Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
2009 Toyota Prius
- Thread starter peterbright
- Start date
Just because I used CR as an example doesn't mean it was the only source we used for info.
You are welcome to diasgree with me, but i am not basing my decision on your approval.
Fair enough, but it's the only source you provided when asked.Just because I used CR as an example doesn't mean it was the only source we used for info.
As far as my "approval", I don't care if you buy a boat to get down that dirt road. If telling me my opinion doesn't matter to you gets you somehwere emotionally, then great. All I did was ask for sources for the ratings you said the car got.
Mike
Fair enough, but it's the only source you provided when asked.
As far as my "approval", I don't care if you buy a boat to get down that dirt road. If telling me my opinion doesn't matter to you gets you somehwere emotionally, then great. All I did was ask for sources for the ratings you said the car got.
Mike
Mike, Other than 'pooh-poohs' from people who don't actually own them, complaints on them are rare.
You said you don't trust Consumer Reports, and that is certainly your prerogative. I just gave you their link because you asked where I got the ratings info for "least consumer cost over the first 5 years". It's there, if you care to look for it.
You can find the negative stuff at CR as well, and it is the *balance* of all that info that makes the ratings.
john turner
You don't want to do that. Trust me.
You don't have to be a "Big Environmentalist" to recognize that getting 50+/- miles to the gallon beats the bejaysus out of getting 16-20. LOL!
Silly how stereotypes are so often considered more important than facts. (Not a condemnation of your post, BTW. It just seems to be true, and showing up all over the place in this thread and in 'real' life. )
Silly how stereotypes are so often considered more important than facts. (Not a condemnation of your post, BTW. It just seems to be true, and showing up all over the place in this thread and in 'real' life. )
I'm not among the people who "poo". I've stated at least 3 times in this thread that I'm a fan of the car. They're Toyota's and enjoy the reliability that brand normally carries with it. But part of my point was that they enjoy immense model loyalty. People who fuel this rarely complain about the product in question and accept less-than-perfect attributes as "quirks" or "part of the expereince". Rickenbacker owners come to mind. So do the Corvette owners I've now brought up several times. They love their purchase and fiercely defend them from any perceived attack. Sound familiar?
To be fair, I asked for the sources for all the ratings you gave.
....and it's not that I don't trust Consumer Reports (I've referenced them here before as a good source), but if something is going to be posted as fact or rebuttal to others' opinions, I think details of those ratings are important. For instance, the "least consumer cost over the first 5 years" is not a "balance" of info. It's a hard number. A hard number that can be swayed in one of two directions depending on what is involved.
Again, the Prius is one of those products whose purchase people seem to view as an extension of themselves. When virtually anything that can be viewed as negative is touched on, people take it personally. It would be nice if the facts and details could be discussed without people thinking that they themselves are being reviewed.
Mike
You may have posted this before, but what is your average mileage and rough percentage of city/highway driving? I know the Prius' mileage ratings run in reverse from a fully gas engine, but I'm curious. I've read countless reviews and seen both the EPA ratings and the publications' observed fuel economy, but I'd like to know how the car does for you in the real world.yep. i sure love my prius.
just thought i'd toss that out there
Mike
I'm holding out for an A-BAT:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Mike, I wasn't implying that you 'pooh-pooh'ed it, jjust that others have, and for pretty silly reasons. As for those who view their vehicle as an extension of themselves, I am really not one, though I dare say that the 'pooh-poohers' may be.
Me... I want what works. It's great if I actually like what works, and if it comes in a color or shape I can appreciate, but function is the thing for me.
Please don't take anything I said to you to be other than just what I said. No insult intended or couched.
Me... I want what works. It's great if I actually like what works, and if it comes in a color or shape I can appreciate, but function is the thing for me.
Please don't take anything I said to you to be other than just what I said. No insult intended or couched.
No offense taken. As far as buying "what works", I completely agree. I didn't even test drive my car. I did my research, ordered it online, went to the dealership to pay and waited 3 days for it to arrive. It does exactly what I expected it to and not much more...which is deliver almost 42 mpg in very reliable package.
I get paid mileage and am upside down in my notes from the day I drive it off the lot because of how much I drive (~30k miles a year). The Prius was in the running, but a few nagging issues (for me) stopped the purchase.
Mike
Unless they've done something really radical with this new model (which I seriously doubt) the electric motor is the only thing driving the wheels. The gas engine is only used to generate electricity.
I suppose it's possible they've engineered it to take power from both the battery and the generator during Wide Open Throttle. but this car is already way too complicated in the way it shifts energy from one form to another, all in the name of eeking out a few extra MPG.
john turner
You don't want to do that. Trust me.
lately i've been getting a very solid 48 mpg - close to 500 miles on a tank (a little over 10 gal).
most of my driving is trafficy long distances (20+ mi commute each way, for instance). everything in atlanta is relatively far to get to, so whenever we go out it's at least a five mile trip each way.
on long trips, where i can set cruise at 63 mph, i can get over 50 mpg on a tankful.
john turner
You don't want to do that. Trust me.
that's not true, that's not how the prius works. there's a planetary gearset and a computer control that handles the power from both the engine and the motor. they call this the hybrid synergy drive - it constantly adjusts how much power is coming from which powerplant.
there's a lot of misinformation about these vehicles circulating around. i'd suggest folks that are old enough go try one out, and talk to the salesman about it. they're really neat cars, and a lot more than just "a little bit" more mpg. i've got almost the same amount of cargo space as a camry, laid out very intelligently, and better gas mileage than a smart car.
Nice. Those kinds of conditions would drop my mileage to 35 or 36 mpg. Straight freeway is the only way I pass 40 mpg, but it constitutes most of my driving.
The new Prius is rated at 50, but the Car and Driver guys got 42 in mixed driving. No doubt the testing procedures contributed, so I wanted to know how it looked in "real" life.
Mike
john turner
You don't want to do that. Trust me.
yeah, i read that c&d article. the thing about the prius is it doesn't respond well to aggression on the part of the driver. it's just not the car for it. you wouldn't put a hitch on a vette, you don't drive the prius like you're in "fast and the furious". it has plenty of pickup, plenty of top speed, considering what it is, but it's not a "performance" vehicle. none of the hybrids they tested were. their problems with the car were sorta ridiculous too - inappropriate for what the car is for.
if you drive a prius -aggressively- you will get 42 mpg - gunny-mcleadfoot is not the way you get anywhere with the vehicle. reasonable accelerations and the slightest modicum of patience pays off huge dividends. the cars performance doesn't suffer at all - that's how it was built to be driven, and the usually agressive gun-it/floor-it approach does nothing but burn gas - but it's gas mileage increases substantially.
it's just not a car for folks that want "the ultimate driving experience". it's for folks that are wanting the ultimate gas-saver experience, and it delivers - it's a comfortable ride, has a great stock stereo, lots of cargo room and it looks really cool, imo.
I think a lot of the "misinformation" comes from previous generations of the Prius. The space advantage you enjoy now was not always there. The first generation competed directly with Toyota's own Corolla. Toyota got smart and has placed it (size-wise) closer to the Camry.
The "little bit" of mileage improvement is also based in truth. As I stated, my Corrolla gets 41.6 mpg driving the speed limit on the highway. Toyota fixed that by introducing a new Corolla model that gets 38 mpg on the highway, widening the gap.
Finally, the Smart car isn't. A car that small that gets that kind of gas mileage and no performace return should drive itself off a cliff.
Anyway, I really like the direction the new Prius is taking. Toyota has gradually moved the car "upmarket" and made it more mainstream while continuing to make it "different". Honda's new Insight looks to give it a run (based on price and Honda's good name), so i can't see the consumer losing this.
Mike
Octane ratings are calculated differently in the UK and Europe, versus the US. Here we use the R+M/2 method, while over there they use the R number for their ratings.
Also, using higher octane fuel doesn't mean more mpg, in fact in many cases it could lower the mpg. Higher octane fuel requires higher cylinder pressure to burn efficiently. You should use the fuel the manufacturer specifies for your car.
The Smart is a car designed for a certain purpose - to take up less space in a congested city, and to make it easy to park. The older, slightly smaller model was able to be parked face-on in a parking space, instead of sideways as usual, meaning you could fit 2-3 Smarts in a parking space, instead of one regularly-sized car. It gets reasonably good fuel economy, but hardly class-leading. What it does, it does well, but don't look to it for better economy. The Mini gets about the same fuel economy, but is more spacious, nicer inside and a lot nicer to drive.
I think the class leader in fuel economy at the moment is the VW Polo BlueMotion. It's got a 1.4l diesel engine, and revised gearing and aerodynamic enhancements compared to the regular Polo. The result? 70+ mpg. Nice little car too, comfortable, lots of boot/trunk space, and will accommodate an SVT 8x10...
