Is The Prius Losing Its Purpose?

Your 26 combined is what Motortrend got in their recent testing of the Elantra.
I posted this somewhere a couple of days ago!

Misleaders Per Gallon: Advertising a Different MPG - Motor Trend Blog

 

I've never NOT been able to hit the EPA estimates on any cars I've driven in the past 10 years .... EXCEPT with a 2008 RAV4. With at least 6 other cars I've easily beaten the estimates.

I can easily see why others can't though ... they speed, tailgate, accelerate up to red lights and slam on the brakes, while I'm coasting up to the light, they accelerate quickly for no reason, and generally drive quite stupidly. I always laugh when I see someone tailgating someone and hitting the brakes every 5 seconds or so .... for mile upon mile. You gotta wonder what someone like that is thinking.

If you drive stupidly, you get stupid gas mileage. If you drive like a race car driver like Motor Trend drives every car ... you get the equivalent mileage as well. If I beat the crap out of my Prius for a day ... I'd get 30 mpg too .... then IT would be a great misleader ... right ?

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I made the decision to purchase a 2011 Prius about a month ago after looking at the following other vehicles:

a) Hyundai Accent
b) Hyundai Sonata (used with 18K kms)
c) Honda Civic
d) Toyota Corolla
e) Toyota Matrix
f) Mazda 3

From a power and handling point of view, I liked the Mazda 3 the best. The Prius was middle of the pack and was pretty much like most of the other vehicles overall in this respect.

From a style, overall cabin comfort/utility and features/gadgets point of view the Prius was by far the best - more in line with a mid-sized sedan like an accord or camry.

From a price point of view, the Prius was the most expensive. I bought a pretty loaded Prius with sunroof, etc (everything but NAV) but from as close to an apples to apples comparison I can figure, the Prius would be about $5-7K more than, say, the Honda Civic.

From a fuel economy point of view, well, we all know the answer to that one and the Prius has proven out it for me already.

I drive about a 40kms commute round trip on relatively flat terrain with some highway at 100km/h thrown in and am getting 4.0l/100km (70.6mpg Imperial, 58.8 mpg US).

I have adjusted my driving style to the car - less A/C, modest acceleration, driving the posted speed limit, no talgating (ever), to get better mileage. (Ironically, the interesting side benefit to this is stress-free driving - I am actually more relaxed getting into work or getting home than I have been in years).

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase.

So, has the Prius lost its purpose? As a brand new buyer I say - no way!

The economics are sound - the Prius is well equipped, has tons of cabin and hatchback room, is very reliable and will pay back in gas savings and reduced repair/maintenance in a reasonable amount if time.

Of course the environment is happier - less gas consumed, fewer emissions, etc.

Maybe most importantly, in answering the question posed, however, is that the future has a roadmap - the Prius and its mainstream success has created a viable roadmap for the future - at Toyota and, kicking and screaming, other manufacturers as well. Toyota will introduce the plug-in Prius shortly and it will become mainstream too. So, what's next - Mr. Fusion? That would be cool, but I believe we would be nowhere now in mainstream consciousness without the Prius.

 

With both Focus and Elantra I drove normally as well as with cruise control going with traffic- which in LA is around 70 or so. Focus was able to get much better than EPA on cruise sometimes maintaining 45 MPG ! Elantra was impossible to get past 36. And then once I hit city driving forget it. I am hardly a lead foot- and I never race, I drive and even slowly accelerated as well as rolled to stops. Bottom line these new 40MPG small cars will avg around 26 in the city with normal non racing driving. plus they are all pretty small and ride very low to the ground which is really what I didn't like about them.

 

I wasn't implying that YOU drove stupidly Mike , merely saying that MANY people DO.

My wife has an 05 Corolla with 155K miles on it and she's averaged 33+ MPG from the day the car was new in mixed driving. It's truly hard to believe that a new Elantra with a 6 spd trans can't get over 30.

CR got 29 overall, and 35 on their 150 mile trip, 39 pure highway, which I'd think would be easily possible. Keep in mind that a rental may not have the proper air pressure in the tires, which can probably lose you 10+%, and it may not have been filled up all the way when you started (not sure if you checked those things). I'm not a big fan of CR, but I HAVE found that their auto evaluations are pretty much right on, at least compared to my personal observations.

CR shows the 2012 Focus at 28 overall and 37 for the 150 mile trip, with 43 being achieved on the highway. If you drive 70+, forget those numbers .... same as the Prius. At 55-65 I easily achieve 57+ with my Prius on mostly highway trips ... drive 70+ and make it 50/50 driving, and I'm, in the low 50's ... still not too bad.

Fuelly shows an overall average of 31.5 for the 2012 Elantras and 30.9 for the 2011's.

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I'm hoping to make 50 in the Prius! Haven't really test driven it much- but with all the stop and go in LA seems like it should be close.

 

I'm sure you'll be close Mike ... I got mine in zero degree weather in January, and in the first 12K miles have averaged 48+ mpg. Surprisingly, this summer has been outrageously HOT, and I've needed to use the A/C almost constantly. I've lost FAR more MPG's using the A/C regularly than I did in the cold weather with a new engine. I was hoping for the summer to get me over 50, but it's actually decreased my MPG overall. Now I'm looking forward to fall when I can just use the vent with no AC OR heat.

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I'm in disbelief at the mileage I've achieved on the current tank (presently 50 miles in). According to the readout, I'm right around 63 mpg (so I'll take that as 60 mpg actual). This is in 100+ degree heat (I leave the AC off as much as possible in suburban driving, etc.). This is the best I've achieved yet.

 

For my wife and I this car is one of the best purchases we ever made.. we have always been car people. Liking cars that were stylish and fast. We have always liked luxury cars as well.. we have had Acuras and Lexus as our main cars. And have always had an extra "Fun" car.

Purchased the prius with having a family in mind and becoming more economical. Great utility. Ikea trips are now a breeze..Mileage is also a plus. Changed some things to make it the way I want it. But overall happy with my purchase. No other car in the price range were too my liking. The prius doesn't seem like an econobox to me, like others have stated. Just seems more refined then other cars I liked. However, only manufacturers I was interested in purchasing from were Honda/Acura or Toyota/Lexus because of my previous experience with other manufacturers.

Prius seems very relevant for me. I wish I could have waited for the Plug In since that is something I really would have liked. Maybe when my wife is ready for a new car? lol