Prius is Gutless?

The Hybrid Synergy Drive has no 'kick in the butt' as it shifts, (it never shifts) so reviewers who use their 'butt dyno' are not impressed.

In Real Life, I have never needed more power than my Prius had.

 

I always think it's a testament to your success when your competitors are constantly held up in comparison to yourself.

I actually welcome competition, growth and advancement. Volkswagen a company that in recent past years met the challenge of hybrids, by more or less simply making fun of them or ignoring their reality is now making a hybrid.

But I'm not sure they get it. At least not in my personal opinion. For all the vehicles, Hybrid, Diesel or otherwise that attempt to take aim at the Prius, and for as many times in that article that it is declared that The Jetta Hybrid is no Toyota Prius, there is one undeniable aspect in which The Jetta Hybrid IS no Toyota Prius and that is in the arena of total fuel efficiency.

This statement should worry anyone looking for real hybrid fuel efficiency: " Driven with efficiency in mind, the Jetta Hybrid returns 45 mpg on the highway cycle. "

So what does it get in stop and go city driving? What does it realistically return when you are tempted into testing that less than 9 seconds from Zero to Sixty?

IMO this is another Hybrid, being marketed with old school thinking. It's another "This is a Hybrid but it's just like the high performance gas guzzlers you are use to driving".

You'd think with Toyota's success with Prius that the competition would learn. There's a huge market for a vehicle that offers REAL high end fuel efficiency both in highway driving and city. And furthermore IMO there is a huge market for a vehicle that excels in the arena of what for many people IS the majority of the driving they do. Stop and Go...congested city urban driving.

There's is a huge market for The Prius. And that means there are a lot of people that are NOT valuing those 2,3 even 4 seconds faster from 0-60.

For many of us, those times we find ourselves in a driving environment that allows cruising consistently at speeds 55, 60 or 70 mph or more....is becoming rarer and rarer. And for all the malignancy that is thrown at The Prius for supposed deficiencies in this area? Personally? I find that if given the open highway? The Prius is capable- and I personally don't care if it takes me an extra 2,3 or 4 seconds to reach that highway speed. I'll make up all those seconds and more when I'm NOT stopped at the gas station.

So I'm not saying VW doesn't have a good product here. Maybe it is great. But in my personal opinion, until you can say "It's a Hybrid but it's NOT like a Prius, because it's quicker, stronger, faster, more refined BUT also say, it IS like a Prius in offering 50 mpg in both City and on Highway" then you might have a great product, but you haven't reached me, or I think a significant amount of people.

To me? If I value the sports car handling and 0-60 times touted by the Jetta Hybrid? Then the gas mileage efficiency difference between the Jetta Hybrid and the regular Jetta isn't enough to justify to me getting the Hybrid. Because my guess is that if the best most glowing review for The Jetta hybrid is giving me the caveat that " If I drive with efficiency in mind, I MIGHT get as much as 45 mpg on the Highway" then the reality is probably that if I drive...in any manner below that threshold I'm going to get less. Not to mention what this vehicle may or may not be capable of in areas of fuel efficiency in city driving (My guess, Clear Win for A Prius).

Some automakers STILL have something to learn. I believe that something is that a huge market exists for efficient vehicles. And within this market are people I think, that are willing to give up a few seconds in acceleration and/or not be the quickest vehicle up a huge mountain or hill. Because IMO the environment in which vehicles tuned to excel in those area's is diminishing. While most of realize that the times we need to get from 0-60 in less than 9 seconds, are relatively rare, while the times we may want a vehicle that can save gasoline while stopped in a traffic jam...are far more frequent. And I want a Prius...because it is THAT vehicle.

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Watched a vw commercial the other day, an old pickup truck with and older couple was slowly passing a prius on a mountain pass, then a vw hybrid passed the pickup truck like it was standing still, I laughed, waiting for the other shoe to drop...

It was the most out-rite bizarre ad, will be fun to watch Toyota dress the add, now this article in the paper, pretty much the same as the tv commercial, to funny, best advertising possible, just watch the hard numbers, prius 55mpg+, vw 35mpg-

prius obeying the speed limit, vw get's ticket breaking the speed limit, then breaks down and has to be hauled away

 

What's the Jetta Hybrid have going against it? It's a VW.

 

Hey, ursle,

Next time you see that ad, take a closer look. I'd swear that the hybrid car being passed is a NEW (2nd generation) Honda Insight. My wife thought it was a Prius too, but I used the DVR to run the ad in slow motion & I really think it looks more like the newer Prius copycat version of the Honda Insight rather than the original 2-seater, fender-skirted version Insight (that looks more like the old Citroen SM). But I don't think it's a Prius.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Are there two Hybrid Jetta ads? The one I have seen shows the VW behind an RV that is stuck behind the Insight. The Jetta then passes the Insight and the RV.

I don't think there is a pickup in that one.

 

Hey i got my prii up to 115mph once and was still getting 26 mpg LOL we can go fast, we can corner, we can save more money than VW. And all of us prius owners know that no car really tops us!

Like someone mentioned in an earlier post, if the prius wasn't a great car, then why do so many companies compare themselves to us?

 

The problem with car reviewers is that they like cars. And because they like cars, they will always choose the most sporty car disregarding just about everything else. Read any car comparison review and they will undoubtedly choose the most sporty car which due to physics is the least fuel efficient of the batch.

And just to be fair, on the flip side, the problem with the Prius owner is that fuel efficiency and/or costs trump all other factors. Therefore, the Prius is superior to all other cars despite anemic acceleration.

We don't have a problem with acceleration because we are trying to maximize fuel economy. It's counterproductive to speed up. The car reviewer and unfortunately, most of the US buying public view urgency as the more pressing need. We praise the features we value by quietly brushing away the shortcomings. The Prius is slow, so what? The VW is a hybrid but its no Prius. Use your own retort.

In other words, our opinion is but a subset of the buying public. Friend wanted an SUV. Hated the fuel economy. Bought a hybrid SUV. You don't think we can replace SUV with Jetta and "my friend" with Joe Public?

 

Not even close!

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1082720_2013-volkswagen-jetta-hybrid-quick-gas-mileage-test

 

More here.
Characteristics Jetta vs Prius people | PriusChat

 

Well that makes it rather humorous

 

Second commercial above. It's the latest Honda Insight.

 

I saw that advertisment too, but thought the other car was a Honda Insight, rather than a Prius. Regardless of the make of the other car. What a stupid ad, especially considering that more than 30 thousand Americans will die in car crashes this year. We have all seen aggressive drivers waste resources while passing unsafely, while responsible drivers bide their time, conserve resources, and arrive at their destinations safely.

 

?? For a laugh when someone that has been showing signs of hating a Prius being in front pulls up next to you at a light put her in PWR and briskly accelerate to the speed limit. If you stop at another light they will not even look at you. Just got off the phone with my wife, she is on the road, and she has to be careful as she keeps ending up going 80+ on the FRW. How much much more power do you need.......how much can you expect from a rig that can EASILY get more than 50MPG with very little effort?
RAL

 

Bit too much emphasis on MPGs in Prius to point still has Mickey Mouse steering wheel and torsion beam rear suspension found in cheaper cars. Never heard reviewer say Prius is 'fun' on backroads. Jetta hybrid not proven and not as practical, but I'm all for other models stealing away liftback sales due to blunders in seating, ergonomics and ridiculous floating bridge console. Fall in Toyota and make it normal. Bring Accord hybrid and Insight full hybrid to chew into Prius sales.

 

My Prius is faster than my previous 07 Subaru Outback with the 2.5 that averaged 25 MPG. Good enough for me for my commuter car.

 

Whoops, double post...

 

Hey... Speak for the Liftback! MotorTrend's Jonny Lieberman said this on a Prius v vs CMax comparo:

The problem is that people want their cake and eat it too. They want quick acceleration for that one time you might need it. So, the manufacturers are building new hybrids that are "fun to drive" (as in "CMax is fun to drive"). Yet, the average buyer just simply buys into the manufacturer's mpg claims ("yes, of course my ____ gets 47/48 mpg") and they continue having "fun" with their new hybrid even as they get 35 mpg. As long as you make it fun to drive, they won't care if it gets the EPA mpg estimates.

As Ford has been finding out, this kind of ads work so VW is trying the same.

How about this: "Prius by Tesla. For when you need to accelerate from 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds."