///M3 is more fuel efficient than Toyota prius

doggie750

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmxUsGiGp3w

True, it's not the car it's how you drive....I hope I can justify this to my wife.

exalted512

If my choices were between a M3 and a Prius, I'd have no problem convincing her to get the M3. Unfortunately, theres quite a few other options out there...haha.
-Cody

thuffman03

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/used_car_reviews/article3552994.ece

BMW 520d vs Prius on a 500 mile test drive. BMW won the MPG.

bobman1235

I saw a Prius with NASCAR stickers on the back of it the other day. Amused me.

cnh

Really interesting. As someone who's wife owns a Prius I can tell you that your mileage drops into the low 30s in the winter--local driving, but I don't drive it at full speed like the boys did. It makes sense that its gas mileage would suck at maximum speed because it would be endlessly charging the electric motor while relying on the 1.5 liter midget engine to actually drive it forward.

Prius mileage is best at about 55-60 miles an hour. And it was beaten by the BMW above in an endurance run that included a lot of uphill. There again. A Prius does NOT do well climbing because it has to fall back on its overly small gas powered engine and spend most of its time ''charging" the electric motor.

So where is the Prius the master? If you live in the SOUTH on FLAT land. You're golden? lol. I'd say our 2nd generation gets about 45-46 mpg average in normal non-winter driving and can hit 51 on the highway at a bit over 60 mph.

So is the Prius worth it? Maybe NOT in New England. But as these hybrid/electric cars are refined--look at the Volt for example. If my wife could drive back and forth to work..which is only about a 3 mile round trip everyday--she'd never use any gas in a Volt? And then there are the predictions that very soon hybrids will routinely average 100 miles a gallon?

cnh

bobman1235

Three miles round trip? Buy her some roller blades if you're that concerned about the environment.

cnh

You mean some cross-country skies! It's snow country, after all. The problem, my wife can't tolerate the 'cold'!

Yeah, we'd be better off with a four-wheel drive for her. Because the Prius also SUCKS in the SNOW!

cnh

zingo

cnh wrote: »

The problem, my wife can't tolerate the 'cold'!

Yeah, we'd be better off with a four-wheel drive for her. Because the Prius also SUCKS in the SNOW!

cnh

Hybrid Escape?

Jstas

zingo wrote: »

Hybrid Escape?

Those things are awesome! You don't get the impression that you are driving a hybrid at all!

They only get like 24 MPG though. But in an SUV like that's topping 2 tons, that's pretty good.



I prefer my truck though. At 140 MPH, it gets between 3 and 4 MPG depending on how strong of a head wind there is. Sure, it sucks down the gas but boy do you ever get there fast!

virtualdean

cnh wrote: »

Prius mileage is best at about 55-60 miles an hour.

I'd say our 2nd generation gets about 45-46 mpg average in normal non-winter driving and can hit 51 on the highway at a bit over 60 mph.

So is the Prius worth it? Maybe NOT in New England. But as these hybrid/electric cars are refined--look at the Volt for example. If my wife could drive back and forth to work..which is only about a 3 mile round trip everyday--she'd never use any gas in a Volt? And then there are the predictions that very soon hybrids will routinely average 100 miles a gallon?

cnh

If I have to drive that slow on the freeway in SoCAL, I will be run over.
What mpg do you get at 70-75?
45 to 46 in local driving is pretty damn good.
I drove a series of TDCI diesels in Italy for a few years...1.3 litre turbo diesel..
The turbo for fast acceleration and the torque of a diesel for effortless, (fast) cruising...I got 45mpg...(converted from litres and kilometers.).
Even Nissan Micra had the same turbo diesel setup...
I think the Euro's chose the best system.
Cheap enough so anyone can afford them and no future big bills for upkeep.

Who knows what wlll be in the future..besides $10 a gallon gas..

exalted512

i get 13 in my truck. And its slow and doesnt pull all that much either. FML.
-Cody

cnh

virtualdean wrote: »

If I have to drive that slow on the freeway in SoCAL, I will be run over.
What mpg do you get at 70-75?
45 to 46 in local driving is pretty damn good.
I drove a series of TDCI diesels in Italy for a few years...1.3 litre turbo diesel..
The turbo for fast acceleration and the torque of a diesel for effortless, (fast) cruising...I got 45mpg...(converted from litres and kilometers.).
Even Nissan Micra had the same turbo diesel setup...
I think the Euro's chose the best system.
Cheap enough so anyone can afford them and no future big bills for upkeep.

Who knows what wlll be in the future..besides $10 a gallon gas..

Normally, I try to keep it around 65 because I know I'll lose a few mpgs at faster speeds. I'd say somewhere in the high 40s per gallon on a 'good' day at 70mph and maybe a little less at 75. You're probably still in the 40s somewhere at 75--maybe 45 mpg, maybe a bit less? But at the speeds the boys in the video are driving the Prius mileage won't hold up. lol Hardly a sports car.

Hybrid Escape? Maybe if they could just get a few more mpgs out of it..say 30. That would be getting close to my wife's car in the winter and at least we could 'drive' it without worry. ABS on the Prius just 'irritates' me.

I had a lot better 'control' up here when I first arrived in my 5 speed Hyundai Excel, two decades ago? That Excel gave me a couple of 40 mpg trips in its day!

cnh

Jstas

I went and looked instead of guessing. Research, imagine that?

Anyway, 2011 Escape Hybrid gets the following MPG rating: City/Hwy 34/31

Starts at around $30K and is nicely equipped plus way more capable than a Prius could ever hope to be. Has a CVT transmission and can be had in 4WD. Tows 3500 pounds too! Isn't that about what a Prius weighs?

I'll tell you, my GF has an Escape. 2005 vintage. It's pretty efficient for what it is with just a gas engine and the V6 option is a torque monster for it's size. It's full-time 4WD and it's very sure footed. We took it to Vermont instead of the Lightning in March of last year because of concerns about the weather and it handled a typical Vermont snowfall without batting an eyelash. Had no problem crawling up an unpaved access road at one of the state parks as well. Very capable vehicle for a "soft-roader". At $30K for a base Hybrid and $32,575 for a 4WD base model, they are a pretty good deal. They also come quite well equipped with only the most expensive options left over. You can easily push one past $40K if you add on a bunch of junk though.

JimAckley

exalted512 wrote: »

i get 13 in my truck. And its slow and doesnt pull all that much either. FML.
-Cody

I feel your pain. Mine averages 11, but that's not bad for the fact that it's huge and heavy as hell and has a big block ('04 Yukon XL 2500 w/ 8.1L V8). I'm kinda debating switching to a Tahoe or something though. Gas is gonna kill me this summer.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Jstas wrote: »

I went and looked instead of guessing. Research, imagine that?

Anyway, 2011 Escape Hybrid gets the following MPG rating: City/Hwy 34/31

We all know ratings are crap though. If you go on what's rated, then the Prius still beats the Ford in 'rated' mpg.

Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead driving in either one, I hate them both. Hybrid is a bunch of crap, especially in places like here in Texas where you have to run the AC most of the year. Either give me a 'real' engine or give me a true hudrogen fuel cell, I'm tired of this half-**** crap!

This has nothing to do with Ford or Toyota for me, it's the technology in general. FWIW, the only Fords I'd buy (still in production) would be either a Raptor or the Taurus SHO (too many Mustangs on the road already) and the only Toyotas would be my 4Runner Trail or maybe the FJ if you caught me on a good day and gave me a hell of a deal on one.

bobman1235

Someone did a graph here from their own experience with their Prius on MPG per MPH.

http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=844

greyford1979

I swear in my 79 F150 you can see the gas gauge go down every time you press the gas lol:eek: Of course this is not a daily driver lol. Even though the TC doesn't have the best small car gas mileage it's still like 4 times that of my truck. On that graph my truck doesn't even make it to the 10 mpg mark.

Jstas

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

We all know ratings are crap though.

...give me a true hudrogen fuel cell, I'm tired of this half-**** crap!

This has nothing to do with Ford or Toyota for me...

Well, no, 'cause if the ratings are "crap" how are you going to get an idea of how efficient a car is without real world experience?

Debating the merits of the current EPA fuel mileage rating system is a different story.

I would also expect a Prius to be more fuel efficient than the Escape. It's a suppository on wheels design to be as aerodynamic as possible to enhance the fuel misery. The Escape is an Escape with a hybrid drive system in it. But, unlike a Prius that is used for carting lardasses around, an Escape Hybrid can tow a small trailer, fits 4 people comfortably, 5 with a bit of a squeeze, has four wheel drive for at least a small amount of off-road capability and foul weather stability plus it has a comparatively massive cargo area. If it gets anywhere close to 30 mpg let alone 34, that's one big pile of win right there, in my book.

Lastly, you should be concerned about Ford because Honda and Ford are on the forefront of hydrogen fuel cell technologies. Honda currently has the FCX Clarity operating in a limited California market to get some idea of what real-world performance is and what would be needed for infrastructure.

Ford currently holds the speed record for a hydrogen fuel cell car with the Fusion Hydrogen 999 car. They are going a different route though with a hydrogen electric hybrid that they are using the Edge as a test bed for. It'll operate like the current gasoline electric hybrids but use hydrogen fuel cell technology instead of gasoline. They've also had LPG and hydrogen powered vehicles available for fleet purchase since the mid-90's.

Both efforts have a great deal of merit and since hydrogen is near limitless and combustion produces water, it can also be recovered from the combustion process. Toxic emissions are near zero if not zero and the majority of the waste product from the combustion process is water. The major expense comes in making the hydrogen and then recharging fuel cells. Find a way to recharge cheaply and you'd drastically reduce the time to market.

Hydrogen is the way of the future. This hybrid garbage and these insane electric vehicles are just silliness that needs to stop taking away research and development money from hydrogen fuels.

blueboxer

I dunno I love my little Honda Insight. I miss my 350Z and WRX, but the fuel savings, cheaper and less frequent tires, and insurance overcome my longings. I was about to get another WRX or STI, but I saw the price of 91 octane over four dollars already. So, maybe next time.