead you to believe.
  
  I think anyone who takes the time to calculate theior gas mileage does the same thing. Fill up, note the mileage. When you fill up again, note how many gallons, divide this into the number of miles driven since last fill up.
  
  Not too many car dealerships would allow you to drive the car long enough to do this before pourchasing it. So, unless you have a friend or relative who had the same car, and does the same type of driving as you, you pretty much need to rely on the EPA estimates.
  
  For the record, I am not advocating internal combustion vehicles, and more than likely, unless I convince the wife to let me get a Mustang, my next car will most likely be a Prius or Civic Hybrid.

• 10 Daniel Roberts // Apr 22, 2005 at 7:07 AM

  I read a breif article a couple weeks ago about modding hybrid vehicles. Apparently you can get better gas mileage with some simple changes and then there are others with major mod. Mods like being able to plug in you battery to re-charge when not on the road and/or putting in higher capacity batteries. I believe the article said some of these mods got the car over 100 miles/gallon. Go for it Sean!

• 11 phill.nacelli // Apr 22, 2005 at 8:21 AM

  Sean,
  
  Very cool... me likey the gadgets..
  
  http://www.toyota.com/images/vehicles/prius/gallery/interior/large/photo_2.jpg
  
  And plenty of space in the back for carrying all your 500 cats.. :)
  
  Let us know how you like it..
  
  Cheers...

• 12 Damien // Apr 22, 2005 at 9:05 AM

  There was some bad press a few months ago about hybrids, <conspiracy>I wouldn't be too surprised if some of the oil companies were behind it</conspiracy>.
  
  What they forget is that most vehicles get less than their official ratings, e.g. we consistently get about 2-3mpg less in our 2001 Mazda Protege DX than the EPA ratings. Say on a 25mpg car you get say 2mpg less (23mpg) than the official rating, if you double those numbers for a hybrid you're looking at 46mpg instead of the 50mpg quote. I've seen several comments from hybrid owners that live up to this estimation.
  
  Take a look at the Toyota Prius messages on this mailing list: http://lists.matrixlist.com/pipermail/pc_support/2005-April/ some very good points are brought up.
  
  Personally I hope to get a hybrid as our next car, just have to clean up our finances to afford it.
  
  Damien

• 13 Sean Corfield // Apr 22, 2005 at 9:48 AM

  Thanx for the feedback everyone. The EPA figures for the new Prius are 60 around town, 51 on the freeway for a weighted average of 55. It'll be interesting to see the actual measured mileage. FWIW, "Goldie" (our aging Civic) still gets a measured 30 on the freeway. I used to drive a diesel Citroen AX that got a measured 60 average no matter how you drove it.
  
  Scott, our other car might suit you (and it is for sale):
  
  http://corfield.org/mustang/
  
  It gets 25 on freeway driving (best gas mileage is at around 80-85mph) and 15 or so around town :)

• 14 Scott Stroz // Apr 22, 2005 at 9:53 AM

  Sean,
  
  If I lived in CA, I would seriously consider it. A bit flashy for my tastes, but it is a 'Saleen' ;-D.
  
  Very nice. I REALLY want one of the 2005s. I think they are one of the best looking Mustangs EVER.

• 15 JesterXL // Apr 22, 2005 at 10:17 AM

  Traitor... dude, stick with Honda's; it just proved it lasts forever. We got an Element, it's pretty pimp, but my seats in my 2k1 Civic EX are more comfortable.

• 16 Daniel Adler // Apr 22, 2005 at 12:13 PM

  Only in California could the Prius seem attractive. MINI Cooper S, mate. Embrace your British heritage!

• 17 Nathan Dintenfass // Apr 22, 2005 at 10:20 PM

  I'm very happy with my 2004 Civic Hybrid. We needed a car on short notice, so the Prius was not an option for us. I've heard all good things about it, though.
  
  For the first 10,000 miles we kept track of our own mileage and found the in-dash meter was actually very accurate. So far, we're averaging 43mph for all driving (lots of San Francisco driving combined with a heavy dose of freeway driving).

• 18 Sean Corfield // Apr 23, 2005 at 10:22 AM

  When we originally looked at the Honda Civic Hybrid, the rear seats didn't fold flat so it didn't have enough luggage capacity for us (yes, for carrying the cats etc to cat shows). And as you can see, it is possible to buy a Prius the same day... :)
  
  Jared, just noticed your comment... the 0-40 is very good, the 0-60 is 10.37 seconds which is OK. There's only one model of the Prius.

• 19 Matt Woodward // Apr 23, 2005 at 10:27 AM

  True--in our Civic Hybrid (2003) the rear seats don't fold down because that's where the batteries are. A bit of a limitation but wasn't a big deal to me. Not sure if they've changed that in newer models or not.
  
  I'd have to check but I suspect it's pretty easy to get a hold of a Prius and most other hybrids in Texas, the land of massive SUVs with only one person in them clogging the roads. ;-) I know there are Civic Hybrids just sitting on the lot where we bought ours. My wife's parents live in Southern California and say any hybrid is really hard to get there.

• 20 S Page // Apr 23, 2005 at 3:54 PM

  Was old faithful the 3rd generation Civic? That 1984-1987 design is the classiest city car ever sold in the USA, http://www.skierpage.com/civic/
  
  UK car lifestyle magazine http://www.intersectionmagazine.com/ contacted me because they are working on an article about the
  history of Honda Civics. They are "trying to locate pictures of every generation of Civic with their owners". If you have a high-res picture, they want it.

• 21 Sean Corfield // Apr 23, 2005 at 4:54 PM

  Yes, it's a 3rd generation Civic. Ours does not look as neat and clean as yours tho'... over the years it's had a handful of people run into it and it's been out in the sun all the time so the paint is pretty messed up too... But it is a classic design, I agree!

• 22 Joe Rinehart // Apr 23, 2005 at 7:22 PM

  An odd dichotomy is suggested by simultaneously owning a 3rd generation Civic and a Saleen Mustang.
  
  Personally, I'm waiting for the new Shelby GT 500. Not exactly gas conscious, but I don't have a long commute...

• 23 Sean Corfield // Apr 23, 2005 at 7:31 PM

  My wife picked the sensible car (and owned it long before we got together). I picked the not very sensible car.
  
  This time around, I'm picking the sensible car :)

• 24 Daniel D. // Apr 24, 2005 at 6:19 PM

  My parents have owned 2. The sold the first when the newer bigger model came out. They have loved both of them. The newer models drive just like a normal car. The only maintinece item is they use tires a little faster than other cars. 50000 mile tires need replacement at 40000. Wieght of the batteries causes a little more stress on them. My next car will be a hybrid Prius if nothing better is out at the time.

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