Disappointed in Prius ('08) waiting for '10

[Zack]

Rented a Prius to check the hype myself and while I generally like the car and idea I came out disappointed.

We have 3 cars in family: BMW 530, Odyssey and Mazda 6 V6. All 3 liter or bigger engines burning about 11-12 l/100 km or about half of the MPG than Prius. Yes, my next car will be hybrid and most likely Prius, unless WV does really good job with new hybrid Golf next year.

I am waiting for 2010 Prius because '08 failed to impress me performance wise. Yes, it is nice car and I liked driving it. However MPG which suppose to be so much better than everything else of comparable size is unimpressive. After 500 miles I returned car with average MPG at about 42-44 (5.5 l/100 km).

Look at similar sized cars sold in Europe from same manufacturers that sell here in North America and you will see that with common engine sizes at 1.1-1.3 liter, cost thousands less than Prius, no hybrid technology and they burn maybe liter (1/4 gal.) more than Prius. If we are talking diesel engine 5 l/100 km (47 MPG) is nothing uncommon.

Conclusion, Prius has to have much bigger battery and thus much more all electric driving to get more impressive MPG. Plug-in.
We are talking normal driving speeds, NOT crawling speeds (just to beat the MFD numbers that pop up on the screen and make amazing post on this forum).

That's it. Now I have to brace for blast that will come from upset members of this forum.

[Mouth]

At least you drove it before expressing your opinions. That's respectable. See you in 2010!

[TonyPSchaefer]

Originally Posted by Mouth

At least you drove it before expressing your opinions. That's respectable. See you in 2010!

Agreed. At least you did one thing that most Prius bashers never do: actually drive it.

[lefat1]

well that makes one of us. of course coming from the cars you drive and the mpg's you got with the prius, i'll say you need some hybrid driving cues. i find my prius to be very peppy and always with no special techniques, other than those i use to conserve in a normal car, i get 50mpg

[sleonardelli]

What are gas prices in Canada? I know Canada exports @ 1/2 of the oil we use so I was wondering if the gas prices were lower and that's why you choose to wait. I bought my 08 Prius because of the gas prices (lower emissions is icing on the cake). I love the way my car drives and have noticed my driving habits have changed for the better. I also experience less road rage. But, as others have already said, you at least drove it and made your decision based on that experience. See you in 2010!

[Zack]

Just passed by gas station, 1.27 $/liter. Funny ha? Like you said we export almost everything to USA and our gas is 20-25% more expensive than at your gas stations.
I am glad that nobody is offended with my findings. I still love the car, overall concept is perfect and savings substantial. Where Toyota came short is bigger battery and thus much higher "electric drive only" speed limit.

I found best article so far explaining technology behind Prius here:

Toyota Prius Hybrid Car Technical Information

and from there I would say that they are able to double size battery and achieve those goals without big penalty in weight. I also believe that gas engine inside is too big, could be 300-400 cc's smaller and that wasted power regeneration could easily make up for that.

[john1701a]

Too bad you didn't wait until it was warmer. The difference between the cold spring and recent emergence of summer has been a 5 MPG increase for me.

A newbie using a car barely broken-in tends result in lower MPG too.

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[Zack]

Originally Posted by john1701a

Too bad you didn't wait until it was warmer. The difference between the cold spring and recent emergence of summer has been a 5 MPG increase for me.

A newbie using a car barely broken-in tends result in lower MPG too.

.

Car I was driving was Budget's, 13500 miles on the counter. I tried both styles, regular (nothing fast, regular accelerations, regular highway speeds (55-70 MPH), let go on the gas early) and extreme easy (feather touch on gas pedal, maximum possible electric only driving, a lot of gliding, watching MFD at all times).
Found "easy" driving quite impractical where whole ride (while still somewhat fun) became race against the MFD (MPG counter, consumption bar graph and animated arrows showing a flows of energy).

[sleonardelli]

OMG! U R paying more than 80 cents a gallon more than we are. The U.S. needs to stop whining about gas prices since the country we import @ 20% our oil (compared to 35% from Opec) pays more for gas than we do!!! I actually figured it out from Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries). If someone has better data (didn't look up all the OPEC countries; just Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Venzuala). I still think it obsurd that we import so much oil from Canada yet they pay more at the pump.

[john1701a]

Originally Posted by Zack

Conclusion, Prius has to have much bigger battery and thus much more all electric driving to get more impressive MPG.

What do you consider impressive?

I'm quite curious, knowing that diesel MPG will be lower due to the new emission requirements. So everyone's basis of comparison has to be re-examined.

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