Sunday, April 08, 2007
TOFU MAKER DRIVES WITHOUT SHOES
Doron Levin March on Prius buyers:
To paraphrase H.L. Mencken, no one ever went broke underestimating the personal financial acumen of the American carbuyer. Hybrids may not make much pocketbook sense, but they do appeal to a type of buyer that cares about being environmentally correct.
They also appeal to mileage fetishists:
Toya, a 56-year-old manager for a tofu maker in central Japan, puts special tires on his Prius, tapes plastic and cardboard over the engine and blocks the grill with foam rubber. He drives without shoes and hacks into his car’s computer—all in the pursuit of maximum distance with minimum gasoline.
Toya is one of about 100 nenpimania, Japanese for “mileage maniacs,” or hybrid owners who compete against each other to squeeze as much as 115 miles per gallon out of their cars. In a country where gasoline costs more than $4 a gallon, at least $1 more than the U.S. price, enthusiasts tweak their cars and hone driving techniques to cut fuel bills and gain bragging rights.
“My wife thinks I’ve joined some strange secret society,” Toya said in January at a nenpimania gathering in Nagoya in central Japan.
Meanwhile, Honda - constrained by Canadian fuel rules - may opt for mileage over safety:
Honda of Canada Inc. is “seriously considering” stripping some life-saving safety equipment out of the smallest car it sells in Canada to meet new federal fuel efficiency ratings.
Try taping plastic and cardboard over the engine.
(Via reader Black, who knows his cars)