Very interesting video on eBay, Edmunds Auto tested a 2008 Prius, Smart, and Focus as well as a 2005 Jetta TDi, measuring fuel economy as well as fuel cost and pollutants. The Jetta beat the Prius (not by much) on the highway but got spanked on the city. The Smart did well too. The higher cost of diesel and premium gas (required by the Smart) made the fuel costs of those cars higher than the Prius. The Focus came in fourth place in all tests (I'm not surprised). I guess if you took the price of the new car in consideration then maybe the Focus might have a leg to stand on, but then you might as well consider maintenance costs and resale value, which will probably put the Focus in fourth place again... I think is fair to notice that they tested a Touring model of the Prius, I wonder if the highway gas mileage of a Standard model Prius would match the Jetta TDi. It goes to show that the Touring is very good on gas too.
yes i saw this, i would still take the prius, considering premium fuel is pricey so is diesel and the focus will definatly lose value over the other 3.
Most of the test results looked OK except for the "back roads" where they claimed less than 50 MPG for speeds from 50-65 mph. That mileage number is too low for those speeds unless they put it in "B" for some significant part of the trip. Bob Wilson
And the fact that it was achieved in a Touring model, which is thought to have poorer fuel economy than a Standard Prius goes to show that the Prius really comes out on top of this test. I think the whole test was pretty fairly done. In a country where diesel is cheap the Jetta might have had a nice advantage, but in the US the Prius clearly comes out on top even though Edmunds was reluctant to say so...
Excellent video, thanks. No doubt the hybrid advantage is in city driving. No conventional ICE car can match it. The Prius is an engineering marvel. Perhaps the best all-around car in the world today.
Very interesting. Thanks for posting this. I agree with bwilson4web that the backroads numbers I personnaly experience are significantly better.
