Back to hybrids - I have also been 'told' by many people that the advantage isn't there for highway driving. But it is! I watch my mileage like a hawk, so I know. Our Honda Insight gets about 50 MPG (slightly less in winter with the heat on, a little more in summer) and it doesn't much matter if it is city or highway driving. If I could actually manage to drive under 70 more often there would be no problem getting the 50 MPG on the highway. When there is more traffic and I am limited to more like 55 the mileage actually goes up. Last year on a long trip I found that I was accidentally going 90. How fast does a person need to go?!? The acceleration is good, maybe not the same as my old Dodge Daytona Shelby Z with the 5 speed and turbo charger, but still very nice. My Insight is an automatic. Would prefer a stick, as they supposedly get 10 MPG more, but we considered ourselves lucky to find this one (it was used and reasonable.) I live in a rural/suburban.area, nearest traffic light is just over 4 miles away, most blocks are 1 mile square, to give you an idea what sort of area I live.
Let me also assure Colin that I am not a frequent or heavy braker. My friends have complained for years that I don't slow down enough going around corners and things.
I lived in Puerto Rico for a while, shipped my car over, and the rear brakes were ruined in shipping. The Dodge Daytona being very rare in PR, I couldn't get brake parts until hubby tracked them down used and brought them to me (from Chicago via Venezuela on a business trip.) I went about 6 weeks driving through the mountains with no rear brakes. (Lots of trips to the airport with hubby.) I learned to drive from the bottom of the island to the top on the highway with almost no braking. (Strategic use of downshifting and knowing the roads and curves and when I could coast at very high speeds safely.) For the Honda Insight, it is just the small engine plus electric motor combined with a very light car that gives excellent mileage, not so much how or where you drive. Not that I am a speed demon, but I don't drive slowly either.
We tried all the hybrids, hubby fit best in the Insight. He is almost 6'7" and 200+something. He has really long legs, so the lack of back seat meant the front seat has more room. It was a good investment because we needed to buy something he fit in and he's so big, so that limits our options to pricier things. Now we save heaps on gas. We just got a letter from the local Honda dealer asking if we would please sell our car to them as they have a lot of people who want to buy it. Ha, too bad for them. We love it, only fear is that someone in an SUV or big truck will crush us because it is so small. Sort of like driving a motorcycle with a little shell around it, people don't always see us. It's a 2002, bought in 2004 for $13K, so that was great compared to the $21K for a new Prius and I think it was $19K or $20 for a new Insight at that time. We also have our OLD Ford Ranger for hauling manure and wood and things. Hauled some woodchips in the Insight recently, came to a screeching halt at some deer crossing the road late at night. Got woodchips all over the car, oops, have been ordered not to haul woodchips in the car any more. So it doesn't fill all needs, but it is our primary vehicle. And I assure you we aren't the kind of people that spend money to be cool. We spend so little money that if other Americans were like us the economy would collapse. We are rabid environmentalists so that factors in, too.
