Prius vs. E250 MPG Battle
 

Mercedes-Benz E250 Bluetec vs Toyota Prius MPG Battle - Road & Track

I don't even know where to begin with criticizing this "test". I completely lost faith when they ran the Prius up to its top speed, after earlier in the article they said they would just be driving like normal people... ONLY 41 mpg out of a Prius, how is that even possible?

The only time I read that rag any more is when I am sitting in the waiting room for the wife to get finished with her doctors appointment.
Look at the consumer reports frequency or repair records for the two cars.
Look at the difference in fuel cost and energy content.
Look at the price difference.
I'm not a great fan of Toyota and I used to work and a Benz dealership in the 1980s.
I'll take my recycled Fiesta and pocket the difference in price for more useful things.

regards
Mech

Well, I suppose the results of the magazine is as credible as the results tracked on Fuelly that show the Mercedes returning an average of 37.1 MPG. That is to say, the results of any test with a sample size of 1 should be given very little consideration.

The Prius on the other hand, has 98 vehicles tracked on Fuelly, with an average MPG of 50.3.

The Road and Track test wasn't "normal driving" as the reporter claims. Cars aren't normally driven 430 miles on the interstate at 80 MPH.

Comparing a $50k car that uses a fuel containing 30% more energy to a $25k car that uses cheaper gasoline is also not a worthwhile comparison.

By normal people they mean Germans with the Nuremburg ring in their back yard.

So if I like to drive like a race car driver I shouldn't get a Prius, good to know.

Several issues with that test.
1 there is no comment on the different tank sizes between the two. Sure you might have more gas left but you had more gas left before either car was turned on so that's an absolutely useless piece of data. You should have started with the same amount of gas. Completely empty tanks and then throw in 10 gallons each.

2 it's not completely normal to take a Prius to top speed. Ever.

3 completely different transmissions between the two.

4 can you say comparing apples to oranges.

5 of course the Prius lost if it didn't that would have never been published.

6 your Mercedes costs a ton more than a Prius and you have it for completely different reasons than someone would buy a Prius for so why do you still feel you have something to prove? Are these guys that insecure that you can't let anything your car does be worse than a Prius?

Wait what is the prius top speed?
61mph?

Closer to 114.

regards
mech

Oh - I finally figured it out: E250! I kept thinking it was "F250" and wondering why they kept talking about a Mercedes and not a Ford. Guess I need to pay attention, huh? drrrr.... :o

I thought E250 Ford at first...

http://www.wallpaper11.com/wp-conten...llpapers-4.jpg

WOW. I don't know what to say to this...:o

As always I agree with Frankie. This topic title needs to be changed to include the word mercedes, benz or both before the e250. My e250 it would be no contest, I got 9mpg. :eek:

I thought it was going to be a gallons per passenger per mile thing...

Just a case in point thing here. My friend has an old 90s era suburban on a trip I was on with him I was getting a little more than 30 mpg he was getting about half that but we both end up at a half tank at the same time consistently because of the different tank sizes. So they were making such a big deal about having so much more gas in the tank of the merc but that really doesn't prove anything.

I came away with: "...even after being high-speed 'thrashed' the Prius was STILL able to pull off a bonafide DRAW..."

Econoline E250 van.

Prius gas tank size 11.9 us gallons
E250 gas tank size 21.1 us gallons

Which means if the Prius got 50 mpg the Benz could get less than 30 mpg and still have a longer range than the Prius.

An even bigger issue than that though is that the Benz is a diesel and even though the Prius is a hybrid it's still a gas engine which is almost always less efficient than diesel.

Less efficient may not be the correct term. Diesel has a 13% higher energy content than gasoline.

But that IS normal driving, for a given value of 'normal' - the one R&T readers would like to use :-)

Yeah I meant gas engine cars are less fuel efficient than a diesel counterpart. Not that the engine itself isn't efficient.