[Healeys] OT: Prius. Delete if not curious

[Bob Johnson]

Had a chance to drive a Prius this past weekend. Thought I would post my
impressions for anyone who might be interested: Pretty good little car. It is
wierd to press the "Power' and have nothing happen except the radio starts to
play. You get used to that after a while. We drove it from near Charlotte to
Knoxville TN, approximately 225 miles each way. Comfort was pretty good, my
wifes back did not bother her either way. It is small, and the one that I am
driving is rather spartan. Biggest kick against the car was driving through
the last 20 miles of NC and first few miles into TN. It is interstate (I-40),
but it is very curvy. The car was just not really comfortable going through
that interminable chicane. At 50 mph there is just way too much leaning and
swaying. However, on the straight(er) roads it handled just fine at 70-80 mph.
And the mileage... we got 48.9 on the trip up, and 50.2 mpg and the trip back.
That kind of made up for it not being an Avalon. Don't know if they ever
become economically viable what with the high price to start with (compared to
other cars that size), but as gas gets more and more expensive, you certainly
feel smug when you are driving it. My wife is not convinced that she might not
want one.


Bob Johnson
BJ8