[Shop-talk] camry hybrids

[John Miller]

> don't have that smile in his car.  When my wife first drove my car to
> her work (local high school) she said it was surprising to her how much
> more she enjoyed the drive both to work and then home.  But she does not
> drive it to work often, the kids pay too much attention to the car and
> she is afraid it will get scratched if she pisses one of them off, so
> she only drives it work maybe 2-3 times a month.

There's apparently a large buyer base out there who cares about nothing 
but fuel economy and iPhone integration.

Really, though, the Prius these days goes pretty well (especially if you 
push the 'Power' button.)  In daily use it feels like a really good CVT 
hooked to an engine with a nice fat torque curve - what's really going 
on of course is that the electric motor's filling in the holes in the 
gasoline engine's response.   The response to the gas pedal is better 
than most of the small-engine-plus-automatic combinations out there.

If it were just packaged in something that had the greenhouse and 
ergonomics of a 2002 (or an AE86 Corolla) it'd be wonderful.

John.