Pushing My Prius

I wrote this a while ago for my friends and family…before the, uh….issues that have arisen with my Prius and other Toyota models. Somehow, it adds a bit of irony and even drama to the part where someone is wondering how a Prius is on their tail in the rear view…

I have a personal goal:
To get the worst gas mileage on record for the Toyota Prius.

The terrain around my home and the road conditions are ideal…winding highways that drop down into the desert, or climb up the mountains to Idyllwild.  Poor little car.  When my favorite tunes are blaring, I can still hear the wimpy under-sized tires squealing and screeching…especially on the uphills.  We have logged only 11,000 miles so far, yet the service department told us we need new tires soon, after which he asked my husband, “What are you doing to the car to wear down the tires so fast?” hehe. It’s a vice – I admit it.  Hey, I don’t smoke, I limit my coffee to one cup, and I only drink socially.   Gotta hold on to at least ONE vice, no? (And I don’t tailgate!)
My other favorite pastime is my attempt to single-handedly dispel the public’s notion that this is a slug of a car.  Being partly electric, the accelerator from full stop is super responsive, so when little “innocent” me pulls up in a snake lane, I get looks as if to say “Oh, how sad…the little Prius is going to get shut out…awwww” And then I’m at 40 before they’re at 25. : )
Yes, I’m a brat.  But it IS so fun to shake up people’s day here and there. Make them double-take. Like the guy on the 243 who was winding up the mountain – using both lanes when there was a passing lane, taking full advantage of the perfect banking on the sharp curves…who kept looking in his rear view to verify the little Prius was still right with him…all the while pushing it faster and tighter and gawking at my presence in his rear view…Hey – I was running late for Belly Dance class! Someone take my music away.
I recall fondly all those road trips with Paul, my somewhat unsuspecting husband (he knows better now), who would relinquish the wheel to nap and I would “make up for lost time” from the sluggish uphills…careening downhill on highways with a VW vanagon loaded with kayaks on the top…he would groggily inquire, “Where are we?” and I would tell him, and he battled the conflicting emotions of relief that we were so much nearer home, and dread that we might never make it…Best just to stay asleep. : )
An important date: May 22, 2008
This will be 18 months past my last speeding ticket…so I can go back to traffic school (which has evidently been very effective in my rehabilitation!).
So, the lesson for today is, please don’t underestimate the harmless looking Priuses  sharing the road with you (as one of my oldest friends does – declaring that, when given the choice of a lane with 3 semis lined up at a signal, or a single Prius, she picks the semis!)…inside, there may be a speed demon trying to break out.
Oh yes, at last inspection, the Prius is achieving 43 mpg…perhaps we can break through to the 30s?  Somehow, I don’t think Toyota would appreciate my road testing…

If you like my crazy driving, you may also like this post: Auntie Fail #38: Lapping Kids at the Go-Cart Track