CPians and Fuel Efficent Cars ?
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Renault Megane - it's OK, but I primarily bought it for it's safety - it's a Euro NCAP 5 (the highest safety rating) and I put the safety of my kids above my old sports car.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
I got a Toyota Yaris because it had a good safety rating (I don't know the NCAP rating though) and because it was a low tax band because of its fuel efficiency. I've had it at just shy of 55MPG. Back to the safety. Just after I bought my Yaris I saw someone had crashed theirs. The car the collided with was 100m away buried in a hedge by the side of the road. The Yaris was a mess of airbags and the previous occupants were standing on the opposite side of the road looking shaken but alive. I find it increadible the number of surfaces that have "Airbag" written on them.
Recent blog posts: * Introduction to LINQ to XML (Part 1) - (Part 2) - (part 3) My website | Blog
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Any CPians driving fuel efficient cars ? What are they and how do they rate performance versus efficiency trade off ?
Regards Ray "Je Suis Mort De Rire" Blogging @ Keratoconus Watch If its fast and ugly, they will use it and curse you; if its slow they will not use it -- David Cheriton
I have a big Honk'n Ford Pickup Truck from the early 80's. It burns emulsified clubbed baby seals. It has wonderful gas mileage, since it burns no gas. It has a small carbon foot print.
MrPlankton
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Any CPians driving fuel efficient cars ? What are they and how do they rate performance versus efficiency trade off ?
Regards Ray "Je Suis Mort De Rire" Blogging @ Keratoconus Watch If its fast and ugly, they will use it and curse you; if its slow they will not use it -- David Cheriton
Toyota Prius, getting approx 60mpg (imperial) at present indicated on the multi-function display. Reportedly this can be a bit inaccurate, but when I last refuelled I'd done 453 miles since last fuel and the pump reported 33.49 litres distributed when it cut off. That works out at 61.5mpg. (I'm refuelling with two blobs out of ten left on the fuel gauge, as the manual says that the fuel pump will struggle with less than 25% in the tank, as the fuel pump is cooled by being immersed in the fuel.) The Prius, in the US at least, has a resin bladder to contain the fuel, whose capacity changes according to temperature. This helps to prevent fuel evaporating in the tank. I'm not actually sure if the UK model has this feature - some commenters say no. The fact that the capacity changes makes measuring how much fuel you used quite tricky. Performance - it has no step gears, being an 'electric CVT', so you don't lose any time changing gears. The car can keep the engine turning at peak torque and apply the motor torque as well for fast acceleration (for short periods). It's a lot quicker than my old 1.6 Ford Focus when overtaking. There is a bit of lag as it gets all the motors pointing the right way before it takes off, though. Beware the sticker shock - this car, three months old, ex-demonstrator, cost me £16,350 (less trading in the seven-year-old Focus for £1,750). Small diesels will use less fuel than this even after allowing for the fact that diesel has more energy per unit volume than petrol (it's about 13%, with only a 10% premium in price in the UK). It depends what you want the car to do. Personally the technology in the Prius intrigued me, and I have to say I like the acceleration and the space.
DoEvents: Generating unexpected recursion since 1991
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Any CPians driving fuel efficient cars ? What are they and how do they rate performance versus efficiency trade off ?
Regards Ray "Je Suis Mort De Rire" Blogging @ Keratoconus Watch If its fast and ugly, they will use it and curse you; if its slow they will not use it -- David Cheriton
It always makes me smile hearing Americans talk about fuel efficiency in their cars ;o) There is nothing fuel-efficient about a car with a 4 or 5 litre engine (or larger!) America could lower the price of oil the world over if everyone there drove a car with a 1 litre engine. Lets face it, your speed limit is so low, you don't need anything larger... (unrelated...but... do Americans refer to engine sizes in litres? And if so, why is that the only metric measure you've adopted?)
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It always makes me smile hearing Americans talk about fuel efficiency in their cars ;o) There is nothing fuel-efficient about a car with a 4 or 5 litre engine (or larger!) America could lower the price of oil the world over if everyone there drove a car with a 1 litre engine. Lets face it, your speed limit is so low, you don't need anything larger... (unrelated...but... do Americans refer to engine sizes in litres? And if so, why is that the only metric measure you've adopted?)
MPG: Miles Per Gallon Why did you thought american use litters?!? :confused:
A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... _________________________________________________________ My programs never have bugs, they just develop random features.
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Any CPians driving fuel efficient cars ? What are they and how do they rate performance versus efficiency trade off ?
Regards Ray "Je Suis Mort De Rire" Blogging @ Keratoconus Watch If its fast and ugly, they will use it and curse you; if its slow they will not use it -- David Cheriton
I have a 2007 Toyota Prius. Get about 45 MPG without trying. If I watch how I drive, I can milk a bit more out of it. It was kind of pricey, but I love it. It is a true geek's car. :)
WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated. There are 10 kinds of people in the world: People who know binary and people who don't.
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I got a Toyota Yaris because it had a good safety rating (I don't know the NCAP rating though) and because it was a low tax band because of its fuel efficiency. I've had it at just shy of 55MPG. Back to the safety. Just after I bought my Yaris I saw someone had crashed theirs. The car the collided with was 100m away buried in a hedge by the side of the road. The Yaris was a mess of airbags and the previous occupants were standing on the opposite side of the road looking shaken but alive. I find it increadible the number of surfaces that have "Airbag" written on them.
Recent blog posts: * Introduction to LINQ to XML (Part 1) - (Part 2) - (part 3) My website | Blog
Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
I've had it at just shy of 55MPG.
Wow. :omg: That's not even a hybrid, is it? My Prius runs about 45 MPG without my doing anything special. Pretty sure I could get 55 if I paid close attention to the way I was driving it...
WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated. There are 10 kinds of people in the world: People who know binary and people who don't.
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Is it expensive to get the Prius serviced. I always wondered that about the hybrid cars, are they hell to maintain ?
Regards Ray "Je Suis Mort De Rire" Blogging @ Keratoconus Watch If its fast and ugly, they will use it and curse you; if its slow they will not use it -- David Cheriton
Ray Kinsella wrote:
Is it expensive to get the Prius serviced. I always wondered that about the hybrid cars, are they hell to maintain ?
Mine only has a little over 10,000 miles on it. So far I have only had routine maintenance done to it (oil change, etc.). The batteries and such have a 100,000 mile warranty. Other parts are shorter warranty (I forget exactly what off the top of my head).
WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated. There are 10 kinds of people in the world: People who know binary and people who don't.
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Pretty fuel efficient!
WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated. There are 10 kinds of people in the world: People who know binary and people who don't.
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I have a big Honk'n Ford Pickup Truck from the early 80's. It burns emulsified clubbed baby seals. It has wonderful gas mileage, since it burns no gas. It has a small carbon foot print.
MrPlankton
MrPlankton wrote:
It burns emulsified clubbed baby seals.
:laugh: That's priceless! :laugh:
WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated. There are 10 kinds of people in the world: People who know binary and people who don't.
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Toyota Prius, getting approx 60mpg (imperial) at present indicated on the multi-function display. Reportedly this can be a bit inaccurate, but when I last refuelled I'd done 453 miles since last fuel and the pump reported 33.49 litres distributed when it cut off. That works out at 61.5mpg. (I'm refuelling with two blobs out of ten left on the fuel gauge, as the manual says that the fuel pump will struggle with less than 25% in the tank, as the fuel pump is cooled by being immersed in the fuel.) The Prius, in the US at least, has a resin bladder to contain the fuel, whose capacity changes according to temperature. This helps to prevent fuel evaporating in the tank. I'm not actually sure if the UK model has this feature - some commenters say no. The fact that the capacity changes makes measuring how much fuel you used quite tricky. Performance - it has no step gears, being an 'electric CVT', so you don't lose any time changing gears. The car can keep the engine turning at peak torque and apply the motor torque as well for fast acceleration (for short periods). It's a lot quicker than my old 1.6 Ford Focus when overtaking. There is a bit of lag as it gets all the motors pointing the right way before it takes off, though. Beware the sticker shock - this car, three months old, ex-demonstrator, cost me £16,350 (less trading in the seven-year-old Focus for £1,750). Small diesels will use less fuel than this even after allowing for the fact that diesel has more energy per unit volume than petrol (it's about 13%, with only a 10% premium in price in the UK). It depends what you want the car to do. Personally the technology in the Prius intrigued me, and I have to say I like the acceleration and the space.
DoEvents: Generating unexpected recursion since 1991
Mike Dimmick wrote:
Toyota Prius, getting approx 60mpg (imperial)
Yeah. That works out about in line with my observations (about 50 miles/US gallon). I suspect you are more careful about how fast you take off from a dead stop, etc. than I am. I usually get around 45 MPG (US), but I can easily get it up to 50 if I watch how I drive.
WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated. There are 10 kinds of people in the world: People who know binary and people who don't.
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It always makes me smile hearing Americans talk about fuel efficiency in their cars ;o) There is nothing fuel-efficient about a car with a 4 or 5 litre engine (or larger!) America could lower the price of oil the world over if everyone there drove a car with a 1 litre engine. Lets face it, your speed limit is so low, you don't need anything larger... (unrelated...but... do Americans refer to engine sizes in litres? And if so, why is that the only metric measure you've adopted?)
Kyudos wrote:
do Americans refer to engine sizes in litres?
Yes.
Kyudos wrote:
And if so, why is that the only metric measure you've adopted?
Beats me. Maybe because all the cars are made outside the US now (not literally true). What happened to gold old "cubic inches"? :-D
WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated. There are 10 kinds of people in the world: People who know binary and people who don't.
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Any CPians driving fuel efficient cars ? What are they and how do they rate performance versus efficiency trade off ?
Regards Ray "Je Suis Mort De Rire" Blogging @ Keratoconus Watch If its fast and ugly, they will use it and curse you; if its slow they will not use it -- David Cheriton
2000 Toyota Echo, I get 38 MPG overall. I commute 30 miles each way, all freeway, pretty much level, usually at 80 MPH. On road trips, from Phoenix to L.A., it can exceed 40 MPG, doing 90 MPH. (With the air conditioner blasting.) I'm 6' tall, the Echo has lots of headroom. And I like being able to see the speedometer; getting used to the position of the dashboard took about two hours. I may trade it for a Yaris at some point.
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Any CPians driving fuel efficient cars ? What are they and how do they rate performance versus efficiency trade off ?
Regards Ray "Je Suis Mort De Rire" Blogging @ Keratoconus Watch If its fast and ugly, they will use it and curse you; if its slow they will not use it -- David Cheriton
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Colin Angus Mackay wrote:
I've had it at just shy of 55MPG.
Wow. :omg: That's not even a hybrid, is it? My Prius runs about 45 MPG without my doing anything special. Pretty sure I could get 55 if I paid close attention to the way I was driving it...
WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated. There are 10 kinds of people in the world: People who know binary and people who don't.
The Yaris does great. But also rember that the UK uses imperial gallons and in the US we use well, US liquid gallons. To really gauge this you need to convert apples to apples. Doing so 1 MPG (US) = .425km/L 1 MPG(Imperial) = .354km/L So your Prius is getting 19.2km/L and Colin's Yaris is getting 19.5km/L. Still impressive but also keep in mind that the Yaris is a much smaller and lighter car than the Prius. Also, I am surprised you are only getting 45MPG in your Prius, I've hit that in my Corolla on long road trips and we do consistently 50MPG on our Prius
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long
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Any CPians driving fuel efficient cars ? What are they and how do they rate performance versus efficiency trade off ?
Regards Ray "Je Suis Mort De Rire" Blogging @ Keratoconus Watch If its fast and ugly, they will use it and curse you; if its slow they will not use it -- David Cheriton
My bicycle must be very fuel efficient - everytime I put to much fuel into the engine, it doesn't drive at all :)
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
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Any CPians driving fuel efficient cars ? What are they and how do they rate performance versus efficiency trade off ?
Regards Ray "Je Suis Mort De Rire" Blogging @ Keratoconus Watch If its fast and ugly, they will use it and curse you; if its slow they will not use it -- David Cheriton
Toyota Camry, 42mpg Toyota Highlander, 28mpg I don't race, so can't tell you performance. both make St. Augustine pass without dropping out of cruise control or dropping under the speed limit. The highlander can pass near the highest point on the pass, so that is all I need. They dodge Oryx well, both of them, and barely notice when thumpers get thumped. Neither have so far been bitten by a rattlesnake, but that may be only a matter of time. ;P
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."
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Any CPians driving fuel efficient cars ? What are they and how do they rate performance versus efficiency trade off ?
Regards Ray "Je Suis Mort De Rire" Blogging @ Keratoconus Watch If its fast and ugly, they will use it and curse you; if its slow they will not use it -- David Cheriton
I once got 32 miles per gallon on a trip and they only advertised 28 or something. And here at altitude, I have as yet met even a stock LS2 GTO that can touch my stock SRT. Something to be said for a tiny turbo to make up for all that missing air up here.
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It always makes me smile hearing Americans talk about fuel efficiency in their cars ;o) There is nothing fuel-efficient about a car with a 4 or 5 litre engine (or larger!) America could lower the price of oil the world over if everyone there drove a car with a 1 litre engine. Lets face it, your speed limit is so low, you don't need anything larger... (unrelated...but... do Americans refer to engine sizes in litres? And if so, why is that the only metric measure you've adopted?)
Kyudos wrote:
America could lower the price of oil the world over if everyone there drove a car with a 1 litre engine. Lets face it, your speed limit is so low, you don't need anything larger...
Actually, a well designed aerodynamic shape wouldn't take all that big of an engine to go very fast, but you wouldn't have much room in it. Since half the people here are still in SUVs, they need the 4 or 5 liter engines just to get the things out of the way of other drivers at an intersection. Though, case in point, I have a 2.4 liter engine that has taken me up to 158 mph up a hill and only stopped accelerating due to knowledge of the next turn on the course. I think that is a perfect reason to restrict lambos to 4 cylinders ;)
Kyudos wrote:
And if so, why is that the only metric measure you've adopted?
We are slightly less confusing then the English who not only use MKS units, but when referring to their weight I hear many use stones... As for changing all the way over? Do you have ANY IDEA how many road signs we have? The cost of changing them would be astronomical! (Literally, we could send a robotic spacecraft to Mars for the cost of it) ;)
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Any CPians driving fuel efficient cars ? What are they and how do they rate performance versus efficiency trade off ?
Regards Ray "Je Suis Mort De Rire" Blogging @ Keratoconus Watch If its fast and ugly, they will use it and curse you; if its slow they will not use it -- David Cheriton
I've a 1998 Renault Laguna estate, which does something like 35mpg* on the motorway. However, I really don't consider that fuel efficient - if it was over 60mpg I might be impressed (but don't count on it!). If I had the choice now I'd probably buy a hybrid of some kind when it finally dies - the Golf TDi hybrid (by all accounts) 69mpg, so if they carry that across into the Beetle Convertible I might well be tempted (Bournemouth is too sunny to buy another hard-top!). It's still a parallel drivetrain though - I know from my engineering days how much more efficient an electronic transmission can be than the stone age mechanical or hydraulic transmissions they usually use in the automotive industry. * that's UK gallons, not US ones. 1 UK gallon is roughly 1.2 US gallons, so that 35 mpg goes up to about 42mpg if you measure it in stateside units.
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modified on Wednesday, June 4, 2008 3:51 AM
