The Economics of a Prius 2?

[Daox]

Originally Posted by 320touring

Fair comment but at the end of the 5 years (when the prius is 8yrs old) the iS wont need a new battery pack

My prius is 8 years old and is about as far away from needing a new pack as the day it rolled off the lot. Consumer reports recently tested their first gen (01 I think) Prius recently which has the original battery pack and tested to see and the mileage was still exactly the same. There are Prius' out there with 200-300+ thousand miles on them with the original packs. Replacing the pack is not an issue.

[320touring]

Originally Posted by euromodder

If you ever feel the urge to buy a Prius, rent one for a day or so.

You can hypermile a Beemer and make it sip like a Prius - well, sort of.
But you can't make a Prius handle like a Beemer

This is true! Part of the reason I need an economical car is because I ENJOY the act of driving
Daox, that statement was meant to tongue in cheek

[kurzer]

i like to drive trackdays with my mx5 (miata), but i also love every trip in the prius. i wish, i could turn the mx5 into a prius for the way to the track and back home. right before the first prius, i owned a focus ST, a 2.6l turbo with 226hp, and i never missed it. really!
so, a sporty driver loves the prius.

my mate owned a civis hybrid. he drives some 50km to work, every day. never really interested in cars, as long as they working. guess what, he love this car and owned a second set of alloys. wtf...
so, the commuter loves hybrids.

my dad is pensioner. he drives seldom and short. he has to concentrate and to be carfull. fe is no matter. some month after i owned a prius he donated the almost new mazda 3 to my little sister and bougt a prius with 150.000km. witch is, of course, doing well. he claims this will be his last car.
so, the pensioner loves the prius.

there are drivers out there, witch will not be happy with. i´m sure. but they clearly in the minority. the most don´t like the prius, because they don´t know it right.

[pete c]

Interesting thread. i'd like to add my thoughts.

Driving ANY new, or almost new, for that matter vehicle will never come close to matching the $/mile of a good, reliable old beater, assuming you have the mechanical skills and willingness to do what it takes to help it along in it's old age.

Hypermiling is a sport. Any manual transmissioned car that is OK with EOCing can have it's mileage greatly enhanced by a skilled hypermiler. A prius, with it's smarty pants drive train wants to share in the fun.

I'm selfish. I don't like to share.

It's kind of like a new M5 with it's 13 speed DSG tranny. I don't care if it's faster around the Nurburgring. Rowing the gears in a bimmer is like sex. Why would I want to let some electromechanical gizmo do it for me.

The same goes double for a 911. I'm generally a staunch libertarian, but, would be OK with legislation outlawing such blasphemous technology.

Every time I read about one of you euros discussing the countless engine choices you have, I want to throttle you!!!! More accurately, I want to jump in my horrifically overpowered gasser and drive to DC and throttle everyone at EPA and NHT...NTS....uhhhh, you know, the scoundrels there in charge of making sure we only drive "safe" cars.

[F8L]

Originally Posted by euromodder

If you ever feel the urge to buy a Prius, rent one for a day or so.

You can hypermile a Beemer and make it sip like a Prius - well, sort of.
But you can't make a Prius handle like a Beemer

I disagree. Try a set of lowering springs, rear sway bar, and 17" wheels. after that it all comes down to who has the biggest sack. lol

Whoever said you cannot hypermile a Prius obviously knows nothing about the car. You can drive it normally and as long as you avoid lots of short trips you can easily achieve EPA ratings. Drive with a bit of care or stick to the freeway at speeds below 65mph and you should have no problem getting 50-55mpg per tank. Start hypermiling and 118mpg is the limit thus far. Ecomod it and hypermile it and tell us what you get. lol

Today I drove mostly freeway speeds of 65mph for 290 miles with a few stops in a national park and I ended the trip at 56mpg. It's really not hard to beat EPA in these things when you know how to take advantage of hybrid technology.

The current record tank
Prius New World Record: over 50km/L(117mpg) tank - CleanMPG Forums

[320touring]

Originally Posted by pete c

Interesting thread. i'd like to add my thoughts.

Driving ANY new, or almost new, for that matter vehicle will never come close to matching the $/mile of a good, reliable old beater, assuming you have the mechanical skills and willingness to do what it takes to help it along in it's old age.

Hypermiling is a sport. Any manual transmissioned car that is OK with EOCing can have it's mileage greatly enhanced by a skilled hypermiler. A prius, with it's smarty pants drive train wants to share in the fun.

I'm selfish. I don't like to share.

Every time I read about one of you euros discussing the countless engine choices you have, I want to throttle you!!!! More accurately, I want to jump in my horrifically overpowered gasser and drive to DC and throttle everyone at EPA and NHT...NTS....uhhhh, you know, the scoundrels there in charge of making sure we only drive "safe" cars.

Haha! got it in one I fear- I like being responsible for the better mileage

as for "us Euros", we're heavily regulated re car modigfication- A Kammback would get me Jail time.. not to mention if I was paying $4 a gallon rather than £7, I'd have a '59 chevy and a 69 dodge charger!

Originally Posted by F8L

I disagree. Try a set of lowering springs, rear sway bar, and 17" wheels. after that it all comes down to who has the biggest sack. lol

Whoever said you cannot hypermile a Prius obviously knows nothing about the car. You can drive it normally and as long as you avoid lots of short trips you can easily achieve EPA ratings. Drive with a bit of care or stick to the freeway at speeds below 65mph and you should have no problem getting 50-55mpg per tank. Start hypermiling and 118mpg is the limit thus far. Ecomod it and hypermile it and tell us what you get. lol

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So, pay for for mods to get tio the same setup as a stock BMW? I could drop mine 40mm, Bilstein b6 dampers and 16" wheels and be ahead again

All credit to you for the "modded "prius idea- I see from your sig you have something approaching it

Its not so much being unable to hypermile it- I imagine it can be effective as per your link-but I dont know whether the car could produce simiar results without modifications to the softwatre/hardware controlling it- I'm not too highly clued up on prius tech

[F8L]

Originally Posted by 320touring

So, pay for for mods to get tio the same setup as a stock BMW? I could drop mine 40mm, Bilstein b6 dampers and 16" wheels and be ahead again

Agreed but you'd still have worse fuel mileage by far. The Prius is specializes in a different kind of high performance. Adding the mods just makes it acceptable to drive through fast corners. Accelerating out of them and anything even remotely exciting just isn't going to happen though. lol I generally do not usually compare the Prius to a BMW as the BMW is obviously a nicer car but when it comes down to fuel mileage and apples to apples comparisons there is now way a production BMW is going to beat a Prius in fuel efficiency. Besides, I'd rather have the newer Prius than an old BMW. More technology and cleaner emissions is my main concern. Now once BMW starts selling these plug-in and EV cars all bets are off. Competition is a good thing. (I have a secret love for M3s and almost bought one in 2003)

All credit to you for the "modded "prius idea- I see from your sig you have something approaching it

It's not quite as quick in the corners as my old 2000 Corvette but its fun enough. The stock suspension feels more like driving a tuna boat than a sports car. The springs and such at least make it feel somewhat sporty.

Its not so much being unable to hypermile it- I imagine it can be effective as per your link-but I dont know whether the car could produce simiar results without modifications to the softwatre/hardware controlling it- I'm not too highly clued up on prius tech

The Prius in question is stock (except for grille blocking) as was the one that got 115mpg years ago (see TeddyGirl's thread). Most people get stuck around 70mpg-90mpg. Anything higher than that requires a lot of skill and the perfect conditions where they can drive VERY slow over the course of a full tank. As far as I know there is no one doing computer tuning on the Prius whatsoever so all of these records are on stock ECUs and the only mods seem to be overinflated LRR tires and grille blocking when needed.

[Arragonis]

320 - did you ever try the Prius you linked to ?

You can still hypermile it - it wants to "help" a lot but its like any car - you adjust to how it works. If I could get Mrs A to then we would be mega £s ahead by now...

[niky]

The 1.8 model is a doozy to hypermile on the highway (highest I've gotten was around 36 km/l), the gasoline engine can stay off longer at speed, and the new electric motor is more powerful.

Still, the 1.5 liter car is just so damn good in traffic... it's nigglingly difficult to get it below 20 km/l in city driving, and it averages well over that on the highway... though I'm absolutely boggled by that guy who got over 50 km/l... that's some insanely good hypermiling!

[320touring]

Originally Posted by F8L

BMW is obviously a nicer car but when it comes down to fuel mileage and apples to apples comparisons there is now way a production BMW is going to beat a Prius in fuel efficiency. Besides, I'd rather have the newer Prius than an old BMW. More technology and cleaner emissions is my main concern. Now once BMW starts selling these plug-in and EV cars all bets are off. Competition is a good thing. (I have a secret love for M3s and almost bought one in 2003)

Have a look at the Efficient Dynamics bmw's available in Europe.. some are getting north of 60mpg (imp)...

The Prius in question is stock (except for grille blocking) as was the one that got 115mpg years ago (see TeddyGirl's thread). Most people get stuck around 70mpg-90mpg. Anything higher than that requires a lot of skill and the perfect conditions where they can drive VERY slow over the course of a full tank. As far as I know there is no one doing computer tuning on the Prius whatsoever so all of these records are on stock ECUs and the only mods seem to be overinflated LRR tires and grille blocking when needed.

Certainly, that looks like a helluva achievement then

Originally Posted by Arragonis

320 - did you ever try the Prius you linked to ?

You can still hypermile it - it wants to "help" a lot but its like any car - you adjust to how it works. If I could get Mrs A to then we would be mega £s ahead by now...

No- I bought LED sidelights for the iS instead- more in keeping with the current fiscal ability!