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2009 Toyota Prius

#101
12bass said:
Note that the U.K. (like a lot of the world, including Canada) uses imperial gallons, which are approximately 20% larger. That would convert to roughly 50 mpg US.

On a side note, overall, metric makes much more sense....
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thats interesting, why are these american measurements smaller than british ones??? Is there a slight inferiourity complex meaning americans have to make measurements smaller then?:hiding:
 
#102
Blonde Bassist said:
thats interesting, why are these american measurements smaller than british ones??? Is there a slight inferiourity complex meaning americans have to make measurements smaller then?:hiding:
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Not sure about the history, but American volumetric units are all smaller/different, including ounces, quarts, gallons, etc.... Should be info explaining the reasons somewhere on the web.

More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_customary_units#Units_of_capacity_and_volume
 
#103
MakiSupaStar said:
Ive had three Passat wagons of various engine types (none were 4-motion) and the best mileage was on the 1.8t that soul get about 28 mpg on the highway.
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I rented a Skoda Octavia (Passat TDI rebadged) in France a few years ago and probably got close to 50mpg. I couldn't believe how little diesel that thing used in two days of driving through the Loire Valley.
 
#104
john turner said:
epa mpg estimates are extremely generous in their calculations and testing - most folks, see less mpg results than the epa estimates, and those folks who do achieve better get on the order of 20% max. not triple the rating.
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I regularly exceed the EPA estimate on my wife's car by 3-6 mpg just by keeping it at abou 60 on the highway. But not double or triple! Also, the EPA mileage estimation system was revamped a couple years back, making it more accurate. Most car's EPA estimated numbers went down, but some went up!
john turner said:
edit : manuals do end up getting slightly better mpg than automatic, but still. triple? not physically possible.
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Actually manuals do worse these days in many cases than automatics. Automatic transmissions have come a long way.
 
#105
Not sure about their current testing regime, but if they use steady-state testing, then EPA testing may not accurately reflect the real world mileage of many hybrids because hybrids achieve a good deal of their efficiency from regenerative braking (among other energy saving techniques), and perform much better in stop-and-go traffic than while freeway cruising. For freeway use, high efficiency gas or diesel vehicles are often better....
 
#106
john turner said:
lol. i don't care if your commuting around everest downhill both ways, there's no way you're getting 60 miles to the gallon.

epa mpg estimates are extremely generous in their calculations and testing - most folks, see less mpg results than the epa estimates, and those folks who do achieve better get on the order of 20% max. not triple the rating.

edit : manuals do end up getting slightly better mpg than automatic, but still. triple? not physically possible.
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If his Passat is a diesel, he could. I used to have a diesel Golf in the UK - same engine as the diesel Passat, and would get close to 70mpg (that's UK gallons... 54-ish US) on the motorway (less around town though, obviously). The Passat's a slightly bigger, heavier car, so that figure makes sense to me.
 
#107
Philbiker said:
I regularly exceed the EPA estimate on my wife's car by 3-6 mpg just by keeping it at abou 60 on the highway. But not double or triple! Also, the EPA mileage estimation system was revamped a couple years back, making it more accurate. Most car's EPA estimated numbers went down, but some went up!Actually manuals do worse these days in many cases than automatics. Automatic transmissions have come a long way.
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i was just trying to give the benefit of the doubt.

that being said, i just looked today in a british music magazine here in the bookstore i'm doing my net-nanigans today (mojo) and the passat was listed in an ad in the mag to have mpg ranging from 38-58.9 mpg. granted, given the "litres per 100 kilometers" rating that it had in parenthesis, it was most certainly -not- the same size gallon as an american gallon, but still, this rating spanned the american mpg rating given on the passat website nearly to the amount that blonde bassist mentioned he was getting (converted).

on the other hand...

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/20937.shtml
according to the u.s. epa the gas mileage for a diesel passat is approx 27 mpg combined, hiway and city. notice it's also considered one of the worst polluters.

on the other hand, the prius is rated at approx 45 mpg, and is considered one of the greenest cars available.

a new passat is 33% more expensive than a new prius and gets 1/2 the gas mileage. the passat has 96.3 cu ft of interior passenger room and 14.2 cu ft of cargo space. the prius has 96.2 cu ft of passenger space and 14.4 cu ft of cargo space.


someone asked "why a prius vs. a passat"? :eyebrow:

i'll chalk up bb's excellent gas performance with his vehicle at least partially to his driving skills. imagine if he drove the same way with a prius as he does with the passat - he'd get 140 mpg :).
 
#108
12bass said:
Not sure about their current testing regime, but if they use steady-state testing, then EPA testing may not accurately reflect the real world mileage of many hybrids because hybrids achieve a good deal of their efficiency from regenerative braking (among other energy saving techniques), and perform much better in stop-and-go traffic than while freeway cruising. For freeway use, high efficiency gas or diesel vehicles are often better....
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not true in me experience. best performance i get is cruise control on highway. can easily break 55 mpg (american gallons :D ) on a long highway trip cc'ed at 60 mph.

my worst mileage is in start-stop gun and brake traffic.

edit : according to the epa website, they've changed their testing regimen to more closely parallel the real world. the prius' mpg results took a pretty solid hit in the process - used to be 61/55 but now is around the mid to high 40's.
 
#109
Hmmmm.... the new TDIs have a significant power boost and are supposed to have much lower emissions. Also, it is worthwhile to look at the fact that an older TDI burns a relatively small amount of fuel, so the emissions are actually relatively low per mile/kilometer.
 
#116
#117
Rusty Chainsaw said:
If his Passat is a diesel, he could. I used to have a diesel Golf in the UK - same engine as the diesel Passat, and would get close to 70mpg (that's UK gallons... 54-ish US) on the motorway (less around town though, obviously). The Passat's a slightly bigger, heavier car, so that figure makes sense to me.
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I was going to ask if it was a diesel. If it is the numbers seem reasonable.
 

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