Hybrids....

gilbert_and_sullivan

Hybrids seem to attract violently opposing views, usually from people who haven't driven them.

I've driven several Prius, excellent car if you like refined infinitely smooth transmission and almost total silence, later models are surpisingly fast, Auris should be similar, not sure how good Yaris will be.

They come into their own in normal use, stop start driving, heavy traffic and local use, obviously like other cars they will travel long distances but their economy comes into its own where other cars fail, long distance cruising will only see similar economy to hatchbacks fitted with tractor, sorry, Diesel engines.

Toyota streets ahead of Honda in this market, and will be in a different league altogether for durability/reliabilty compared to recent contenders to the Hybrid game.
Prius taxis are covering astonishing mileages and are proving totally reliable.

daveyjp

If you need a family sized car with an autobox, and do lots of town work they make perfect sense.

DKLS

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

later models are surpisingly fast,

Surprisingly fast! What for a glacier? :rotfl:

2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid 0-60 mph 9.7s

2011 Toyota Prius Hybrid 0-60 mph 9.7s

2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid 0-60 mph 10.9s

As to the OPs question, while the technology is at an early stage I wouldn't have one, and yes I have driven a Prius for 3 weeks and i hated it. There are much better cars out there with better MPG if thats your thing.

Strider590

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Hybrids seem to attract violently opposing views, usually from people who haven't driven them.

Well I have driven one, a brand new one in fact.... It was a calm/smooth drive, but ultimately the cost is not justified.

cootuk

I've got a GenII Prius as we do mainly city driving (30-40mph).

First of all the auto side of things is a pleasure in heavy town driving - the drive system is really well sorted and works brilliantly.

Motorways we get mid 50mpg, round town mid 40s (though we do lots of short runs and the school run). Longer runs in 40-60mph zones get us mid50s again. The hybrid system doesn't work effectively when cruising at speed, so best effect in stop/start city driving or country roads.
Remeber too most economy comparisons pit the Prius against either a diesel on the motorway (a la Top Gear) or against a tiny car in the city.


Purchase price - yes they cost more initially so the fuel saving can balance out. The hybrid side seems pretty reliable. Dealer servicing is reasonable, and the hybrid parts only need a coolant change at 100k. Very much fit and forget system.

Environmental - I'm not a believer in global warming, so didn't buy it for env reasons - more for low car tax (£10pa) and better mpg. I think the Prius vs Hummer comparison has been rubbished in many places, as it seems to suggest all Prius get scrapped at 100k miles and all Hummers last 300K+ miles. Statistics get altered to fit a viewpoint.

The plug-in Prius is horrendously expensive in the UK and just seems priced to gouge early adopters.
The GenIII appears not as bullet proof as the GenII, and limiting the hybrid side warranty to 5yrs with battery 8yrs doesn't fill me with confidence when the GenII had a full 8yrs for both.

I do like the auto and fuel economy, but probably wouldn't buy a GenIII unless I could extend the hybrid side warranty...just in case.

The Honda hybrids seems quite well specced for the money, though run the engine all the time, unlike stop/start in the Prius.

In the end. work out your mileage, work out fuel/tax costs, then make a decision.

jaydeeuk1

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

clarkson pitted a prius against a 3.0D bmw, the BMW came out ontop, (wasnt a race but a MPG test).

If its the one I'm thinking of, it was against the M3, not a diesel!
10 laps around the track, think prius managed 17mpg, M3 was 19. Just shows your driving style makes far more of a difference than the engine.

I think a prius just makes you look a bit of a nob, influenced by the media into guilt tripping you in to ditching your 10 yr old diesel 'cos its destroying the rain forest and giving squirrels cancer.

Strider590

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

If its the one I'm thinking of, it was against the M3, not a diesel!
10 laps around the track, think prius managed 17mpg, M3 was 19. Just shows your driving style makes far more of a difference than the engine.

Correct, but let me clarify.....

The point was to drive both cars around the track at the same pace and check MPG. The M3 could out perform the Prius just at idle speed alone, where the Prius needed a good thrashing just to keep up with the M3.

It's that old "horses for courses" chestnut, someone who spends their hard earned on an M3 is likely to be driving about more briskly than a Sunday driver who buys a Prius. But if the M3 were driven at the same pace as the Pruis, the difference in fuel usage would be very small.

cyclonebri1

The real issue here is that anyone that buys 1 is not getting what they pay for, whether it be saving fuel or saving the planet.

The initial cost is too high

The fuel consumption is no better and sometimes worse than a modern diesel

And the end of life recycling issues negates any green benefits from the electric additions.

Don't get me started on the dangers to pedestrians at low speed:D

And yes I have driven 1 and been in a few they drive fine no issues, my SIL has one as his is a company car, all the company cars are and they are the same prius model.
All the staff hate them, so it's not just me:rotfl:

gilbert_and_sullivan

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

The real issue here is that anyone that buys 1 is not getting what they pay for, whether it be saving fuel or saving the planet.

The initial cost is too high

The fuel consumption is no better and sometimes worse than a modern diesel

And the end of life recycling issues negates any green benefits from the electric additions.

Don't get me started on the dangers to pedestrians at low speed:D

And yes I have driven 1 and been in a few they drive fine no issues, but his is a company car, all the company cars are the same prius model. All the staff hate them, so it's not just me:rotfl:

Thanks, at last a sensible post in the against camp.

I look at Hybrids in a different light, what you have to remember is that you are getting a car with the quiet refinement and smooth transmission of a proper auto box coupled to a 6 cyl+ petrol engine, simultaneously giving fuel economy of an equivalent Diesel.

Not everyone wants a smelly tractor engine clattering away when in traffic, not everyone wants to feather an increasingly unreliable clutch and DMF in order to keep it well in such conditions.

Yes you can buy Diesel autos, but increasingly these are only available with some sort of automated manual or dual clutched gearbox, none of these is in the least pleasant in traffic and not one could be described as smooth in take up or changes, and some are frankly dreadful when it comes to a bit of close manoeuvering.

If you want a Diesel auto with a real gearbox, then only the likes of BMW and MB cater for this market, and some Korean and Japanese makers mainly in the 4x4 segment.

By keeping to petrol the hybrids avoid many of the pitfalls of modern Diesels, and associated transmission problems.

I don't own one, i may do in the future, possibly one of the Lexus 450 models, if i do it will be bought to beat the scandalous VED of proper cars built after 06, whilst providing a quiet ultra smooth drive likely to last for many years trouble free, the green credentials or lack of are of no interest to me, refinement and effortless pleasurable driving is.

Strider590

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

And yes I have driven 1 and been in a few they drive fine no issues, but his is a company car, all the company cars are the same prius model. All the staff hate them, so it's not just me:rotfl:

^^ This is the thing, we've heard that taxi firms use them.... But businesses only do that so as to appear "green" in the eyes of the average idiot, thus having potential positive effect and a small advantage over their competition (for which the extra money is probably worth it).

I've often found owners of such cars to be whinge bags, sitting in their ivory tower looking out at the lesser more polluting vehicles (noise and emissions I guess) and having a false sense of superiority over them. It's for people who believe all the marketing sh*t and none of the facts.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oSzLS0j9fY