BMW M3,19.4 mpg--Toyota Prius, 17.2 mpg

[RPL]

[Wannabe6MT]

Gotta love top gear and jeremy clarkson LOL

[MTG35guy]

I remember watching this episode. Quite a funny discovery.

[redlude97]

whats the point? You don't drive a prius around like you do an m3...

[IVRY PRL]

That's exactly the point, some people buy fuel efficient cars, drive like lunatics, then complain about them not being fuel efficient.

[RADIOGUY21]

every Prius I see on the road is in the fast lane doing 80MPH+....the point of a hyrbid is to save money and gas, why arent they in the far right lane doing the 55MPH speed limit conserving the most fuel... usually the main reason for purchasing a hyrbrid from my understanding!?

[LightsOut]

^^^ very true about speeding prius's

[Jeff92se]

Now redo the test in morning/afternoon commute conditions

[escobar929]

old but i loved the results, i was very surprised to see the results

the best part of that episode, is when the ferrari get 1mpg or something crazy like that

[HLMAX]

I find it hard to believe. The Prius is designed with fuel efficiency in mind; low drag, low rolling resistance, CVT, electric assist during acceleration, regenerative braking.
The test is BS. You need to measure the energy stored in the batteries also, not just the fuel used.
Was the Prius batteries fully charged, or was it charging the batteries while running the laps also? If the batteries are fully charged, it will easily beat the M3 in fuel used during the test. If it is not fully charged, there is surplus energy stored in the batteries to go the extra laps without using fuel.
They should have measured the net energy used and than convert to equivalent fuel used to get the true results.
It is TV, what can you say.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by RADIOGUY21

every Prius I see on the road is in the fast lane doing 80MPH+....the point of a hyrbid is to save money and gas, why arent they in the far right lane doing the 55MPH speed limit conserving the most fuel... usually the main reason for purchasing a hyrbrid from my understanding!?

You know what's funny? I dunno about where you guys live but in VA, hybrids are allowed to drive in the HOV lane. It's funny to see them balling out at 80 mph down these HOV lanes during rush hour while everyone else is sitting in traffic...they'd save a lot more fuel if they just sat in traffic with the rest of us.

[Jeff92se]

If I had to drive that ugly thing, I'd be rolling down the HOV lane too. To get home to hide it.

Actually, I HATE drivers putzing down the HOV lane doing the same speed as everyone else. What's the point?!

[RPL]

I did some quick math one day and put a Toyota Yaris against a Toyota Prius, and it takes ~10 years to make up the cost difference from the Prius to the Yaris, just with regards to fuel consumption. I can't even imagine repair expenses of the Yaris vs. Prius -- I assume it costs a lot to fix a broken hybrid.

[LFg35]

what pisses me off is that a cheap diesel will be farrrr more fuel efficient than a prius AND cheaper to buy in the first place but there is such a negative stigma against diesels (especially here in the US) that no one will buy one.

[redlude97]

hybrid electrics are meant to save fuel during stop and go/in city driving. On the freeway or at high speeds the electric motor is not being used, it actually gets better gas mileage in the city than on the freeway. Even at 80mph though, i'll bet its getting significantly better gas mileage than our G's at 60mph