Non-hybrid cars that give Good Fuel Economy (highway)

That the best energy per mile efficiency doesn't mean squat if the vehicle can't perform a required job.

While lawyers, corporate greed, and consumer mindset keep cars from being used for towing, The BMW mentioned in the OP is rated to tow nearly 2 tons in the UK.

Fuel efficiency also doesn't matter when a buyer for whatever reason, real or imagined, won't buy a Prius. It took more hybrid options in the market to increase sales. In some cases, a diesel could be a better choice than one of them. Reducing consumption is the goal. The path taken doesn't matter much if it gets someone to take it.

 

Now why would I give you credit on this thread for something you posted in another thread? This is Prius Chat, we are logical here. We assume nothing. We tell the whole story on every thread. Sorry if you don't like it. Love you!!!! Don't get mad, stay calm.

PS: I still don't understand how you'd want any other car if you can get 89mpgs out of your Insight. That's not logical. Lets look at this logically

"Hm? I'm getting 89mpg (lifetime) on my Insight maybe I should go buy a VW Beetle TDI that only gets 50 mpg, has about the same cargo capacity. Oh, but diesel costs more per gallon, oh, that's ok, it doesn't matter just do it."

Stay calm!!!!

 

Perhaps he now needs a back seat, or the Insight is nearing the end of its useful life.

Looking at thing logically, no one should buy a new car due to the first year depreciation.

 

If your getting 89mpg, there is no end to a car's useful life.

I wouldn't call that thing behind the drivers seat in a Beetle, a back seat so, that doesn't pass the smell test. Additionally, if he needs a back seat, he has the 70mpg (lifetime) Civic Hybrid that surely has a bigger back seat than the Beetle.

 

And people just want something new. My point is that logic alone is rarely involved in a car purchase.

 

Then why did you try to make a logical argument for him?

 

Because what he would do as an individual doesn't confirm or deny the merits of the post, and I was hoping that the questioning would get dropped, because continuing to do so will start drifting into what he is accused of. I saw the same warning, but am willing to wait for him to show if his behavior conforms to it.

Yes, these posts have an anti-hybrid bias, but they were actually posted in the correct forum, Other Cars. So, it is a Prius fan site, but it allows other discussions.

 

Hogwash reasoning.

Energy/mile is a fact. 'Required job' is irrelevant to that fact, and day to day just a person's wants.

You might as well try to say that energy/mile means squat if Prius does not come as a pink carriage drawn by unicorns.

 

Are you saying that people that would need to tow should just get a Prius no matter what?

And yes, wants fuel most purchases. For those that simply don't want a Prius or hybrid, it is a good that there are more efficient choices. This is a thread about some of those choices. The energy/mile came up to illustrate the efficiency advantage of a diesel over a gas counterpart. Saying that there are efficient non-hybrids isn't a statement that the Prius is inefficient.

We can sing the praises of the Prius in every thread on this web site, and there will still be people that won't want one. There are also people that do drive mostly highway. There are people that don't want to layout over $20k on a car.

Could TH be a troll? The OP wasn't the first to bring the Prius up, and this is in Other Cars. So perhaps he wanted a discussion on efficient highway cruisers besides the Prius. Perhaps he was hoping to lure someone else into doing so. I don't care. I also felt no need to engage him though. For those that think he is troll, why are you engaging him?

 

You find them to be very wrong because you are apparently choosing to ignore many of the costs associated with owning and driving a vehicle. Unfortunately cheap vehicles are often not inexpensive.

 

I guess all of those people who come to Priuschat to research towing vehicles will be grateful for this list of vehicles that also aren't much use for towing, get lower mileage than a Prius, and cost more over time?

 

And the people that come here to research the Prius will never see this in the non Prius section.

People aren't being forced to scroll down here for non-Prius discussions.

 

In my experience, alot of the modern diesels will be more fuel efficient than a Prius......motorway/highway only at normal speeds, i.e. 50+ mph. I am not mentioning cost of the car itself, servicing etc, just purely mpg v's mpg

Anywhere else, the hybrid will be better.

My opinion is based on driving numerous different diesels over the years, both company cars and my own as well as friends and family

Also, just to point out, I am referring to cars here in Europe, not in the US.

Some prime examples that spring to mind are the VW Bluemotions and also many of the new BMW diesels.

 

Not disputing hybrids are better mpg vs mpg nearly everywhere.
A hybrid version isn't available for all models though. Plus, not everyone fits the ideal profile of a hybrid.
With news of a diesel Tundra, there is a chance we won't be seeing a hybrid truck from them soon.

 

TH said that diesels are more efficient than Prius on a btu/mile basis. He was asked to name a diesel sold in America that supports at least one case of that being true.

You responded that the Prius cannot tow.

All I am saying is that your response is irrelevant. There are no doubt, many many things the Prius cannot do. Bond with unicorns, for example. I can imagine many a young person who would consider that a non-starter where Prius purchase is concerned. Alas, unicorn friendliness has as much to do as towing does where btu/mile is concerned.

 

Where in this thread did he say that?
Here is the beginning of this tangent.

Since the first post was just non-hybrid cars that got good highway fuel economy, and the only time TH mentions the Prius, with no inflection of it being less efficient than the OP cars, was in response to a post that brought the car up by another poster, it is a fair assumption that his comments and comparisons are in relation to non-hybrid cars.

I brought up the Prius towing because it was as relevant as the Prius to a discussion on non-hybrid fuel economy.

 

You said something much more broad than that. The Beetle was presented as just one example:

It would have been better to state that the Diesel cycle is more efficient than the Otto cycle. But increasing number of gasoline fueled cars are abandoning the Otto cycle and moving to the more efficient Atkinson and Diesel cycles.

Do you have any reason to believe that diesel-fuel machines are more efficient than post-Otto gasoline-fuel machines?

 

You say that like the Insight isn't driveable without the battery. My Insight's battery is on its last leg until I get a grid charger, so I'm basically only using it for autostop. It gets me around fine, just have to remember that it accelerates about as slow as a sloth.

I think good highway mileage is a must. Driving style can make a huge difference for city mileage, but there's not much you can do on the highway besides slowing down.