QOTD: Why Hasn’t Anyone Out-Gas Mileaged The Prius?

I remember in November 1971 buying my first car, a used 1966 VW Microbus:

• 1.5L, air cooled engine
• 28 MPG average fuel economy (considered Good back then), 31 MPG highway
• Modifications
  • replaced cross-bias tires with radials and almost flipped it on a clover-leaf
  • exhaust header - cooling
  • centrifugal advance distributor - efficiency
  • single bed with folding legs - under bed storage
  • full set, metric tool box, plug grit cleaner, timing light, emery board/paper
  • 'spare' parts: spark plugs, oil, various 6V lights, distributor points
  • flat-folded cardboard box, ground pad
• Maintenance
  • adjust valve backlash when engine made "pling" sound (park on curb at a cool-down, opportunity stop and adjust when cold)
  • spark plugs, replace with set cleaned by plug cleaner, gapped, dress distributor points, and check timing
  • uncle stripped spark plug hole and turned an insert on his lathe
  • brother accidently burned out engine when rag blew into air impeller
    • rebuilt engine in 10 days (still hate Permatex!!!)
• Reason for selling: failed first DC vehicle inspection, steering too loose, good-enough public transportation, good bicycle, lived one block from work

I still love the body style but meeting current safety rules, nearly impossible but would buy a hybrid Estima in a nanosecond.

Bob Wilson

 

Careful with that one because some ICE only vehicles have start/stop systems: Just tonight, a late model BMW 3 series stopped next to me and I could clearly hear his engine come to a stop. I also heard the engine come back on as he set off.

 

I was a child, but a favorite Aunt of mine, drove a 1970 VW Bug. Which seemed so much different than the Muscle Cars and "square" regular vehicles mostly popular at the time.

Probably because of all the "Fun" she added to my brother and my own childhood, in the form of taking us on adventures to the beach and amusement parks and other places she would discover, I grew to have a very positive attachment to that VW bug.

I mean I was use to my parents vehicles, and almost everyone else I knew, where if you opened the front hood, you saw an huge engine. When you popped the front hood of a VW bug? You saw a whole lot of empty space. Those early VW products were amazing. You had to cram it in, but it was amazing what you COULD fit in a tiny VW Bug.

Yes, by todays standards they weren't very safe. Or according to Ralph Nader not safe at all. -- But I'd still drive and own one today.

My parents "almost" bought a VW bus. I remember it had a pop up tent top, and a built in faucet/sink...I so much wanted them to buy it, but they changed their minds and ended up buying a Toyota Corolla Station Wagon. Sorry Toyota...at the time it just didn't seem as neat as The VW Bus, which was also a tent and camping adventure waiting to happen.

Seems to me there is a connection between admirers of "vintage" VW products and Prius owners today. Somewhat individual unique vehicles that were reliable and economical as well as being comparatively fuel efficient .

I've said all along that my owning a Prius today probably comes from some blended childhood psychology that had me watching "Speed Racer" and the Mach 5...with gadgets and buttons to press...and an Aunt with a "magical" 1970's VW Bug.

I still want a button I can press that allows my car to rise up on extended stilts or JUMP over cars ahead of me....
But I've got to compromise with POWER, ECO and EV modes. Not really as exciting....but if I want a Mach 5/VW blend? Prius might be my best choice.

 

My folks had a '58 "folks wagon". Bought it new, I loved the smell. VW's still have that smell, at least the last time we looked at one, a Jetta, about a decade back. And yeah, the Bug was sorta the Prius, in the '50's, '60's.

 

The car in front of me in traffic today gets higher mileage than my Gen-III. It was a 1970's VW Diesel Rabbit Pick-up. It looked mint restored too. How often do you see one of THOSE these days?

Bill the Engineer

 

Some of the Malibus have start/stop, also.

 

On flat country roads, which means speed between 30 and 50 mph (that's the speed limit), driving my Auris (V3 powertrain) I always get 70 mpg on summer, just have to drive at least 10-12 miles (S1 keeps the average mileage lower for smaller trips). On hills, which are more than 40% of Italian roads, I easily get 75-80.
It's not uncommon for the Yaris HSD (same powertrain as the Prius C and same size as a Punto) to get 75 mpg on average here during summer.
Highways ("autostrada") at 80 mph, well that's right that it's another story and mileage

 

Read the book about the development of the Gen 1 Prius from 1993-1997 in Japan, and it was clear that the commitment of upper-level management to overcoming all the obstacles to designing, testing, and successfully mass-producing such a vehicle was a key to getting it built. I have never seen-heard-read of a similar commitment level by another manufacturer to make this type of vehicle.
For the record, I would very much like to buy a GM or Ford Prius clone, but it would have to offer essentially identical efficiency and performance.

 

As a teenager, we crammed into my friends VW bug to see how many we could fit. IIRC... 13! I was stuck in the rear window. And no, we didn't drive around like that...

 

I owned 2 VWs but oddly never a bug. Never struck by the quality. Only crash the front end of the Type 3 folded like a newspaper. Type 4 the paint pealed. The Porsche 914 (which was really a VW) was such a disaster I sold it a week before the warranty ran out lest it fall apart underneath me. Wonderful handling, garbage reliability. Then there was the Plymouth Horizon with the VW motor but the transmission fell out a block from home after less than 20k miles. Or the Volvo PV544 that was constantly mistimed to the point of red hot headers.

I don't have much nostalgia for older cars compared to their modern equivalents.

 

But you lose A/C when the engine stops and there is a delay when they start up.

 

We went from Rome airport to Florence via Siena on both country roads and local strada (don't remember the name but it had 90km/h posted with everyone going 110) Lots of ups and downs. The drive from Florence to Venice was also hilly with similar spread.with the section from Bologna to Padua I think high speed?. Came back via Ravenna (flat), San Marino, Arezzo? and Terni. Alot of driving on secondary mountain roads, visiting wine yards in Toscany, etc

I would not expect any of Prius come with as good MPG. We drove Prius coast to coast in US and averaged 51MPG, which isn't bad for 3 week/8600mi trip.

rental Punto I think had 1.3L turbo diesel, rated at 85 with manual 6-speed. You could flog that thing in 6th gear at 800RPM and it would still pull on flats.

Fiat is overpriced and least reliable car in US and I wouldn't come into shooting distance to one sold here. But I would consider that Punto if it were brought here. But then Mazda2 diesel would be even better, that if it were sold here too.

Now Italy is a horrible place to drive. Very good drivers, but very bad roads. Any car of normal US size had multiple scars on the sides. When we got rental I was worried it is too small to fit luggage, but then I worried about it being too big to drive. There were instances where to make left turn I had to do two 3-point turns, Driving on curvy road at 70mph with the lane barely wide to fit a car and guardrail within 5 inches from side mirror is nerve wrecking to say the least.

EDIT: on OP. I think there are some small subcompacts with diesels which can better Prius MPG, but they are not sold in US. The closest thing we can get in US is Mitsubishi Mirage, which btw can do 50MPG+ in the hands of Prius driver.

 

For now. They'll have electric AC soon.

 

To provide useful a/c when the engine is off, they will need a battery capacity similar to the Prius traction battery.

 

Meh, just roll the windows down, shut everything off.

 

Doable in Vancouver. (72F forecast today)
Not so much in Palm Springs! (119F forecast today)

 

Anyone for a round of golf?

 

4am tee time?
Might get a quick round in before the temperature goes back over 90F?

 

Hah! 119F for me. The rumor in PS is that you can get an extra 20 yards on your drive if your golf balls are sweating a little bit.