There is a real drive for consumers to downsize, or at least seek a more fuel-efficient vehicle to help restore household budgets. Our recent Auto Pulse survey on the impact of gas prices revealed from the random, nationwide sample that 82 percent of car shoppers were looking to buy a vehicle the same size or smaller, and fuel economy is the leading priority.

Having worked on the recent downsizing analysis, downsizing blogs, and the Auto Pulse survey, downsizing has been top of mind for weeks. So, when it came time for the family to take a vacation over Memorial Day weekend, it was time to put theory into practice.

Time to downsize
My stroke of genius was to arrange to drive CR’s Toyota Prius Touring test car, rather than my own Honda Pilot on an escape to New Hampshire. The Prius got 42 mpg overall in our official testing, which includes city, highway, and mixed driving, but I was optimistic more was possible on the road trip. After all, my previous best attempt at hypermiling to work (about 45 miles mixed driving) yielded over 63 mpg. In the Pilot, around 20 mpg is typical, but that’s without working at it.

It took some convincing to get the family to concede to driving the right-sized Prius, giving up warehouse-grade space and a built-in DVD player for fuel savings. (Despite my young son’s impressive vocabulary, "fuel savings" really doesn’t register for him with the same magic as it does for me.)

My wife had me calculate out the total potential savings, projected to be about $100. At which point she queried, "And what is the value of my happiness?" I knew I was doghouse bound, but forced the issue, stuffing the hatchback like a sausage for the trip, including a small bike.

Ready to roll, it felt like we were cave divers with heads popping up out of the water, surrounded by an ocean of travel essentials. So long as our breathing rhythms remained unique, there would be enough air for all… Without the DVD player, the "Are we there yets?" were on perpetual loop.

Enduring my wife’s laser-beam glare over 250 hypermiles, we made it to N.H. having averaged about 53 miles per gallon. To do so meant leaving cruise control set at the speed limit for the better part of eternity. Once we offloaded enough luggage to build a replica Mayan Kukulkan pyramid from Samsonite, the relatively roomy Prius proved quite comfortable for day tripping.

On the return trip, we drove with the pace of traffic, reducing travel time and passenger angst considerably. We shaved about an hour off the trip, and in doing so, only sacrificed 2 mpg. I know science, and readily admit this isn’t it, but our casual observation showed that the fuel economy gains for the initial journey wasn’t worth the concession in time and marital bliss.

Our experiment in mobile domestic tranquility did reveal:

• Both time and happiness are worth money.
• Right-sizing makes sense, when it is the right time and vehicle.
• There is a benefit to having a mismatched fleet, with a commuter-focused car and a family truckster.
• Maybe we should bring less luggage.

Needless to say, we enjoyed our next holiday getaway over the July 4th weekend in the Pilot.

—Jeff Bartlett

For more on downsizing, also read:
When does it make cents?
Implications for trading in early
Downsizing to the extreme