"Dave Plowman (News)" <dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk> wrote

Same as top gear, clarkson showed about 34 mpg, I know that normal driving
will show nearly 60 to the gallon. So they must have included test track
stuff, which is never representative of the real world, after all several of
the test cars return in the low single digits on the track.

Part of the fun of Prius driving is getting those last few mpg by adapting
your driving style.

People seem to want everything, everywhichway, fantastic economy, fantastic
performance, cheap to buy, next to nothing to service, insure etc. then
they attempt to pick holes in the compromises and knock the innovators.

Mrcheerful

In article <Nqx4i.42540$Ch.15160 (AT) fe2 (DOT) news.blueyonder.co.uk>,
MrCheerful <nbkm57 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:
Indeed. But it provides interesting comparisons with the other cars
tested. It's been long known the 'official' figures are open to abuse or
don't provide a real world figure.

Eggsactly. Those who buy this sort of car *are* going to drive it gently.
So comparisons between this and a normally driven car become pointless. I
didn't drive the one I borrowed gently on the open road and the fuel
consumption was poor.

The Prius is a compromise for a particular environment - town use in parts
of the US. A diesel engined hybrid *might* make more sense in the UK.

The snag is the principle of a hybrid is flawed for general use. True
while running purely on its batteries it produces zero emissions at the
point of use and can provide real savings in very heavy traffic with stop
start conditions with long periods being stationary. But once you reach
the equilibrium of constantly moving traffic the parameters change - and
it comes down to the efficiency of both the 'engine' and transmission. And
an electric transmission which relies in part on charging batteries simply
isn't that efficient. Nor is a pure electric transmission for a car with
an IC engine - if it was it would have been used years ago as on other
types of IC powered devices.

--
*Change is inevitable ... except from vending machines *

Dave Plowman dave (AT) davenoise (DOT) co.uk London SW
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