It's not what you drive...it's how you drive it! - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

mcrews · 12-28-2009, 04:22 AM

an interesting video showing a bmw m3 and a prius going ten laps.

Granted, a prius is at home P&G ing. But the message is "fix the nut behind the wheel"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKTOyiKLARk

Piwoslaw · 12-28-2009, 04:44 AM

Quote:

It's not what you drive...it's how you drive it!

Very true, but... this is somewhat like comparing apples and oranges. A hybrid is built to catch and reuse energy in stop-go traffic, with steady driving all that extra technology is just dead weight. On the other hand, there are lots of Prii spending 90% of their time on the highway, so it is important to show people how important driving style is.

roflwaffle · 12-28-2009, 07:09 AM

I thought the message was "drafting nets better mileage".

mcrews · 12-28-2009, 08:23 AM

nice!!

Or blocking the road helps everybody get ggod mpg!!!!

thatguitarguy · 12-28-2009, 10:06 AM

The assertions made by "Top Gear":

1. The Prius is more environmentally damaging than BMW M3
2. "At this speed" the BMW is more economical than the Prius
3. The Prius is more environmentally damaging than Land Rover Discovery

The "facts" they present to "prove" that the Prius is worse than the BMW M3, was simply that "at this speed", The BMW got better F/E than the Prius. They never stated what "this speed" was, only that it was pushing the Prius as fast as it would go. This was clearly outside of the parameters that the Prius was designed for. Perhaps a more viable "real world" test would have been to drive them both side by side across central London at rush hour. I'll take bets on that one.

The only thing that they stated as "evidence" that the Prius is more damaging than the Discovery was an unnamed "recent study". The only example they used was for nickel used in the batteries. Do they think that the metal used in the Discovery was mined in mineral rich Great Britain? And that the plastics in that car were made from locally drilled oil?

All they proved to me was that some people will believe anything you tell them, especially if they want to believe it, and you don't have to prove anything. And there is always a way to design a test in order skew results in your favor.

This is really about as entertaining as watching political sound bite commercials at election time in America.

MadisonMPG · 12-28-2009, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thatguitarguy

The assertions made by "Top Gear"

Top Gear constantly makes fun of car companies, and cars like the Prius. They are just entertaining. If both cars kept up with every day traffic for 10 gallons of fuel, the M3 would be stopped well before the Prius, we all know that.

mcrews · 12-28-2009, 12:43 PM

Absolutely,
My intention was for humor and point of view. Not to have everyone rush out and buy an M3.

But I'm sure if SVOboy or Christ or MadisonMPG or anyothers got behind the M3, you could probably squeeze out a pretty decent MPG.

Peter7307 · 12-28-2009, 09:47 PM

Rarely are the two expressions "Top Gear" and "facts" used together.

TG is basically an entertainment show and for seeing cars driven sideways and lots of "POOOWWWWAAAAAAAA" TG is great , but for serious car information there are other and better sources.

Pete.

RobertSmalls · 12-28-2009, 09:52 PM

Sure, I could slowly hypermile an M or a Q, and get mpg's in the 30's. But I'd rather drive 74mph in an Insight getting >50mpg, or an AeroCivic getting, what, 75mpg?

It's not just how you drive, it's also what you drive.

MetroMPG · 12-28-2009, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roflwaffle

I thought the message was "drafting nets better mileage".

Bingo!

I love Top Gear - never miss an episode! Good entertainment.

The only thing that bugs me: despite how ridiculously exaggerated and fabricated their anti-eco rants are, I wonder how many people out there just accept what they present at face value.