Redesigned Prius can arrive none too soon

[a priori]

Originally Posted by 9G-man

Here is a correspondence I had with Mr. Jim Mateja of the Chicago Tribune.
I find it kinda funny.

Greg -

I wish I could find it funny, but I just can't. This guy drives me absolutely nuts. His correspondence with you only confirms my worst fears. If he isn't a tool of Detroit's own design, then I guess he is simply a tool.

Originally Posted by 9G-man

(from Mateja)

town writing from?

Maybe you can take some of the money you save on gas and buy a pair of glasses so you can read the column again.

I decided that I WOULD read the column again, just to see how wrong you were and how right Mateja was.

Originally Posted by 9G-man

Comparison with Camry??

Look again, TOYOTA compares Prius with Camry based on price and amenities.

You get 60 m.p.g. with your Prius. Whoopie. The column stated the EPA government rating is 48 city/45 m.p.g. highway, it didn't say Prius can't get more or less.

I never write about a car that I don't drive extensively and to suggest I didn't drive the car is slanderous.

OK. Time to quote Mr. Mateja back to him. Directly from his article:

"Still, the 2008 Prius brings to mind that old saying "There's no such thing as a free lunch" in connection with that 48/45 mileage.

For example, Prius costs about $100 more than a midsize Toyota Camry, which is 14.2 inches longer, or about $4,000 more than a compact Toyota Corolla, only 3.7 inches longer. But Toyota insists on comparing Prius to Camry because both offer amenities Corolla doesn't. Moreover Toyota says its preferred comparison has nothing to do with the $4,000 spread between Prius and Corolla."

And he was offended at what you wrote to him? Clearly, he is saying he doesn't buy the Toyota comparison angle, because the Prius is so much shorter than the Camry and only slightly shorter than the Corolla. OBVIOUSLY, then, the Prius has to be compared to the Corolla. He also is suggesting the Prius really is a Corolla that just costs $4,000 more, and you don't get much for it.

Continuing on with Mr. Mateja's rant to you:

Originally Posted by 9G-man

Prius isn't the most significant car on the road today just because you own one.
Two far more significant cars are coming, the plug in Chevy Volt and the
hydrogen fuel cell.

Jim Mateja

Unbelievable!! You were so right in writing to him that (at least for purposes of comparison) the Volt is "vaporware."

I want to go back to what Mateja actually wrote so that I can make my points more clearly (and vent again).

Mateja: "Thankfully, a Gen III is coming. Prius may be the poster car for energy conservation, but it comes up short in room and comfort."

OK. He says it comes up short in room and comfort. Compared to what? He doesn't offer any real data, but only his "extensive" experience in the car. If it isn't like the Camry in "room and comfort" then say why. He doesn't even note the headroom or legroom comparisons (and he certainly doesn't compare the car to the Corolla!).

On the "comfort" end, I think he'll have more converts, but not with me. Particularly when he bases his judgment on such paltry time in the car. Here is his complaint about the comfort -- it is the back seat:

Mateja: "And the costs mount. You travel on seats soooo stiff—back and bottom—especially in the rear where they are atop the battery pack. Sit in back long enough—10 to 15 minutes depending on your size—and you'll get a case of the fidgets."

The least he could do was get the facts straight about the location of the battery. Beyond that, he could have spent more than 10 to 15 minutes in the back seat. Also, he could have tried to compare the seats to another car -- maybe to a Camry?

And don't forget this old saw:

Mateja: "Other factors, such as performance and value versus non-hybrids, are open to debate. . . . And Prius' cost doesn't end with dollars. It runs in battery or gas mode or both when it needs a boost. But even with that jolt, Prius doesn't sizzle leaving the light or merging into interstate traffic."

OK. Here we go. Performance. OK, the Prius is not a 'Vette. It also isn't a Chevette. It has done very well by me in getting up to highway speed and in passing. If I want to drive as recklessly and wastefully as the rest of the world, I can. But why? Do I need to "sizzle"? He can "sizzle" in his vaporware Volt and see if it allows him to drive 40 miles!

AND: Value versus non-hybrids. My goodness. Will he never end?

Well, in fact, it does end. He only drops that word in there, but he never makes any comparisons to show why the value versus non-hybrids is up for debate.

Then, Mateja starts showing off his real knowledge about the car:

Mateja: "Prius starts and gets going in battery mode. At about 25 m.p.h., the gas engine takes over. Batteries chime in when you need that boost. Climb a hill and Prius gets the gas; descend and it's the batteries' turn. . . . Coast and the screen will show you are getting 99.9 m.p.g. in battery mode—a symbol of optimum savings. . . . Press the pedal to enlist gas and the mileage reading quickly dips into the 20 m.p.g. range to signal actual fuel use—or do you say waste?"

So what is he saying? He is implying you get good mileage only on the battery (99) but when you need to use gas (which happens all the time in the real world, he implies) you'll get just 20 MPG. So, you need to drive at 25 mph or less to get the good gas mileage. Can you believe this guy!! Ugh!!

He goes on (and so do I):

Mateja: "A consumption gauge shows average mileage in 5-minute increments. In one 5-minute run, we crept along a road posted at 35 m.p.h., coasting at every chance. The 99.9 m.p.g. reward showed up.

Same course with no cajoling and a semi in tow sent mileage to a shade below 25 m.p.g. Goes to show that even in an economy car, your thoughts and actions have to stay focused on saving energy to do so."

I've tried to understand just what he's written here, but I can't. "[N]o cajoling and a semi in tow"?? I know the message I receive, though: Drive slower than necessary and pay attention only to getting good gas mileage, and you'll get some. He won't say what it is, though. Did his 5-minute experience show 99.99. The reality is that it was too short of a trip (5 minutes) to really tell you much about real world use of the car. This is reasonable, but it doesn't deter him from using the next 5 minutes as the basis for saying that if you drive the car like a normal person, you'll get only 25 MPG. Why bother to remind anyone that this second loop was the same as the first, so there is no way to say that 25 MPG has any reality in a 5 minute test? A tool. What a tool!!

How about all of those drivers that just don't care about maximizing mileage in the Prius? So, they get lifetime averages in the 40s. Compare that to real lifetime averages for Camry drivers who don't care about mileage. Do you think they are getting better than 25 MPG? I don't!

If he took the time to read John's page (John1701a), do you think he would learn, or would he simply refer back to what he knew many years ago?

If you want to contact Mr. Mateja directly, have at it. Hopefully, you'll receive a more polite response than he offered to Greg. Here is the info from his tag line:

Read Jim Mateja Sunday in Transportation. Contact him at transportation@tribune.com.