Are Hybrid Cars rubbish?

[Boddie]

Originally Posted by ron1863

I just watched a rerun of a Top Gear programme where they "raced" a Toyota Prius and a BMW M3 for 10 miles around a track.

The Prius averaged 17.3 mpg
The BMW averaged 19.0 mpg

I think that more than justifies me buying this then

[Boddie]

Then I saw this described as 'The worlds best looking Prius'



and the saying 'you can't make a silk purse...', sprung to mind

[ron1863]

Originally Posted by Boddie

Then I saw this described as 'The worlds best looking Prius'



and the saying 'you can't make a silk purse...', sprung to mind

But would it still average 17.3mpg - and the Beamers is still the better looking car. I've had a couple and never regretted it (not the coupe though).

[MrLouKnee]

i drive a gas guzler and average 20mpg.

so my cars better than a Prius for the environment?

Great !

[Boddie]

Originally Posted by MrLouKnee

i drive a gas guzler and average 20mpg.

so my cars better than a Prius for the environment?

Great !

Correct. I applaud your choice both on environmental issues but also on looks, and, of course, noise.

And speed

[MrLouKnee]

hehe cheers boddie

[nightshade]

Any car with less than category-C (130mg) emmissions should be taken off the road, think of your children (not Jeremy Clarkson )
My Focus is ok b.t.w

[Myra]

Originally Posted by nightshade

Any car with less than category-C (130mg) emmissions should be taken off the road, think of your children (not Jeremy Clarkson )
My Focus is ok b.t.w

Hmmm. I do not agree with the above statement. Not because I'm some kind of Jeremy Clarkson idolising petrol-head, but because I think it misses a few points.

When we bought our current car, we were doing exactly what nightshade recommended: thinking of our children. We bought a VW Passat estate, which is deeply untrendy, because it is large enough to haul us and our planned 2 kids around (we got it just before our first kid was born) and because it's long-lasting and reliable. And then we chose the most fuel-efficient engine you could get for it, a 1.9 liter turbo-diesel, wihch gets 154 CO2 emissions. And then we planned to keep it for 10 years as our only car before replacing it. We got it in 2002, so you can see we're doing pretty well.

And then we don't use it. Well, we use it on the weekend for family outings and for the weekly supermarket run, and we use it to visit friends and family in various parts of the UK. But we rarely use it on the weekdays. We get around by bicycles. My husband rides every day to work, as do I. I take my daughter to school and son to the child minder using bikes, and then continue on to work on a bike.

I think the emissions rating of your car is only part of the story. The other, perhaps even bigger part of the story is: how much do you use it? And how long will you keep it? If your family runs 2 small cars, using them to drive to work every day, and replaces them every 4 years, I can guarantee that you're consuming alot more resources than we are (car-wise).

[nightshade]

Sorry Myra I was having a pop at Boddie, please don't take my comments to heart

[Myra]

OK, no worries!