Consumer Reports eh what?

I am of the opinion that the current batch of CR automotive testers are full of themselves and legends in their own minds. They pan the C yet it's a wonderful car that does exactly what it's supposed to. Regarding MPG, my C2 with 5000 miles has a MPG average of 55.7. Most of the driving is interstate or rural and I drive it like I would any other car. I believe that's better than Toyota's stated MPG rating and it's without any special effort. CR just isn't the resource it used to be way back when I was a kid.

 

According to Fuelly:
2012: 50.6 mpg from 469 cars.
2013: 50.1 mpg from 68 cars.

Looks to me like the Prius C is beating its combined rating of 50. Especially when you go and look at some of the weirdly inaccurate profiles.

 

Mahout,
When you say CR misrepresents the Prius C, are you thinking of their fuel economy results compared to EPA ?
It is a different test, you know.

 

Their opinions are too drastically inconsistent, each article is highly subjective to the author who wrote it, and most of their peeps seem to hate Prii in general. In one article they quote the Prius C as the most reliable car in their data base, and in half a dozen other articles they talk about how terrible of a car it is and that you should never buy one. Most of their negative opinions are based on how it feels, looks, or drives, and have nothing to do with actual performance. That kind of information is something a driver should figure out themselves at the dealership, you decide whether you like the look or feel of the new vehicle. CR should be more focused on writing performance based articles, preferably unbiased ones at that.

 

double

 

I agree. I read CR for the data, not the wannabee C&D garbage.

 

Wow so pretty much reading this thread and knowing my own experience with priusc not to mention researching the prius owners forums the last year or so..I am bummed that "consumer reports" is now officially discredited in my book. I can and will no longer take any of their so called "testing" to be of any real credibility. Geeze first Obama and now this *sigh*

 

I would not totally discredit CR but re: auto reporting there is some CR-attitude not unlike EPA which is pro-Plug-in and ambivalent re: hybrids. Also maybe some element of ambivalence to Toyota hybrids, much like US Congress who does not want to give full support to Toyota hybrids which is a Japanese-centric technology leadership area. In short politics and some preference for USA political correctness trends as set by EPA, Congress, and Obama admin - maybe a shade to the left, is it fair to say?

 

More than a shade. After all, they are pretty sure that the earth is not flat.

 

This is the first car I have ever owned that gets above the window sticker mileage.

 

Maybe different car, but they are rated very similarly, 3.7/4.0 vs 3.5/4.0, neither of which match my lifetime average of 5.1 as tracked on fuelly over almost a year. If I had to guesstimate, I'd say I generally get around 6.0 city and around 4.8 highway, with more distance accumulated on highways to weight the average.

I can certainly do better (~4.0) but it requires longer stretches at 60-80km/h. Which is impossible for my work commute, and just requires better discipline on my part for longer trips (too much temtation to take 100+km/h highways)

I will top up my tires though

 

Dag nabit, maybe I'll go back to training it in from Jersey City. I just hate parking it in a self parking lot where people don't understand, I've parked so close to the wall to be AWAY FROM THEM not so they can park CLOSER to me

This seemingly constant heat lately and resulting AC usage is also killing my MPG.

 

During warmer months, I can always get 53MPG+ on city driving. Once it gets to winter, I get high 40s. I have to drive it 'properly' though to get 53+ - I'm watching my acceleration, not going into power zone and balancing other things. Highway driving is harder to get the EPA rating of 46MPG unless I'm driving 65MPH the whole way on flat ground... When I do drive slower, it easily surpasses that. I've had many trips to Chicago from Bloomington with low 40s MPG when I'm driving around 73-74MPH.

My wife drives the C like a regular car and she gets low 40s often when driving in the city. So maybe CR's numbers aren't too off.

The C has the potential to get amazing MPG but it all depends on how you drive it.

Drive it like a regular car, you're not going to get posted EPAs. Drive it like a Prius, you'll definitely surpass it

 

I think you mean: so maybe my wife drives like the CR test.

 

I drive it like a normal car... see below...