Top Gear on the Prius yet again

50 Cal. if I remember correctly. Yes, they shot up a Gen1 Prius. <cries>

 

Thank you!

Yes, it is entertainment, and sometimes absolutely hilarious. At least in a purely testosterone filled, young male way. No, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm just calling 'em like I see 'em.

I do freely confess that if Top Gear is on BBC America as I'm flipping past, I will stop and watch. It can be good fun.

However, having said that, as entertainment and entertainers, they do have some responsibility to be decent roll models. We wouldn't tolerate it much if they were denigrating a person or a class of people that way.

It's not that they chose to "pick on" the Prius, it’s that they chose to do it in a way that re-enforces negative stereotypes with things that sound like "facts". They can joke about the car all they want, for that matter, I wish they'd joke more. It exposes the technology to a wider audience, I just don't appreciate the way the particular "joke" they told. Though I do agree, driving one into the ground was marginally better than shooting the snot of one with a shotgun.

 

All the time as the show originates here. Maybe we've been watching different episodes? Would he buy a Mondeo ? Never, but he can describe the typical Mondeo-man.. And the GTi - I presume you mean the Golf and that hairy beast they drove in the last series ? Oh yeah, JC loves the POWER, but if I remember correctly it just had a teensie-weensie problem going round corners.... would he buy that too ? - never. I think your definition and his definition of love are dissimilar.:kiss:

 

tata frowline! bmw desiels are the superior engine choice in the world right now!

bmw won the green car of the year award for 2008! over 45 mpg all deseil offered in 4door family and 2dr sports, 7 second acceleration!
near zero emmisions!

i own one and pay half that of gasoline costs for my cost of desiel! quite wonderful

 

No, it was a seppo named Billy-Bob who blew up the Prius and it was a large calibre automatic weapon he struggled to fire accurately, because the Prius was too tough to respond in a catastrophic manner to anything too small to destroy an armoured personnel carrier.

 

I really like Top Gear. But the people bashing it are kind of missing why (at least I think) a lot of people watch the show: it's that they do a VERY good job of expressing the pure joy of driving and the appreciation of the machines. I always thought that if you lived somewhere where you never (ever) sat in traffic and you had a good job (which is to say you don't worry about the price of gas, even if it is $7/gal), you'd probably follow Top Gear thinking. But I live in the city. That means that I could care less about making 700hp (ostensibly to move some bloated-heavy Merc in way too many cases) or having cross-drilled, 6-piston AP Racing brakes with 15" rotors - I want stuck-in-traffic performance. Top Gear never had an episode about the misery of being stuck in city traffic, like every day.

 

Yes they did. They raced a car, bike, boat, and stig taking public transportation and the car lost due to heavy traffic and getting lost etc.

But honestly, it's entertainment. A lot of people like watching super cars being driven even if they can't afford them currently. I know I do.

 

It seems the only thing lacking is your research - BMW's are hardly built for comfort and they offer superior high mileage offerings. The 1 series diesel is a much better car all around then the Prius. The only reason to get a prius over a BMW diesel is if you live in the US or if you cannot fit in the seat- and in that case you get a 3 series. If you had done your research you'd also know that BMW profits are SKY high and their model is not like the toyota model of churning out relatively standard plain vanilla cars for day to day. They are a boutique maker. My toyota is my machine to get from A to B....my BMW (when I get one) will mean much more to me. Just go test drive a 1 series and imagine it with 45MPG diesel engine then tell me you'd rather drive the prius. They are in a different league and are targeted towards a higher end market. Prius is great for what it is but lets be honest here. Prius might own the hell out of the smart car for US applications but personally BMW diesel is a VERY alluring option. There is no reason why we cannot enjoy the Prius while appreciating other stronger offerings too.

And last I checked TopGear ratings were higher then that show on Bravo network, actually topgear is an emmy winning show and they evaluate many fuel efficent cars. One of the anchors owns a FIAT PANDA. Google it.

 

i will always prefer my prius above a BMW or any other car
i love IT ! and the technologie is A LOT better then BMW or any other car what that matters.( the E cvt etc etc... )

 

I though the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid won that.

Hah! Sounds like your diesel burns like water. Emissions from diesels are several times higher than their gas powered counterparts.

Oh, you're in Germany, where diesel isn't taxed half as much as gasoline. Here in the USA, diesel is about 20% more than gasoline. While diesel may be cheaper (in Germany) and pretty efficient, it's really not as good all around as you seem to think it is.

 

The BMW won "world green car of the year", I guess that's better than just "green car of the year". ;-)

BMW 118d Wins 'World Green Car Award', Then Goes Back Home | Autopia from Wired.com

 

But what is the payback period on the BMW premium?

 

What did the 5-fingers say to the face? SLAP!

Ok, I'm teasing but that was rather funny.

While their American cars can be rather "dirty" I hear BMW has an excellent green facility. I have not researched that info though.

 

because it uses
Efficient Dynamics
and thats bmw way of regeneratef braking and simple hybrid design with a diesel on a car smaller then the prius.
so nothing special about it and nog only diesel engine! but a lot more than that!

 

How so? The Prius chassis cannot compare for one so the modeling tech that created the chassis probably wasn't all that great. The Mercedes S Class has generally been the most advanced car sub 100k...the Prius isn't even as advanced as the gas Lexus LS series models yet alone the LS600h. Having an electric motor and batteries doesn't make the prius more advanced than "any other car" - other than the motor is it really that advanced? :/ it's made to save fuel, the LS600h and S550 are made to have high tech toys. The BMW M3 also probably is more technologically advanced than the Prius along with almost any lexus hybrid. The hybrid system is groundbreaking but the prius has been out for a long long time.

 

the chassis and model is designed for aerodynamics en low mpg so you can not make that comparison your making
and when you look at the planetair drive off th prius its the best ever! and not forgetting its already 11 years old so again your comparing it to something you can not compare it to!
i say that i love my prius and prefer it above any other car on the market right now!!
the HSD makes the prius what it and therefore more advanced then near/only petrol cars. i am not talking about voice activating auto adjusting seats that you maybe can get in a MB s class.

 

wow i watched that segment and i know it was just a shot at the prius in general but i imagine many people will use that to justify their buying of gas guzzlers.