Prius discussions on car forums always entertain me because of the way so many car people seem to get all worked up over this car. And I'm not sure why. But I'll admit that this discussion is far more.....discussional.....than the typical thread.
Still, though, I can't say I've ever noticed any snobbishness from Prius owners. Yes, I'm only aware of one such person whom I know personally and he's far too much of a Christian conservative to be a hippie liberal. Aside from that, I can't recall being subject to any sneers, gestures and comments from any of the Prii that have been around me.
Regarding the "Miata = chick car" thing, I have noticed such comments tend to come from people who really don't have a clue of what they are talking about. Hell, my fiancee's brother likes to make that comment a lot, but I just can't take car criticisms seriously from a guy who owned
two third generation Camaros.
I suppose there may be something to the "chick car" thing. I mean, I have had far more thumbs up/"Nice car!"/"Can you give me a ride?" comments from women during the 2.5 years of Miata ownership than I have had in the 7.5 years of Porsche ownership. The Porsche, on the other hand, seems to attract the guys.
But I digress...
I just can't bring myself to care about what other people drive, so long is it's safe to operate. Sure, I find things like the H2s to be rediculous, but in the end I drive two sports cars, so I'm really in no position to criticize one way or the other.
And I'd also like to see Hybrids do very well. It's likely they'll become more commonplace in the future anyway, so I'd love to see the technology take off so that we can still have our fun cars.
BB.