http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/17/autos/honda_civic_hf/index.htm

It’s still doable if you don’t mind driving around a car with no power steering, power brakes, or air-conditioning, and are willing to live with a car that has a two- or one- star crash rating.

Well with mostly highway to the office this week was at 15.3mpg but when doing some city driving today it is down to 14.3mpg. :)

I enjoyed the South Park Episode “Smug Alert!” that makes fun of the holier-than thou nature of some Hybrid Drivers. They call the Toyota the Pious.

What I don’t understand is why it doesn’t get better fuel economy. Back in the days, the Geo Metro got well over 50 mpg with a 3 cylinder and so did the Honda Civic CRX HF.

I’m sure somebody could work it into some lowbrow comedy featuring a nerdy superhero, or even a live action version of Captain Planet, but then again, it probably would end up being a move that I wouldn’t care to watch anyway.

Toyota Prius in movies and TV series

I have nothing against Hybrids, they very well may be the way to go in the near term, but why does the car have to look hideous?

Ugly in your opinion of course. You could pick any car from any time and find people who think that it is hideous and others who think it’s the cat’s pyjamas – it’s just personal taste.

By the way, what happens to all those lead acid batteries when they die?

Umm – are there still “car” people who think that hybrids are stuffed full of lead acid batteries?

I looked at the Honda Civic hybrid, but, unlike the Prius, Honda has limited supply. They are hard to get, from what I understand.

My wife has expressed interest in the Ford Escape hybrid for her next vehicle (she currently drives a 2005 Focus SE).

… and cleaning up horse crap!

I don’t care if it does Zero to 60 in 4 seconds and gets 100 mpg (well, maybe if it did all that I’d have a change of heart), the fact remains that this thing looks just God Awful. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find an uglier vehicle on the road today.

I have nothing against Hybrids, they very well may be the way to go in the near term, but why does the car have to look hideous?

By the way, what happens to all those lead acid batteries when they die?

(smile) – you could always get a Honda Civic hybrid. That looks pretty conventional. Nice car, I tried one out.

Glad you can appreciate my sense of humor.

I like Tatras. Any car guy or gal must get jazzed about a car with a dorsal fin, eh? (I got to see more Tatras than anyone should have a right to just this January – go to the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville – hard to find but great). Lots of microcars, loads of Tatras.

I love Citroen DS’s and ID’s. Always wanted one, never will, probably. Nearly got a CX once, while I lived in England. Another guy got there literally 5 seconds ahead of me (at the seller’s driveway).

Interestingly, in the 1920’s, the American buying public would literally only buy cars with lines as straight as a ruler. Square boxes. “The fenders may be rounded, but that’s all”.

By 1934, the Chrysler and DeSoto Airflow and Hupmobile Aerodynamic brought forth curves, and there was initially sales resistance. By 1936, most cars were curvy, hence the “fat fender era”.

This ideal of wishing for boxes appears to have a cyclical appearance in car styling. The 1960’s were boxy, but by the very late 1960’s, swoopy was in (look at a 1968 Chrysler vs. a 1969).

By the late 1970’s, square and boxy was coming back “in”. By the time the Taurus was introduced in the mid 1980’s, it heralded a return to swooping lines and aerodynamics.

It just goes in cycles.

Maybe because in one of those episodes, he got Stewie Griffin (the toddler for those un-Family Guy types) drunk and proceeded to hand him the keys to the Prius resulting in it crashing into the bar.

Strong endorsement eh?

Why it’s not a star with Hollywood is beyond me.

I would have preferred a Scion tc.

If I recally correctly, his slacker friend (the chubby one) drives either an early 1990s Cadillac Sedan DeVille or a Dodge Dynasty.

menno: Fun to drive? Sure is fun to drive past the gas stations while I’m watching people fill their SUVs for over a hundred dollars.

Fortunately, our choices aren’t limited to a Prius and an SUV. There are plenty of cars that are fuel-efficient and considerably more attractive. My Accord (four cylinder) is doing just fine right now.

I don’t have “Prius hate”. I respect the engineering that Toyota put into it. But gas will have to become MUCH more expensive before I drive a Prius with its Godzilla-meets-Citroen styling.

Of course, if gas prices do rise that much, everyone will jump on the hybrid bandwagon, which means I still won’t have to drive a Prius.

Or, if it had a V8. What’s the point? If it wasn’t the car it is, it would be different?

All these negative vibes! I’m a car guy too. I love the sound of a strong V8, I just don’t want to feed one any more. I like racing, I just don’t go out on the track for “practice runs” with my buddy in his Porsche any more (for one thing, he got a divorce and one major casualty was the loss of his 911).

Well, gas just went up 20 cents as I sat at work yesterday, we’re at $3.89 for regular (and over $4 for premium) in northwestern Michigan now, and my 2008 Prius is showing 62 mpg on the cumulative meter right now. Actually, that’s because I ran across town after filling it up. At one point, the cumulative meter showed 74 mpg. But once I go home this evening, it’ll drop to a more typical 50 mpg. Still, what’s your whip doing for cumulative MPG on your commute?

Fun to drive? Sure is fun to drive past the gas stations while I’m watching people fill their SUVs for over a hundred dollars. More fun than a SMART car which Consumer Reports said got fewer MPG than a Prius (they tested a Canadian spec DIESEL SMART car, too). Plus I have room for 4 (5 in a pinch) and actual trunk space. As for driving, ah, 0-60 in 10 seconds is fast enough. That was mid-sized V8 family sedan territory when I was a kid in the early 1960’s. Most folks seem to be slowing down in order to try to eke 13 mpg out of their SUVs and pickups instead of 12, anyway.

No, the car is not perfect, but I do believe you all had better get used to the concept, because I truly believe it is a precurser to what the cars of the future will pretty much all be. In some form or other other, at least similar in many aspects. Maybe even powered by hydrogen some day (tongue in cheek?)

From my perspective, the reality of the future of the automobile is not so bad as some people are making it out to be. Sure beats a horse and buggy.

It is a very funny show and the Prius was a birthday gift from the main characters parents who felt guilty for selling their unborn son’s soul to the devil years ago.