LoL, the truth will always out. Johnquote:
Originally posted by GMorg:
you would definately gain a new/additional car payment...
LoL, the truth will always out. Johnquote:
Originally posted by GMorg:
you would definately gain a new/additional car payment...
I doubt he was racing you. I'm just learning the Prius driving routine, and actually, it's a lot of fun. How you climb and descend hills is critical (but obviously, one should mesh safely with other traffic first...). Battery state of charge (SOC) changes quickly. Regeneration occurs NOT only with braking, but also with coasting. As you lift off the gas, the ICE (gas engine) shuts off immediately, you have a moment of no drive/no resistance, and then you start dragging against the electric motor, which has instantly shifted from drive mode into generator mode. Without touching the brakes (which will cause even more regeneration), you're now sending what otherwise would be wasted energy back into the HV traction battery. The good hybrid driver will try to set his glide speed so that his traction battery approaches full SOC right around the bottom of the hill. If he reaches full SOC before the bottom, he'll feather the gas to try to find that little point of min drag right between now-pointless regen, and energy spending acceleration. And the Prius is so low-drag that he might just catch up with you while doing so.quote:
Originally posted by Thermo1223:
Just don't drive like the one Prius I was lightly tailing(possibly 250-300 feet between us).
We came to hill and it was like he just jumped off the gas at 65(speed limit) I was going probaley 68.
I had the cruise set and had to pass him. Then he proceded to race me downhill well not really but you could tell he was gaining.
Why can't people just keep one constant speed on the highway.
I just calculated the average ( 10 tankfulls, May- July)mileage of my wife's '03 Camry SE 4 cyl with the 5 spd manual trans. She averaged 28 mpg in mixed suburban/rush hour, rural exburban driving conditions. On the long haul trip, it will post 32mpg easy.quote:
Originally posted by 1999nick:
The August issue of Consumer Reports magazine tested some family sedans. including all three driveline versions of the Toyota Camry. All were automatic transmission versions. In overall mixed driving, city/highway, the V-6 averaged 23 mpg, the 4 cylinder with 5 speed auto averaged 24 mpg, and the hybrid averaged 34 mpg. The hybrd was also 1.1 seconds faster accelerating to 60 mph than the conventional 4 cylinder car. Some of these differences can be attributed to the CVT transmission used in the hybrid.
I love these unconditional prognostications. Whether or not they save any one person money or not is entirely dependent upon their situations. Since mine's used, I "missed out" on the $3150 tax credit, but I paid a few dollars over $20k for my 04 with 15k miles. I'm now getting 45 mpg in city driving around New Orleans, and on my first 200 mile hwy run, I got 46.5. I was getting 13-17 city before, and was lucky to see above 23 mpg hwy. Saving? You bet I am. How's your mileage looking?quote:
Originally posted by chromatin:
The biggest problem with me regarding hybrid is that as the car (and the battery) gets older, the battery loses its capacity. Yes, true, they told us that that won't happen. But hybrid cars use NIMH batteries, which have been pretty much abandoned by laoptop and only had something like 1 or 2 year of life expectancy. I don't believe the car makers can make them way way better, however advanced technology they have. So that's say 5 years down the road, and the battery can only hold 40% of its original capacity, what kind of MPG can we get? And if that happens, good luck in warranty claim, the car is still fully functional (!!), at least to the automakers.
To me, hybrid is pretty much a joke. It doesn't save you money, unless you really really drive a lot. It may not save the earth either. I seldom see people consider the pollution human being create when making and recycling the battery.
What frosts me is that the federal government gives a tax break to those who buy the heaviest SUVs and Pickups. They are exempted from the gas guzzler tax.quote:
Originally posted by Kestas:
What frosts me is that the government gives a tax break to those who buy a hybrid, but nothing to the people who buy cars that get even better gas mileage (i.e., Corolla, Rabbit, etc.)
I thought that the tax issue for the heavy GVW vehicles was an accelerated depreciation for business use. I have a contractor friend who cash purchased 4 SuperDuty diesels from a small town dealer just because of the tax incentive. I wish that I was the salesman that day!quote:
Originally posted by SubLGT:
What frosts me is that the federal government gives a tax break to those who buy the heaviest SUVs and Pickups. They are exempted from the gas guzzler tax.quote:
Originally posted by Kestas:
What frosts me is that the government gives a tax break to those who buy a hybrid, but nothing to the people who buy cars that get even better gas mileage (i.e., Corolla, Rabbit, etc.)
Originally posted by RKBA:
[QB] I thought that the tax issue for the heavy GVW vehicles was an accelerated depreciation for business use. [QB] [QUOTE}
I haven't bought one, but as far as I know, you can still take a section 179 deduction for those qualifying vehicles. For those not self employed or in small business, section 179 allows the qualifying item to be fully depreciated in the year they were purchased. The effect is that the acquisition cost of the vehicle (item) is reduced by one's tax rate.
Many people do not understand why these vehicles remain popular regardless of the price of gas. Accounting has a lot to do with it. My GTO is on my books being depreciated ....
That is true, but all trucks (SUVs and pickups) are also exempt from the gas guzzler tax that is placed on cars that get less than 22.5 mpg (combined mileage). The tax starts at $1000, and goes up to almost $8000. So there are two tax benefits associated with these larger vehicles. Seems awful silly for the federal government to promote, via favorable taxation, the use of the most gas thirsty vehicles.quote:
I thought that the tax issue for the heavy GVW vehicles was an accelerated depreciation for business use. I have a contractor friend who cash purchased 4 SuperDuty diesels from a small town dealer just because of the tax incentive. I wish that I was the salesman that day!
Why? The government gets more in fuel taxes from the most gas thirsty vehicles. The government obviously levies taxes on income generated fromquote:
Originally posted by SubLGT:
Seems awful silly for the federal government to promote, via favorable taxation, the use of the most gas thirsty vehicles.
See http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/info.shtml#guzzler
We have a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 4x4 for our main family car. This is a smooth and comfortable vehicle that gets 18-20 mpg in town, and I can tease up to 25mpg on highway trips by simply setting the cruise control at the speed limit. It is capable of effortlessly towing our camping trailer and can handle some pretty rugged terrain during hunting season. It is nimble in parking lots and my wife likes the elevated driving position. The roof rack can carry Christmas trees, lumber for the honey-do projects, and oversized sporting equipment. Camrys, Accords and the like are nice vehicles but they would require me to own a second vehicle to make up for the lack of capability, it would of course need to be a truck or SUV.quote:
Many people do not understand why these vehicles remain popular regardless of the price of gas.
Have you seen our parallel hybrid thread? A brand new Prius, $23,033, is hardly "insane expensive" when there are new I-4 Camrys that top $29k, and V-6 Camrys that can be dressed up well into the 30s.quote:
Originally posted by JustinH:
It makes more sense to buy a used diesel VW or something instead of an insane expensive hybrid anything.