Top Gear on the Prius yet again

[geraldc]

See the section from about 5:45 onwards

YouTube - Top Gear Season 11, Ep 1, Part 1/6

YouTube - Top Gear Season 11, Ep 1, Part 1/6

[efusco]

What on earth..
First the complete distortion/disproven BS about overall cleanness of the Prius vs (randomly selected) SUV.
Then pushing the Prius to speeds it's not designed to sustain for 10 laps and comparing mpg to a BMW designed to run efficiently at those same speeds....is there any point to that?
Run them at 45mph and see what you get.

[efusco]

I guess we should be glad they didn't blow up the Prius this episode anyway!

[Flying White Dutchman]

not again.... but change your driving style is a good tip.

[biggus]

If the Prius was built in Britain, Clarkson would be calling it the best car in the world.

However for those of this forum not incensed by the video, he IS making a valid point about the way people drive in Europe. Unlike the USA the majority of cars here can do 40mpg plus, with a bit of intelligent driving. So he's saying keep your current car, and follow the tips on the bbc website to improve economy like all the serious priuschatters already know(bbc link not working today so i don't know if the tios are any good).

BTW i think somebody asked/posted here before, wondering what the worst mpg a Prius could do; the answer seems to be 17mpg (imperial gallon)

I used to read a lot more car magazines but attitudes like Clarkson's divert people like me towards websites like priuschat forums, with its up to date info and expert advice.

[MagneticGrayIndy]

lol... this moron must work for British Petreleum!

[brighamwj]

Originally Posted by geraldc

See the section from about 5:45 onwards


YouTube - Top Gear Season 11, Ep 1, Part 1/6

Classic. Sad but True

[priusuk2008]

I watched it last night too and as a Prius owner was highly miffed that he took the p*ss out of the Prius in this fashion ,rather than shooting it...

But after a few minutes I thought if anyone truly buys this genuine BS ("...and we have the figs to prove it...") then they are not serious in getting a Prius anyway, which will be all the more for the people who REALLY want one.
This car doesn't scoop top honours in the JD Power survey because its a dog, it gets them because it satisfies its owners (me included) more than any other car, M3 included.
I find it a shame that JC always slags the Prius off, as this is such a good show, but then I suppose he slags off most cars really, except the ones no-one can really afford to drive. Oh well, thats showbiz..

[Tenebre]

You should realize that Top Gear is neither a consumer report type of show nor serious automotive journalism - it's entertainment.

[Sufferin' Prius Envy]

Makes me go, "Hmmmmmmmm."

If Clarkson is going to regurgitate that BS about a Prius doing more environmental damage in the long run than a [insert big SUV here], I wonder what else they are going to not be truthful about . . . Hmmmmm, maybe the driving competition itself?????

So what could they have done to rig the test?

1) Pre-drain the traction battery to a point where it will barely spin up the ICE.
2) Turn on the air conditioner in the Prius, but not in the other car.
3) Start the drive with an absolutely cold engine on only the Prius. I mean, push the start button and then drive like hell.
4) DRIVE LIKE HELL! Oh, wait! They did say, "Drive as fast as possible." Who drives like that in the real world? So, like I said, drive like hell, brake hard into corners, drift the car sideways, etc. As far as we know, they could have been giving it gas AND braking at the same time.
5) Have the Prius be the lead car. Let the BMW draft off the Prius. Looks like they did that one!

IF the good people at Top Gear wish to be fair . . . they do, as long as they are talking 'fast as possible' and 'muscle' cars . . . they should invite Wayne Gerdes to do some hypermileing during a retest. If Clarkson thought their test drive was "one of the dullest" of his life . . . "in the interest of science," he should see if he could 'stick with it' with Wayne Gerdes driving the Prius.