No Limits - Miserly toyota pays off when it comes to having fun
FOR the past four years my motoring has cost me nothing. Nowt. Nada. Zilch. Subscribe:****** Source:****** Source Photo and Content:DailyMail, REUTERS, AP, EPA, Getty Images etc. fashion & lifestyle channel dedicated to sharing the latest news around the world. Videos can use content-based copyright law contains reasonable use Fair Use (****** With the above criteria, if there is any breach of the principles of Community, law on
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No Limits: Miserly Toyota pays off when it comes to having fun
In fact its better than that - my battered Chevi pick-up truck is worth two grand more than I paid for it. I know because Ive just turned down an offer to sell it.
Not for sale, its a keeper. But, weirdly, small block V8 Yank tanks arent for everyone.
I know, its hard to contemplate such shortsightedness but there are people out there who cherish a future of low running costs, what the Americans would call high gas-mileage and the ability to lower pollution in our major towns and cities.
And you know what? After a week with the futuristic looking (and feeling) Toyota Prius Im starting to get this plug-in hybrid stuff.
The real fun, apart from silently creeping around supermarket car parks in order to startle unobservant pedestrians, is in travelling from A to B for zero cost. Its like a game that only a true dyed-in-the-wool tightwad could appreciate in full.
How so? Well, if most of your travel is in stop-go, snails pace traffic the Prius will reward a gentle right foot with almost total battery-powered propulsion, with that 600 miles of fuel range gauge not budging a millimetre.
Braking stores more electrical energy, as does that solar roof panel (a £250 optional extra along with the rear parking sensors). But the best game is appropriating free electricity when you park up.
This can be at an unwitting mates house or, as I discovered this week, at race tracks, using the 13amp plugs in the pit garages.
This, admittedly, is fine if you spend as much time at race tracks as I do, but now youre probably thinking where you could plug in for a cheeky free re-charge. Its like a game.
I know people who are so tight-*** they will only defecate on works time. Thats taking it to extremes but these are the sorts of people whod certainly love the Prius power purloining game Ive been revelling in all week.
Its a funny old thing to drive. You really must get under its skin and work out what its good and bad at to get the best out of it.
And by best, I mean cheapest. Motorways are not what its all about.
It copes with them fine with a smooth ride and a great deal of comfort and ability but, to be honest, you might as well get a dirty diesel to cope with that boring task.
Prius does short-hop commuting best when, if you plan ahead and treat the accelerator like its got an IED under it, its entirely possible to travel utterly silently on electric power only.
Oh, and if youve liberated your electricity from a free source the sense of naughty achievement feels a bit like apple bobbing as a kid or someone else unexpectedly picking up the bill in a restaurant.
Bit of a shift from my V8 truck I know but, hey, youve gotta seek out the fun havent you? The CVT transmission can be annoying if you dont drive it how it wants to be driven.
The engine will scream away like a banshee if you forget about the all important bomb under the throttle pedal.
The regenerative brakes can be a touch grabby on initial application and the whole car can feel a tad porky during direction changes.
But the key here is driving it how it wants to be driven to extract the full-on Ebenezer Scrooge best out of it. A week wasnt enough. I think this could turn into a sport.
FACT FILE Price: £30,695 inc government grant Engine: 1,798cc petrol & electric motor Power: 97bhp Torque: 142Nm 0-62MPH: 11.1 secs Economy: 284mpg combined CO2: 22g/km For: Bah humbugs Against: Not for everyone Sun up: Spage age superstar.
