Toyota Prius proves a gas guzzler in a race with the BMW 520d

[C.RICKEY HIROSE]

London to Geneve Economy run, BMW 4 cylinder Diesel beats Prius .

The Prius, like the iPod, is more than a piece of clever technology. It symbolises something bigger – a responsible attitude, a healthier way of living. Toyota has sold more than a million examples of the car since launching it in 1997 and it has attracted a worldwide following led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and much of the rest of Hollywood.
It’s classified by the American government as the “most fuel-efficient car sold in the US” and this seal of official approval is reflected in a special status that the Prius and other hybrids enjoy over conventionally powered cars.
For example, you can drive a Prius in American “high occupancy vehicle lanes” – designed for vehicles carrying passengers – even if there’s nobody else in the car. In Britain the Prius has had a similar boost. You can enter the central London congestion zone without paying the usual £8-a-day charge. For road tax purposes it’s classed as an “alternative fuel vehicle” so you pay less tax than you would for a conventional car that produces the same emissions. Road tax is just £15 a year and in last Wednesday’s budget, Alistair Darling, the chancellor, renewed his commitment to preferential treatment for hybrids.

Toyota Prius proves a gas guzzler in a race with the BMW 520d review | Used Car Reviews | Driving - Times Online

[jayman]

All very well. Until you're stuck behind a diesel powered vehicle, especially in very cold temps. They STINK. I've noticed even the supposedly "cleaner" diesels still have that black soot residue near the tailpipe

The EU still allows diesel powered vehicles to emit a lot more NOx and PM-10 than a gasoline vehicle. If you force diesel powered vehicles to meet the same NOx and PM10 emissions as a California Emissions gasoline car, forget about it

Oh sure, there are gadgets to add on, like urea injection in the like. Once you start tacking all the emissions stuff onto a diesel, the fuel economy tends to plummet

When Dodge first put the Cummins in their 3/4 and 1 ton trucks, they had unbelievable fuel economy. Now with all the emissions stuff, not so good.

One of my co-workers used to have a 1993 Dodge 1 ton to pull a heavy camper. He felt it was a bit long in the tooth, despite running just fine, so last year sold it and got a new Dodge 3/4 ton diesel. He completely regrets that decision

[Tideland Prius]

Since people love to do weird comparos..


Why buy the 520d? You could buy 2 Prius for the price of one and get just as good mileage without the premium associated with it



(btw, that's the Prius vs. Aveo argument)

[morpheusx]

Not to mention that if he indeed drove it two miles on battery power alone its gonna kill the consumption for a good while as it now has to completely recharge the depleted battery. Which this obviously reveals that the guy also has no idea on how to ideally drive the Prius. If they really want to make their test fair, have two people who are expert or experienced drivers for each vehicle. And something Europeans don't seem to realize is that Diesel is probably only available at 1/3 of all US gas stations.

[hampdenwireless]

The BMW did very well for its size. Its surprising how well euro diesels do compared to what is sold in the USA. A better review would be a 3 series with the same engine as its closer in price, size, weight etc to the Prius.

This shows how far cars have come as a car the size of the 5 series can do 55mpg without hybrid tech. Its one thing when a small light car does this with diesel, thats not too hard to do. Its another when a large car does it.

In the real world of course the Prius is using a good deal less actual energy as the diesel contains more power per gallon.

[Per]

Why do we keep seeing these hybrid vs. diesel comparisons? Diesel has more energy per gallon, and diesel engines have much higher compression, both of which make for better mileage. Diesel here in the U.S is also 20-25% more expensive than gas, so at least here, they would need to get that much better mileage to be competitive. Besides, a diesel hybrid would even get better mileage. Compare gas cars to diesel cars, and hybrid gas cars to hybrid diesels cars.
Of course the clincher is they compared a manual transmission-equipped car to an automatic one. A Prius with a manual transmission would probably get much better mileage, but then noone here would buy it!

[RonH]

Originally Posted by hampdenwireless

The BMW did very well for its size. Its surprising how well euro diesels do compared to what is sold in the USA. A better review would be a 3 series with the same engine as its closer in price, size, weight etc to the Prius.

This shows how far cars have come as a car the size of the 5 series can do 55mpg without hybrid tech. Its one thing when a small light car does this with diesel, thats not too hard to do. Its another when a large car does it.

In the real world of course the Prius is using a good deal less actual energy as the diesel contains more power per gallon.

So I read this article and there's no direct comparison of mileage except way down in the fine print. Also, no comparison of the emissions numbers they're touting for the beamer. My bull shit alarm goes off, so after doing some math and assuming they're talking about imperial gallons (and people say Americans are insular) I get 50.05 mp(I)g compared to the fine print 50.5 mpg compared to the 48.3 mpg. 4% different! Wow, stop the presses. You'd think such a high tech site would put some error bars on their measurements. But worrying about the impact of the stereo on mileages kinda tips it off. These guys are full of it.

[Dan.]

OK... So the Prius isn't the most efficient highway car in Europe. Is this really a surprise. Still the most efficient car in the US. Bring the Diesels over the pond and I'll be content driving the second most efficient car in the US.

Till then...

WERE NUMBER 1 !!!

[patsparks]

In the fine print the actual fuel spend for each car was 45 pence more for the Prius than the BMW but the BMW had a premium on the price of 6.5k pound so how long will it take to recover the BMW premium at a rate of 45 pence per 500 mile trip?

Crap comparo when it was claimed "...to give the Prius the advantage of running in urban conditions where its petrol-electric drivetrain comes into its own." but 80% of the test was on motorways and B roads or country roads.

Why doesn't anyone do a comparo between 2 cars driving them from a common abode to a common work place each day for 5 days then a bit of a drive in the country for a couple of hours? That would be more like average use.

[Bob64]

Clearly they got the wrong person to drive the Prius :P

Flooring the throttle to "break the boredom" is never good.

Anyway, I feel this "race" was a bit mismatched.
6 speed manual, 75mph speeds

UK£ 54.19 = 110.016538 U.S. dollars
UK£ 54.64 = 110.930128 U.S. dollars

At least the guy with the prius only spent 92 cents extra on fuel due to fuel price differences.

Another odd thing: I don't remember the Prius costing 41,978 USD!?
is google conversion converting these currencies wrong or something?