Sinful weekend

[brick]

This has been an interesting weekend. M'Lady has had family in town since Thursday so we've been running around seeing the sights with a lot of driving involved. They really wanted to go to the Georgia Aquarium so we did that on Friday (really amazing, btw...go if you have a chance) and then to visit an uncle on the Georgia coast yesterday. Probably 1000mi between the two in two vehicles since we had too many for one car. So the one car was her Prius and the other was the MB E300 Turbodiesel. Sadly, at no point in time were we hypermiling in the least. Everybody was interested in "making time" which involves running at least 5-10mph over the PSL (70) and generally doing what I used to consider "normal." I'd be surprised if we "saved" more than 20min per day by keeping that pace but whatever...wasn't a thing to be done about it. Everybody had a good time and the Prius got to show some muscle, albeit at 46mpg rather than 55.

The one nice thing for me was getting about 4 hours behind the wheel of what I shall now refer to as the "Deutscheboot." I do get the attraction: 3800lb+ worth of high-strength steel rolling on a very well engineered suspension and being pushed by 3 litres worth of '99 vintage diesel propulsion and the single best conventional automatic transmission I have ever experienced is a real treat. Keeping up with the antics of the lead car was no problem, and it'll pull 35 highway MPG on a bad day. My only gripe, of course, is that it is positively filthy. Last night I had to get on it hard due to someone's bad decision and found an amazing black cloud in my wake. That thing was better than ridge riding, clearing traffic for hundreds of yards behind me while I accelerated off of the shoulder. I hope nobody with breathing problems was back there.

So, that's my story. Yuck.

[xcel]

Hi Tim:

___At least the Prius gave you 46

___Fortunately, the new diesels won’t be nearly as obnoxious to our inside’s as those older ones. Even the 06’s are absolutely filthy by comparison to the 08/09’s that should arrive in a few short year(s).

___Finally, we must discuss penance. You are directed to P&G below 33 mph for the next 250 miles to make up for it

___Good Luck and I hope you enjoyed your vacation.

___Wayne

[brick]

Originally Posted by xcel

___Finally, we must discuss penance. You are directed to P&G below 33 mph for the next 250 miles to make up for it

Heh. Yeah, that would make me really popular around here given that the only way to get to the plant is a 55mph-limited state highway. Of course I imagine that's the point. The only thing I have to say for myself is "I swear I didn't touch the Prius!"

Honestly, the really aggravating thing wasn't so much the FE but the generally poor driving. I could follow along at a constant 75mph (ugh) and I'd see that little Prius zoom off into the distance. Five minutes later I'd still be doing the same same speed and come up on them like a freight train because they'd dropped 10mph for absolutely no reason. And that's not to mention the dozens of un-planned lane departures, driving way the hell too fast in a downpour, two-thumb-driving, etc. that occurred along the way. It's a miracle somebody didn't wind up in a ditch or caught under a semi.

**EDIT**
I just entered her receipts for the last few days. 44.9mpg