Anyone else intrigued by the Prius/Hybrids

Had a Prius for a couple of days last year as Toyota are a client of my company and we were generating testimonials.

My testimonial was effectively useless as I had no need for such a car and wasn't particularly interested. In fact I'm about as far from the target market as possible.

It really is just a means of transport and nothing more. Brakes and handling are nothing more than you'd expect from a shopping cart, it's not involving or fun.

Ride isn't soft or hard, just average.

Pulling away silently and getting used to nearly running people over because they cant hear you took getting used to.

The engine I found to be rather off or on. Either you were pulled along by the electric motor or the petrol engine would kick in and pretty much scream all the time it was in use regardless of throttle input. Off or screaming.

Interior was Jap and so unimpressive but comfortable enough nonetheless.

Handbrake is a seperate footbrake pedal if I recall clearly. took some getting used to but was never totally comfortable with it.

The telemetry was the most impressive part of the car to me - the display constantly tells you where the power is coming from and whether energy is being stored or used.

Overall I tried to stay impartial but it was pretty tough. The car offered nothing to me and aside from its "green" angle, and the technology involved - was pretty unimpressive in every department.
 
Muncher said:
Food for thought, my Dad's new BMW 320ED is averaging over 55mpg thus far, with a fair amount of town driving too.
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My Dad has a 120ED and gets low 50's. Pretty much exactly the same as his E90 320D (non ED)... It has lowered his tax banding by 3% though.
 
What pees me off (well, sorta) is the amount of unharnassed energy hitting, or being generated by, the earth every day. I suppose it dwarves our usage of fossil fuels.

Tides
Solar energy
Waves
Wind
The potential (or not) for controlled nuclear fusion

Can you imagine thousands of tidal / wave / wind powered hydrogen generators, feeding into an international hydrogen grid? Very cheap, unlimited energy for all, on tap.
 
We had the tiguan in teardown. I was amazed to see that little 1.4 be unit as a rather bulky cast iron block!

With regard fun hybrids, the CRZ is pretty decent on that front. I enjoyed test driving that and at the other end of the scale the Lexus LS600h was remarkable in terms of silent low speed and it's grunt.
 
I'd like to drive one to see what they are like.

Small engined cars that use a hybrid system to boost power (like the CRX) really appeal to me though. Doubtful that I would buy one though as the condition of the batteries as they age would be a concern.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
With regard fun hybrids, the CRZ is pretty decent on that front. I enjoyed test driving that and at the other end of the scale the Lexus LS600h was remarkable in terms of silent low speed and it's grunt.
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CR-Z is no CTR/ITR though... 120hp in a 1250kg car
If this was 130-140hp in a 1000kg car, or 170hp in a 1250kg car it would be a different story (and this is still on the slow side)

Stick a K20 into the CR-Z and we are talking, while you are at it make it double wishbone all around (like the EK Civic)

CR-Z is not a "fun" car in the same way as the ITR/EK Type R Civics were, and it shows due to the low power that they gave it ... no-one here would be complaining about hybrids if they were performance models rather than shopping trolleys.
 
What the Honda CRZ is not a type R... It's fun like a Puma, etc. Maintaining momentum and linking corners up with high entry speeds. I didn't suggest it was a performance orientated hot hatch but atleast it's in the 100bhp/ton region. At 10% bik it's a fun option as a company car.

I notice hks are offering a 170bhp supercharger now though.
 
@OP, have you seen the "phantom hybrid" that runs around the lakes, a chap with a big white beard that likes to linger in the 2nd lane of dual carriageways in his Prius, then pulls in to let you past but accelerates to try and keep you behind him, apparently it's quick.

I've been hearing about him form all sorts of people, seen him myself once too, obviously in the Alfa I creamed him. I reckon it's unmodified, they're supposed to be something like 140bhp once both motors are running aren't they?
 
I think there will be more than one fuel of the future; the grid won't be able to handle all electric, hybrid sucks, hydrogen is actually pretty hard to make, there's not enough room on the planet to go all biofuels...
 
rypt said:
Yuck, Puma. It doesn't have to me a modern Type R, but it needs to have 170bhp at a minimum.
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I honestly don't think it does. Ignore the Type-R comparison, that puts out decent power at a bazillion RPM due to the VTEC y0.

I think that a small engined car with a, lets say 30bhp as I can't remember the exact figure, boost of power ready to go at any engine speed could provide quite an entertaining and punchy (if not tear your face off quick) drive.
 
Hatter The Mad said:
It depends how far you go in between charges, and how fast you go.
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It charges the batteries as it needs. You don't go anywhere further than 30 meters without the engine offering assistance.

As for you 2nd statement, I did state 'mixed' driving. Unless you're going to say that all MPG figures ever stated are inaccurate as it depends how fast they go??
 
Naf said:
A Prius as a second car? ...erm...what? I can only assume you mean you'd have the Prius as a daily and the S2000 as the second car? Otherwise you're a mental haha
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Well obviously that's what I meant :p
 
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