I like cars. I like cars that have a modicum of performance about them. Until this year, I had a mini cooper S which was a BLAST to drive. So WTF am I doing driving a Prius??! Did I go mad? Did I have a lobotomy? Was I abducted by granola-crunching aliens? Nope. I actually like driving the Prius. Crazy.
I knew a chap I used to visit for work a lot years ago down in Massachusetts. He also liked performance cars…had an Audi A6T, a WRX, a WRX STi…he liked toys. One time I went to visit and he told me he had a new vehicle that was “a new kind of performance”. I was drooling to see what it was…M5? 911 turbo? Merc? We did some kart racing and afterwards went to the parking lot to see said vehicle…I was scouring the lot looking for this performance machine…when we walked up to…a Prius!! I couldn’t believe it…double-take, wtf, omg 11ty!!!. I thought it was nuts. Then I get to where I am now.
I commute from one side of the city to the other. Every. Day. By global commute standards it’s not bad but it’s still around 40km each way and takes an hour. In the mini my left leg was about ready to fall off from constant de-clutching and really, I got to use the performance for around 5 mins on the drive. So time to get something new. Originally, I was looking at a small SUV for a bit more room for the fam and never really considered the Prius. Only green granolas drive those and I wouldn’t count myself as a greenie…oil is meant to be burnt! Anyway, I started doing some reading and was initally attracted to the gas savings. The more I read, the more I thought this actually makes sense. I also did a ton of reading about the VW TDi having owned a GTi VR6 circa 2000 and it was a reasonable car. The thing is…there is no cars (VW included) in the price range that has the same fuel milage as the Prius AND crucially, a high gadget count. I figured, if I can’t have real performance, I can have gadget performance. The base base model of the Prius has bluetooth audio streaming, cruise, proximity key, ipod hookup, touchscreen audio, is a hatchback (crucial – sedans are for weirdos) and gets an avg of 5 litres/100km in the real world.
I returned the mini and pulled the trigger on the Prius and now I’ve been driving it for a few months, I love it. The gadget factor rocks, my commute is lower stress (you can’t race anyone in this thing!) and the money I’m saving on fuel is insane. I’m using Fuelly.com and even a bit of a loon like me can get 5l/100km. For comparison, the Mini was averge of 8.2l/100km over the lifetime I owned it (and it had to use Premium fuel). I calculated I’m saving around $120/month in fuel alone…factoring in that the Prius has lower insurance and costs around $10K less than the Mini…it’s like it’s paying me every time I get in it!
Other than the cost savings and the gadgets, the other good thing about the Prius is it sounds like spaceship. That alone should be reason for them to be flying off the shelves! I may have had to redeem some manhood points to get it but it’s been worth it. If you’re in need of a commute appliance, I gotta say that the Prius meets that requirement.
And you don’t need to eat granola to own it.