Ideal Bite

During winters here in Iowa we need to warm up our older cars. On a -20 day, our 2002 Saturn only takes about 5 minutes. but my 1995 Pick-up needs almost 15. 15 minutes is a lot of warm up time! My truck sits outside and is usually covered in ice. When I try to drive away too soon my steering is stiff and the tranny lags hard. I've calculated my costs and driving the truck (so I can haul my free firewood to heat my home) is cheaper than having a new car and paying for a seasons woth of natural gas & electricity to heat my home. I don't drive far and the wood we aquire is harvested carefully to maintain, not destroy, the enviroment. I believe the 15 minute warm up on a cold winter day is worth it.

Did you know that in Sweden, it is illegal to let your car idle for more than one minute? And everyone follows this rule! They are way ahead of us.

Idling is also illegal in Portland, Oregon. Also, cheaper for you doesn't mean cheaper for the us - in terms of the greater good.

"Also, cheaper for you doesn’t mean cheaper for the us - in terms of the greater good." Yes my truck requires a warm up. But it hauls wood to heat my home. In my 80 year old home the gas furnace ran every 25 minutes. The electric heaters for the lower level used 1500 watts and ran just about as often. Multiply this (and the polution produced by the local coal fired plant for the electricity) by an entire heating season and compare it to a 15 minute truck warm up. You can even add in the burning wood for heat (wood that the landowner used to toss into a burn pile). I thing that both of us are coming out ahead.

Heather, what was causing your Prius to get less mpg? You had mentioned that you had taken it in to find out what was wrong with it & I wondered what you found out. Just trying to get more info on hybrids.

What irks me is the "No Turn On Red" signs when there is absolutely no reason NOT to turn if there is no cross traffic. I always think of the fumes and wasted gas waiting for a green light. This is particularly irksome at two traffic lights in two different towns that I frequent. I have sat and idled for five minutes waiting for the light to turn green so I can make my right turn. I finally said "the heck with it", if no traffic is in sight (and no cops!) I turn anyway.

Michelle, I think Scandinavia in general has always been far ahead of the U.S. as far as being environmentally friendly is concerned. I remember when I was in Finland (I know, technically, Finland is NOT part of Scandinavia, but it always gets lumped in with Scandinavia because there's nowhere else to put it), but anyway, when I was in Finland 'way back in '72, if you wanted to get your groceries home from the supermarket, you HAD to bring your own reusable bags because the grocery stores didn't supply take-home bags. As for what is more "cringe-worthy" than the sound of Ryan Seacrest's voice (which I personally don't find to be "cringe-worthy" myself), let's see, there's the sound of "Dubya"'s voice, the sound of Dick Cheney's voice, the sound of Ann Coulter's voice, the sound of Rush Limbaugh's voice, the sound of Bill O'Reilly's voice, and the sound of the voice of pretty much any other conservative pundit you care to name.

Hey Gloria - Well, I'm trying to do some sleuthing to figure out what's up with my MPG... According to Toyota, the hybrid engine's working just like it's supposed to. I have a sneaking suspicion that it probably has more to do with the fact that there are two steep, SF-style hills between my house and my boyfriend's, and I drive those at least once a day (and I don't drive all that much otherwise). When I'm on the freeway or flat parts of town, I get around 35-42 MPG. But overall, with the hills, I'm seeing around 29-31. But the fact is, I really want something more like 60 mpg, in a car that drives like a German-engined funmobile. Too much to ask? ;)

Heather-sounds reasonable. For now I am keeping my present car,a compact Ford Escort that gets decent gas mileage. But I am looking towards the future & what kind(type) of car I will replace it with. Thanks for the info.

I hate having to warm up my car in the mornings too.. i mean i could get in it cold, but hey, im definitely not an Eskimo. maybe i should invent the "get warm in six minutes" car... but then someone would come out with a "get warm in five minutes car" and on and on.... then my six minute car would be nothing but five minutes too long for the smarter people... But hey!! Its worth a shot!! Inst it??