We're still trying to decide between the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius. Originally, the Mrs. like the Prius and I liked the Civic Hybrid. We test drove the Civic Hybrid a second time, and I liked it even more than the first time and the Mrs was starting to like it, too.

But then I got to looking at the back seat of the Civic Hybrid, and thinking about the hatchback and fold-down seats and all that cargo room in the Prius (plenty of room for Pupster, her crate, and lots of other gear) and decided I could get over the ugliness. Plus my other concern about having to work the touch-screen LCD was mitigated somewhat by the excellent array of controls on the steering wheel.

So I told the Mrs. last night that I changed my mind, and I thought we ought to just go this morning and buy the Prius. She started checking around, and found out we could rent one at Fox Toyota in Clinton. She suggested we rent one for the weekend to make sure we'd really like it.

That sounded like a great idea, so we went and rented one ($114 for the weekend). Then we blew off work and went for a ride to try it out.

On the trip from Fox Toyota in Clinton back to Blount Co., by way of back roads to Oak Ridge to Pellissippi Parkway/I-140 to Alcoa Highway, with the air conditioner on the entire time, it got just over 53 MPG. After stopping by the house for lunch, we set out for Townsend, on to the Cades Cove loop, and back home over the Rich Mountain road. When we got home, the MPG meter showed 52.2 MPG.

It was pretty cool going about 90% on electric motor on the Cades Cove loop portion, and about 75% on electric over Rich Mountain road. The gas motor kicked in a few times up the mountain, and was off almost all the way back down, as coasting and braking fully recharged the hybrid batteries.

After dinner, we reset the MPG meter and went for a typical errand run. First to Lowes, then to the Foothills Mall, then to Kroger, and all the traffic lights in between. When we got home, the MPG meter showed 47.6 MPG. Sitting at the numerous traffic lights around Maryville with the engine shut down consuming no fuel is pretty great. It's the first car I've driven where you actually hope to catch the red light.

That, plus being able to haul a lot of junk conveniently, pretty much seals the deal for me. We'll see how the Mrs. feels in the morning.