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More car, less gas

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by jkash, Jul 14, 2004.

  1. jkash

    jkash Member

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    More car, less gas

    Seven models that get great gas mileage without sacrificing style or performance.

    That the hybrid king, the gas-electric Toyota Prius, didn't have what it takes to earn a nod. By our reckoning, it makes too many compromises in the name of economy.

    Worse, its overall 39 miles per gallon fell short of expectations, and wasn't much better than cars -- including Toyota's own Corolla -- that beat the Prius in other critical categories. In fact, the Prius' highway mileage was matched by the diesel VW Passat and the diesel Mercedes E-Class, both dramatically bigger, faster, plusher, more rewarding cars.

    Read full article by clicking here.
     
    #1 jkash, Jul 14, 2004
  2. krooster1234

    krooster1234 New Member

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    I'm guessing they made the 39 mpg for the prius up... either that, or they were doing 85 down the highway the whole time. I once got slightly under 40 mpg for an hour or so, but I was doing 80MPH into a relatively strong wind.

    Personally, I like the corolla. But to compare the corolla to the prius, and say the corolla is a better car, is laughable to say the least.
     
    #2 krooster1234, Jul 14, 2004
  3. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I've got the entire article in front of me. The comments about the Prius are totally out of line. I don't know if the writer has a hair up his butt b/c he can't get one himself or just wants to seem 'controversial' and not look like he's just jumping on the bandwagon, but he's clearly very poorly informed.

    He quotes a ridiculous number like 39mpg for the Prius, yet uses 33mpg for the Escape Hybrid that's not even on the streets yet!

    I wrote him with links to the GreenHybrid tables, the PriusChat Fuel economy form, a copy of my own excel spreadsheet and even to the Consumer Reports article where they got 44mpg combined.

    His vague allusions to 'too many compromises' in the Prius really pisses me off. The Scion Xb and Corolla are listed as if one needn't make compromises for those!

    Arrrgh!
     
    #3 efusco, Jul 14, 2004
  4. jkash

    jkash Member

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    How did you write the author Evan? I don't see a link to him on the CNN page. I would like to send him my Excel spreadsheet as well. By the way, CNN has a disclaimer that states that the article reflects only the opinion of the author, not CNN.

    Jeff
     
    #4 jkash, Jul 14, 2004
  5. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    Similar to writers who like to criticize say, The Sopranos, or anything that's widely popular, in a futile "Hey, look at me, I'm disagreeing with the majority!" attempt to get readership.

    I have never, ever seen 39MPG. I'm positive I won't get that low in the winter. Whatever.

    -m.
     
    #5 rflagg, Jul 14, 2004
  6. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    #6 efusco, Jul 14, 2004
  7. DonDNH

    DonDNH Senior Member

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    I also wrote him an email including my mileage to date.
     
    #7 DonDNH, Jul 14, 2004
  8. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    i doubt that the author will be affected at all by an email writing campaign.

    he obviously has another agenda controlling his opinion. his article lacks any real detail on what he didnt like about the Prius or why other cars were better. he mentioned the VW and Mercedes that got comparable gas mileage but he failed to mention the cost of said vehicles or any other vital factors that nearly all (except the very rich) car buyers look at.

    as for this 39 mpg, he gives no indication of how this figure is arrived at and with a lack of any details in the article, i cant help but feel that he probably didnt actually drive the car.

    i will say that i have only gotten one tank that averaged less than 50 mpg. my overall mpg is currently 52.1 mpg and is rising. the one tank i got less than 50 mpg happened because of a trip to the mountains. especially since about half of the easy miles were on the previous tank which was 53.9 mpg. as it was, the tank was 47.8 mpg... not bad considering that i was site seeing. i was trying out my new Panasonic PV-200 3 CCD mini DV camcorder. so it was a lot of driving and parking. i tried to set up the camera to film out of the car while driving, but it just didnt work out too well even with a tripod.

    i must add that i also had a corolla which was my main mode of transportation before my Prius came along. now i realize that i didnt have a new corolla and i didnt test drive a corolla, but i cant imagine anyone in their right mind thinking a corolla was better than a Prius.
     
    #8 DaveinOlyWA, Jul 15, 2004
  9. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Ok, now I'm convinced that the writer of the article is NOT ill informed after listening to this NPR Interview. Now I'm convinced he's just got a hard-on against hybrids and thinks that diesel's are going to be the next big thing.

    In case that URL link above doesn't work you can find the audio file Here
     
    #9 efusco, Jul 15, 2004
  10. DonDNH

    DonDNH Senior Member

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    I agree; he is sold on diesel. Wonder why he doesn't suggest that diesel hybrid technology is worth while looking into. The best of both worlds.
     
    #10 DonDNH, Jul 15, 2004
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