[SGVLUG] [OT] Especially for Tom & his Prius.... [my rebuttal, then I'll shut up]

[Emerson, Tom]

I suspect since I was targeted by name I should weigh in at some
point...

> -----Original Message----- Of Dustin Laurence
> On Mon, Jul 10, 2006 at 04:31:40PM -0700, David Lawyer wrote:
> > On Sun, Jul 09, 2006 at 10:07:06PM -0700, Dustin Laurence wrote:
> > > I found this screamingly funny:
> > > 
> > > http://youtube.com/watch?v=H_5VfwihIpo&search=top%20gear
> > 
> > I didn't find it funny at all.
> 
> That's because you have some, ah...unique theories about 
> cars.  Trust me, to the rest of the world, it's quite funny.

I've seen this host on other [discovery-channel-esque] programs, and I
suspect some of this was indeed intended to be "tongue in cheek"
reporting.  I also suspect there are lots of "the reviewer just doesn't
get it..." comments on various pro-prius newsgroups and chat lists.  As
Dustin alluded to in a previous message, it isn't "just about MPG" --
although not discussed much, there is a point to be made about the
amount of "greenhouse gasses" and what-not emitted by the vehicle -- it
is essentially damn near zero for the prius, which was the final
decision point I made between this and the Honda that was available at
the time.

In particular, "the average car" in this class had an emmision level of
x% (I don't remember the exact number, but it was integral and > 1); the
Honda was claiming ".1%", while toyota claimed the prius was ".001%" or
something equally insane :)

As such, the honda was classified as a "ULEV", or "Ultra Low Emissions
Vehicle", while the prius is classified as "SULEV" --> "Super ULEV".
Basically, the only thing below this is "ZEV", or "Zero [and they mean
ZERO] emissions vehicle".

An interesting chart is posted on a toyota site:

http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2005/prius/glossary/emission_levels.html

Which points out that to classify as "SULEV", the maximum allowable
emissions is 10 pounds of "smog forming" stuff per 150,000 miles (the
California averate is 91 pounds -- ironically, "ULEV" classification
ALLOWS for 103 pounds...)

-----------------

As to the reviewer's points in the video:

   noise -- yup, they are quiet, however "from the outside" they are
often "just as noisy" [when at speed] as most any other car -- most of
this "noise" coming from the rolling of the tires on the pavement, not
the motor (think about it -- even on a conventional car, the motor is
enclosed, which deadens the sound somewhat)  With your eyes closed, it
would be hard to tell the difference between a modern car and a prius
passing you at 40+ mph -- at 10mph, however, it would be hard to tell
the difference between a prius and a golf-cart...

   speed -- the reviewer mentioned a top speed of "99", but didn't
quantify it (kilometers/ or miles/ hour...) so it's hard to say what he
was getting at.  For reference, 65mph roughly equals 103kph [in the US,
the car has a toggle-button for displaying in MPH or KPH -- a great way
to freak people out...]  His comment about a top speed of "99" suggest
he wasn't seeing the leading digit [burned out?] or a motor governer
needed for his locale [you might have noted the right-hand-drive
arrangement, hmmm???]  

[aside: the model shown in the review clip is/was at least the 2004
version, I wrote some time ago that I have a "first generation" prius,
but have since found that the 2001 version is technically a "second
generation" prius(*), the 2004+ versions are third generation.  I can,
with reasonable effort, get 80+ mph (to >ahem< "pass" another vehicle)
which would be well over 100kph.  A third generation prius has more
power, so I'd imagine getting >100mph would not be difficult; OTOH, I've
not had the need nor desire to exceed 100mph in this car, so I haven't
exactly tested this particular claim...]

[(*) http://www.cleangreencar.co.nz/page/prius-history]

   economy -- he did point out 45mpg, and this is the interesting thing:
given the accent, right-hand-drive, and other factors, I gathered this
was a UK based review, which leads me to believe he was thinking in
terms of "imperial" gallons, not "US gallons".  Imperial gallons are
roughly 1.2 US gallons [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallon]  This will
skew his results -- as such, the "45mpg" he got should be increased by
about 20% to make up for what HE considers a "gallon" to be [this is an
oddity to the prius -- I've heard that regardless of locale, it
displays/calculates MPG as miles per US gallon.  This is because
internally it measures miles/litre and back-calculate the
miles-per-gallon figure, and apparently there is only one formula they
use...]

[aside part two: As such, I actually consistently get 45 miles per US
gallon in this car; the 2004+ versions are supposed to get between 50
and 60 mpg as referenced by the "quote" the sidekick read from a
magazine.  20% of 45mph would be an additional 9 miles/gallon, bringing
his result up to 54mpg and well within the tolerance of "how the EPA
drives vs. the average joe"]

   cost -- can't fault him on that -- they do cost more, but mostly due
to the "buzz" that Toyota has managed to generate.  The benefit (for me,
right now...) is that my 5+ year old prius bluebooks at $12,000+ [I paid
$20,000]  a couple of weeks ago I got a promotional come-on from a local
dealer offering a (presumably) "really good" buyback on old models.
Unfortunately, this was written as an "across-the-board" offer (i.e.,
regardless of model) so the offer on all 5-year-old models was only 45%
of the original sticker...

[aside again: since I managed to get mine before the really big rush, I
got quite the deal -- a year later I would have had to pay a $2000-5000
premium OVER sticker to get the car]

---------------------

Now, before I lose anyone, and to get this back "on topic" -- it IS
possible to put Linux "onto" the prius / display

http://www.vassfamily.net/ToyotaPrius/CAN/cindex.html  [note he is using
a sharp Zaurus running linux to get a significantly enhanced display...]
[note also: he has a movie showing this in action -- about 2/3rds of the
way down the page]

There is also a google-group devoted to hacking the prius
["prius_technical_stuff"] which I'm sure has many articles on adding
alternative OS's 

--------------------

Now, unless someone has a /specific/ question (that they feel the answer
would be appropriate for this forum as well) I'll "shut up" now and get
back to other more relevant matters at hand -- such as "do we have an
August speaker confirmed or not?"