Traded in the Prius

[manbridge 74]

A story.

My dad buys a 04 Prius at the same time as me being given a free 90 Celica. We both have a similar 35 mile commutes at 7000ft avg elevation. Tis now.... game on.

He gets about 51mpg. I start out in the low 30s. And just for grins I start tossing the ballast. 300 lbs later with narrow tires and a RAV4 map sensor I'm at 39mpg. I can buy a lot of gas against his purchase price difference.

[svandamme]

My 08 1 series BMW in practice when i drove like i stole it, i got 33 mpg
If i drove normal, i got 40 mpg
If i drove really for milage, i manged 43 mpg (this meant actually driving the speed limit, slip streaming and so on)

And for what it's worth, this was a very fun car...

Note, all this was measured by always filling the tank completely and marking down the odometer on each filling on my cellphone.. These mpg are not onboard computer fabrications.


I'm trading the car in for a 116 Efficient Dynamics end of this month.
It has been optimized for economical driving and has eco pro mode which supposedly adjust throttle response and some other things for added savings. I'm also getting cruise control which i never had before (and which is very handy for saving on longer trips), it also has a 1.6 Liter instead of 2 Liter diesel engine

The old one was 4.7/100km, the new one ought to be 3.7Liter / 100 Note, i never got 4.7 on the old one, i got 5.4 at best.. but it's just an indication that the new one should do even better, 50 mpg might be possible

[Porsche-O-Phile]

No, unfortunately balding, overweight, middle-aged guys are attracted to Porsches - by at least a 6:1 ratio versus women. If that's your thing I guess...

[georgeinhere]

Someone asked about the A3, mine isn't a TDI...it's a 2.0 w/a manual. So far, so good but the Prius out-corners the Audi, WTH? The A3 gets light and starts to lose it very quickly. I've never been one to mod DD's outside of tint and maybe a chip but I am already looking at anything that will give me better footing.

I had a 135 as a DD for and that car got very light but not before triple digits...the A3 was just a smoking deal that couldn't be passed up.

Coilovers? Is that what you young people do?

[Radioactive]

Oh No! I was looking at a 06-07 3 series or A3.
I was leaning for A3, but that's a deal breaker if it can't handle.
If I am going to drive around socal with these idiots I need a car that can handle

[georgeinhere]

I'm not so sure that I would not buy it because of it but it is rather surprising how poorly it handles. Also, try to buy the 2008.5+, my understanding is that earlier engines had issues but once again, I am getting my information from the internet...

Originally Posted by Radioactive

Oh No! I was looking at a 06-07 3 series or A3.
I was leaning for A3, but that's a deal breaker if it can't handle.
If I am going to drive around socal with these idiots I need a car that can handle

[5String43]

A friend of mine who works at Toyota and gets to lease her Prius at a very friendly rate calls it "a car-like device." I think that just about sums it up.

[slakjaw]

my 1995 4 runner gets like 16 MPG yall.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by porwolf

Besides the whole new hybrid technology leaves me unimpressed: I had a 1981 diesel Rabbit that really got 50 miles per gallon!

I had a 1986 Diesel Golf, also would get 50 mpg on highway driving while on vacation - same as my motorcycle!

[Radioactive]

2008! Have you seen the resale prices of these things (A3's) I was having a tough time justifying an 2006

[myamoto1]

143 Top Gear - Toyota Prius BMW M3 Fuel

Also saw a Prius at the track last Saturday.

[georgeinhere]

I'm not sure that's accurate under normal driving conditions plus that M3 is abortion ugly.

Originally Posted by myamoto1

143 Top Gear - Toyota Prius BMW M3 Fuel

Also saw a Prius at the track last Saturday.

[McLovin]

Here's something most probably didn't know.

Sales of hybrids in the US have DECLINED every single year since they were first sold in significant numbers here (since 2007).

[myamoto1]

Originally Posted by georgeinhere

I'm not sure that's accurate under normal driving conditions plus that M3 is abortion ugly.

I agree - not really a fan of that generation (or many of the newest generation) BMWs. However, I think the point is, as long as you drive like a hypermilling weenie, you'll get good/better gas mileage.

I did a short around town test w/ my '05 Subaru Outback and kept off the gas whenever possible and tried to minimize braking, etc and squeaked out just over 28 mpg (car calculated) over a 10 mile distance. I then drove another 10ish miles as I normally would and achieved roughly 25 mpg. Not a huge variance, but it was also over a relatively short distance.

We had a family friend tell us about how she was getting around 50 mpg in her Prius. To help her achieve this mpg, she described how she would pretend there was an egg between her foot and the gas pedal. Heck, if I did that on the 911, I could easily get into the 30's. I get 26 as it is now and I'm generally not easy on the skinny pedal.

[craigster59]

I had an '06 A3 with the sport package. Great car, handled well and got 175k trouble free miles out of it. I finally traded it for an '05 Outback, but wishing I'd have gotten one of those cars that gives blowjobs that Denis was talking about.

[teenerted1]

Originally Posted by RWebb

the progress in the last couple of years was to clean up the very high particulate emissions from diesels so they could be used here

diesels are good on the hwy., not so good in town as per above post

hybrids are just getting started...

so a jetta tdi wagon gettng 40+city and 60+hwy isnt good around town?

[algs911]

I bought a 2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI back in December. I live in Santa Cruz, CA, and drive every day to San Jose for work (over the very bad Highway 17). When I'm not even trying I get at least 41 or 42 mpg for the whole trip. When I REALLY tried to get the best gas mileage I got 48 mpg (remember, that's driving over the mountain!).

All that, and it's got 236 lb. ft. of torque!!! It's a pretty fun car to drive and hauls all my bicycle and music equipment.

Al

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by teenerted1

so a jetta tdi wagon gettng 40+city ... isnt good around town?

not relative to a hybrid - either Prius V or Volt, etc.

you must have a hell of a city if you are getting that mileage in a Jetta TDI wagon

for fun, sure Jetta TDI... or a Mazda 3

[algs911]

I typically get 36 or so around town. My wife (who has a MUCH lighter right foot) will get 38 around town (2012 Jetta TDI Wagon).

al