Better MPG at a steady 80mph than 60mph

Toyota Prius review - mpg | Autocar

Note the box at the left side of this aritcle. Doesn't seem to be any back up anywhere else for this statement.

I assume this is them looking at the instant mpg read out at these speeds...

Anyone actually found this to be the case?

Nah, it's 100% false. Anyone who has driven the car for any length of time or knows how to rule inconsistencies in terrain could tell you the article is wrong.

I was struck by two other points in the article.

1. Prii are expensive in Britain
2. 47.5 mpg imp. translates to ~ 38 mpg American.

Maybe they made a math error when calculating their economy at 80 mph.

Yep, I used to average 54mpg out of a Gen2 Civic Hybrid, so I think something is wrong here.

Prii are expensive here. It is very much a premium product. Compared to cheaper diesel family cars, it is a hard sell. Upside is that they hold their value incredibly well...

this is just IMPOSSIBLE ... steady around 50-60 mph is the best mpg anything over 60 MPH is going to be way lower .....

+1 above 60 it starts dropping

My interest in this statement centres around my decision whether or not to buy a Prius. I do a reasonable amount of highway/motorway. (Not that I would be doing 80 - more like 70-75).

A lot of the anti-argument around hybrids here is that most diesels kill the Prius on fuel economy on the open road/motorway. So it was interesting to see this - when most UK car jorno's say the opposite....

Don't believe the hype about diesels killing the Prius on the highway. Spend some time a TDiClub.com and you'll find that diesels have the same problem with high speed mpg. FWIW most of my miles are freeway and I'm averaging 61mpg U.S.. If I drove faster and didn't make an effort to hypermile 55mpg would still be easy.

AutoCar are renowned for talking out of their **** when it comes to the Prius. AutoCar seem to have a 'thing' going with the VW/Audi group as they always praise their cars and just happen to get world exclusives on VW/Audi new releases.

The article is not worth the paper it's written on.

I get 54 mpg UK at 80 mph. I get about 65/70 mpg UK at a steady 60 mph and 75+ mpg UK at a steady 50 mph.

If I managed to get 47 mpg UK then I need to hammer the car.

So let's just leave AutoCar to their VW nonsense as they're beyond conversion. It's the same old fud, just a different day.

It's sad to respond to ones own posts but I thought I'd add that I measured my town mpg's over 12 months of hard, stop start driving and the average was 49.7 mpg UK. None of the 100 other drivers I worked with got anywhere near that, even the ones who did more airport runs (I didn't as the car is too small for that). Most cabbies in the UK will get averages of 24 mpg UK on a petrol auto, 28 mpg UK diesel auto, 31 mpg manual petrol and about 34 mpg manual diesel. The Prius is 49 mpg. It's a complete no brainer as far as fuel economy goes.

AutoCar talk b*****s. (They are welcome to drive a route in a VW diesel Golf and I'll follow them and keep up and still get more mpg's. I guarantee it).

For each person who has taken the time to reply "no way" there are probably 10 people thinking "not even worth replying"

Yeah, its hard to find any motoring journos that get the Prius really.

Main choice for me is between the Prius and this:

First drive review: Ford Mondeo Econetic Zetec Business Edition Review | Autocar

65.7mpg vs the Prius' 70mpg isn't too shabby. Base model Prius is about inline price wise with this.

Space wise they are similar - although the Mondeo's boot is bigger.

My brother has a diesel Kia C'eed (Ford Focus size) 1.6 diesel - he is averaging about 53mpg - official figure is about 58 I think.

According to real world figures, people seem to be averging 48mpg in the existing 1.8 TDCi Mondeo - so this new 1.6 should be even better


Ford | Real MPGs | Honest John


Really like the idea of the Prius, but there is really decent diesel opposition out there...especially for drivers that are not town drivers.

I disagree.

These cars don't compare. I know people with the new 1.6 diesel Mondeo and they tell me with pride they got 50 mpg or even 55 mpg if they try. Cool. I get 65/75 mpg on that same run on a petrol car (cheaper fuel) with lower emissions (important if your kids has asthma) and with an automatic transmission (important for some). Oh and the Prius is faster 0-60.

So despite the Prius being out for 10 years, the diesel competition still hasn't caught up on all the above. And the improved town mpg's of the new diesels is only down to that dreadful stop start technology that most people switch off as it's a royal pita.

Well prius will GIVE YOU better mpg than any comparable car but will be NOT 50 MPG with that speed ... I do NOT believe that any of the car you mentioned do 60mpg doing 70-75 MPH NO WAY .... ask them to show you mile vs fuel l put in and you will see.... some current MPG on the dashboard may show this but no way that is right for a steady trip

but again prius would give a lot better overall mpg than any other car ... if you keep it around 55-60 you can get around 50 mpg easily (on flat drives) I am getting 60-62

"on the open road/motorway" where do you have that in the UK ????

You should be able to get around 60 mpg below 60 mph unless you have a ton of crap in the car.

I guess we are saying the same thing .... I am getting easily 60 mpg at average 55-60 mph....

There is over 2000 miles of motorway in the UK - that's full motorway, not just dual-carridgeway...

From where I live to London for example, its over 3.5 hours of motorway driving.

Remember these are UK mpg's!

Also remember that UK speedo's are 10%. So a 80 mph UK is about 71 mph US Prius.

And yes we do have open motorways that are not completely rammed with traffic. Don't judge everything from what you see near London.

You know, i keep hearing about diesels comparable/superior fuel mileage.
No one ever brings up the difference in the cost of a gallon of gas vs diesel fuel.
In my town, regualr gas is $3.109 right now,
Diesel is $3.549,
You do the math.
Not to mention diesels are dirty.

Game/Set/Match

2000 miles of motorways ????? is that one way ???

My longest drive was from Baltimore to St. Petersuburg FL in one day that is about 1000 miles ONE WAY .... that was not on a carriddgeway ... there are real roads here but with speed limits the highest is 75 MPH most places 65 MPH (US not UK)


sorry ...