Toyota Prius

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
i think its sad how modern cars get such terrible gas mileage. back in college my daily driver was a 1986 mustang gt 5.0
it gets better gas mileage than today's toyota camry. i mean it doesn't now (still have it 11 years later) because it has about 700hp, but anyway...
these cars today are so damn heavy with 6 airbags, emissions out the butt, 5 star crash blah blah, but that all just ads up to a poor handling heavy car that you now can not avoid the accident with because you cant' stop in time, and can't drive around because the car is so heavy.


I love that. I never thought a camary would ever approach the weight of my old 20ft long 64 Ford Galaxy. I mean you could land an Tomcat on the hood of that car too. :D
 

Nimrod

New Member
Do I look like Shaniqua?

I have an Accord, and while it gets OK gas mileage, I put on over 25K per year, and have to fill the tank once every 5 days. My car is used for more than just commuting, and while the Accord is not flashy, it is a better fit for my job and family life, as opposed to a Corolla, Yaris or Swift class car. I am considering the Prius because I could be frugal, and still make a "fashion statement".

My wife wants a new car. From a family point the Accord makes sense. "Decent" on gas and room for the kids (my boys are 6'-1" & 6")

The other part of the equation is the whole energy situation.... We don't know where its going from here obviously... So I'm thinking about leasing for 3 years. Can't beat the price of $250 a month for the mid grade Accord...

Would take 9-10 years at that rate to pay off the car. Right now I don't want to commit to a new car for that long, will wait three years and then see where we are in term of the current energy situation.

PS: If I was to buy a car today, for me = Mini Cooper S Clubman. 13 second street car that has room (really) for lots of bike crap, and gets 35 plus MPG!
 
Last edited:

gtluke

The Moped
its a european car. we can't buy diesel cars here because of environmentalists who think diesels produce more than nickle batteries and copper motors.
 

Mongoose Rider

New Member
The disagreement continues...

OK,
as far as the Yaris Diesel argument goes, you aren't comparing apples to apples. The Yaris is tiny, stripped down with no ammenities. The Prius whether you know it or not is actually very comfortable and roomy to ride in. I have my 6ft+ Nephew in the backseat of the Prius several times with my seat all the way back and he has plenty of head and foot room. Also it has a lot of "luxury" type features that aren't even available on the yaris.

As far as the BMW goes, impressive numbers. I have never said that diesels aren't econimical as well but I still say that their emmision are not comparable. Not to mention that they are noisier (yes the newer diesels are quieter but they are still noiser). And so what if the Prius had to fill up with an extra can of gas, I routinely get 430-450 on a tank of gas, but that's only 10 gallons to fill...... the test they performed was beyond that range, doesn't mean it used more fuel.

My key point with this thread is not that Prius is not the end-all of motoring efficiency but it is a step towards gettign away from burning petroleum. If we don't change our ways we will remain petroleum dependant and the oil companies will continue to tighten their grip on our short-hairs... We need to continue with development of alternative energy, be it bio diesel which has proven itself to be VERY efficient and environmentally friendly (especially when derived from switchgrass-corn is no good). But also from different ways to use electricity, hydrogen or whatever.... WE need to get away from oil. standard diesel is no good, let's build a bio-diesel hybrid.... Now that will do wonders for the environment and the economy...

Nuff said, GTLUKE and other contributors, thank you for the intelligent debate, have a good day...
 

MTB Aussie

Member
Aw cr@p I cant help it

I love winking at Prius (and Yaris Diesel's for that matter) drivers when I pull up next to them while commuting by bike - "hey man, who's burning the most gas now huh?" :):):)

Seriously, most alternative fuel is just moving the consumption to a different form, sometime with ill planned consequences and loss of energy due to the conversion processes. Electric cars charged via the wall outlet = Power generated by coal (cough choke cough). Hydrogen fuel cell = Hydrogen created by electrolysis of water by electricity generated by coal, or hydrogen made by heating of various hydrocarbons (how do you heat things? burn stuff) and producing harmful by products like methane... Hybrid drive - not bad since it has a tiny engine, regenerative braking and low drag.

The key is reducing consumption. It is the size, weight and drag of vehicles that consume more of whatever fuel you put into them. Energy is energy. The less you drive, the less mass you move, the less wind you push (cyclists know this well) the less energy of any form you need. As mentioned above the Prius is pretty slippery and has a small motor so it consumes less. Sure the overall production footprint is a little large, and it is unsure whether they will still be driving 20 years from now, but imagine how efficient it could be with straight gas or diesel drive and none of that battery weight!

If you really want to reduce, ride your bike whenever possible, plan your trips to combine stops, carpool, drive any small car, take more mass transit, buy used like Utah Joe. We are on the right track, just ditch the big engines unless you really need to haul stuff.

Look on the bright side. Gas is still cheaper here than in Australia. (~$6 per gallon for regular)
 

Glancing Aft

Active Member
The other day I was pricing out vehicles on the internets that I may consider buying next. I built them up to that stats that I'd want, usually with a sunroof, and the typical features, holding out on too blinged out of rims. The following is those cars listed in total cost (without maintenance) assuming I drive 20,000 miles a year, keep the car for 6 years and gas averages $5 a gallon during that time period. I was actually surprised to see that the prius came out on top considering it has a bit higher base cost than the other vehicles I was looking at.


Car - mpg - cost built - gas/year - total cost
Toyota Prius - 48/45 - $22,359.00 - $2,200.00 - $35,559.00
Toyota Matrix - 26/32 - $18,619.00 - $3,500.00 - $39,619.00
Saturn Astra - 24/32 - $18,045.00 - $3,600.00 - $39,645.00
Mini Cooper - 28/37 - $20,700.00 - $3,200.00 - $39,900.00
VW Rabbit - 22/29 - $16,912.00 - $4,000.00 - $40,912.00
Mazda 3 - 22/29 - $19,565.00 - $4,000.00 - $43,565.00

PS. sorry formating a table on this bb sucks...
 

metaldork

Member
The other day I was pricing out vehicles on the internets that I may consider buying next. I built them up to that stats that I'd want, usually with a sunroof, and the typical features, holding out on too blinged out of rims. The following is those cars listed in total cost (without maintenance) assuming I drive 20,000 miles a year, keep the car for 6 years and gas averages $5 a gallon during that time period. I was actually surprised to see that the prius came out on top considering it has a bit higher base cost than the other vehicles I was looking at.


Car - mpg - cost built - gas/year - total cost
Toyota Prius - 48/45 - $22,359.00 - $2,200.00 - $35,559.00
Toyota Matrix - 26/32 - $18,619.00 - $3,500.00 - $39,619.00
Saturn Astra - 24/32 - $18,045.00 - $3,600.00 - $39,645.00
Mini Cooper - 28/37 - $20,700.00 - $3,200.00 - $39,900.00
VW Rabbit - 22/29 - $16,912.00 - $4,000.00 - $40,912.00
Mazda 3 - 22/29 - $19,565.00 - $4,000.00 - $43,565.00

PS. sorry formating a table on this bb sucks...

fyi, i got 33-34 mpg in my mazda3 driving to cleveland yesterday. i usually get about 27 ish in mixed suburban/highway (20/80) driving.
 

MTB Aussie

Member
The other day I was pricing out vehicles on the internets that I may consider buying next. I built them up to that stats that I'd want, usually with a sunroof, and the typical features, holding out on too blinged out of rims. The following is those cars listed in total cost (without maintenance) assuming I drive 20,000 miles a year, keep the car for 6 years and gas averages $5 a gallon during that time period. I was actually surprised to see that the prius came out on top considering it has a bit higher base cost than the other vehicles I was looking at.


Car - mpg - cost built - gas/year - total cost
Toyota Prius - 48/45 - $22,359.00 - $2,200.00 - $35,559.00
Toyota Matrix - 26/32 - $18,619.00 - $3,500.00 - $39,619.00
Saturn Astra - 24/32 - $18,045.00 - $3,600.00 - $39,645.00
Mini Cooper - 28/37 - $20,700.00 - $3,200.00 - $39,900.00
VW Rabbit - 22/29 - $16,912.00 - $4,000.00 - $40,912.00
Mazda 3 - 22/29 - $19,565.00 - $4,000.00 - $43,565.00

PS. sorry formating a table on this bb sucks...

I didn't bother checking your math but did you use the city or hwy to calc the fuel cost? Also, do you drive with the windows up A/C on at 65 or windows down A/C off at 80? ;)
 

ChrisG

Unapologetic Lifer for Rock and Roll
fyi, i got 33-34 mpg in my mazda3 driving to cleveland yesterday. i usually get about 27 ish in mixed suburban/highway (20/80) driving.
Hell, I'm getting 25-26 mpg combined in a Mazdaspeed 3. My point being, respectable mileage is possible even w/o losing the fun factor.
 

Glancing Aft

Active Member
I didn't bother checking your math but did you use the city or hwy to calc the fuel cost? Also, do you drive with the windows up A/C on at 65 or windows down A/C off at 80? ;)

I went with a straight average for mpg... and A/C on with windows down! JK...
BTW, I still haven't been able to finish my windows/ac experement. Last trip out there I was driving a Uhaul that got 8 mpg :D
 

Glancing Aft

Active Member
fyi, i got 33-34 mpg in my mazda3 driving to cleveland yesterday. i usually get about 27 ish in mixed suburban/highway (20/80) driving.

is that with a sedan or the the 5 door? It annoys the hell out of me that you have to get the bigger engineer with the 5 door.
 

metaldork

Member
is that with a sedan or the the 5 door? It annoys the hell out of me that you have to get the bigger engineer with the 5 door.

it's the 5 door. manual transmission. cruise control set to a solid 70. it's also an '05 so some things may have changed since then.

also, you can probably disregard my proportions for suburban/highway driving since most of my highway driving is route 3 or 17 and prolly shouldn't count as highway. but i don't drive every day and even when i lived in brooklyn would still get 25+ in mixed driving.
 
Top Bottom