King of the Mountain

I took advantage of my local Toyota dealership's over-the-weekend test drive program and really put this little booger through its paces. I was not surprised by the great economy, I expected that. I was shocked at its performance in the mountains and how fun it is to drive. After racking up 180 miles on Toyota's machine, I decided I had to have one. Here's why. I decided to test it in the mountains by driving across the summit between Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming. It had no problem maintaining 75mph while climbing 3000 feet in 30 miles, although the computer reported a mileage drop into the low 30 mpg range. On the 15 mile plunge into Laramie, mileage never dropped below 100 mpg! Since the battery was fully charged by the descent, I was able to glide around Laramie in total silence watching the overall mileage climb with every non-cumbustive mile. The coolest experience was coasting silently through the drive-thru. Every time I pulled forward people coming out of the restaurant would comment "Hey, that car's not making any noise!" Imagine how nice it would be if exhaust fumes and engine noise could be removed from the drive-thru experience. Here comes the argument buster for the "wimpy little car" fear mongers. I decided to see what kind of gonads the Prius had while making the steep 2000 ft. climb out of Laramie. I finally got off the gas when I was still accelerating at 82 mph! This is a hill that forces me to down-shift in my Dodge Ramcharger that has a huge V8 and gets 8 mpg. The Prius was clearly not meant to scream up mountain passes, but thanks to the high torque electric motor, you can count on passing power if you your life depends on it... or if you want to shock the jerk in a mid-size V6 that might have cast a disparaging look your way. After gliding back down to Cheyenne (averaging 100+ mpg for 30 miles at 75 mph), my average for the 180 mile test had climbed back up to 51 mpg. I placed my order the first day 2002 models were available. I should have my electric-mica-green Prius by October. An interesting side note to my experience is that the computer feedback really appealed to my male (conquest driven) driving style. I quickly shifted from my usual "must stay on schedule" mode or "must find out speed-margin allowed by hiway patrol" mode to an "I'll bet I can get better mileage than you" mode. The constant feedback actually taught me how to drive for better mileage on my other cars. Maybe it will have a similar effect on my 16-year-old son. Ha,...Fat chance!!!