The Frugalympics - Car and Driver This is the old idea of "What'll she do?" redirected toward saving gas. We've rounded up four different mileage makers to explore gas mileage in everyday driving. For highway mileage we drove freeways across Michigan from Ann Arbor to Holland and back, 337 miles between fills. Traffic hustles along these days. We drove 75 to 80 mph where possible, at the upper range of flow. For city we rolled up 107 miles around metro Ann Arbor on a perfect summer's day, delaying the start until after morning rush hour to ease our need for Rolaids. Speeds were sensible but, again, in the upper range of unimpeded traffic flow where space allowed. Second Place Toyota Prius (90 points) This is a spaceship, a purposeful thrust into Futureland where saving fuel is Job One. The personality is less automotive than Microsoftian. Push a button labeled "power" to boot up. Your trip is accompanied by lots of uncarlike whirrings and engine on and off. "How do it know?" You can punch up a few geek screens on the dash to see the third derivative of CO2 not emitted or whatever it's portraying—your knowing won't change anything about the mission. Apparently, Futureland won't be about steering feel and crisp chassis responses. Then again, all of that could be in the next software rev. The Prius is as much a promise as it is a car. Read entire article by clicking this link. Jeff
Seems pretty balanced, even got specific enough to say the Civic can't drive in EV only and the Prius can. Still not sure what their overall decision criteria was though. I would have thought that the Prius, being bigger and getting better mileage on all counts plus standard features you can't even get on the Civic would have gotten the edge.
If you read the '2nd place' part about the prius the guy waxes idiotically about 'space agey' stuff and how it's unnecessarily complex and stuff. Just plain stupid comments, IMO. Seems they just prefered the civic solely based on the fact that it's just like every other car on the road on the inside and outside. Fear, ignorance and prejudice...they show up everywhere!
That is a turn on/turn off for a lot of people though. "I like how it looks different compared to most other cars" or "I only want something that looks like a normal car". If the author were truly offering an unbiased opinion, I think the size & flexibility (ie. folding rear seat) differences should have been mentioned.
Well, clearly I'm biased toward the Prius, but a balanced article would have involved discussions/interviews with people with more than a day's experience with the car and direct questions to such things as the Power Button--do you like it? Would you rather it had a regular key? Do you like the MFD or find it distracting? Do the unusual noises bother you or do you get used to them. Does the shut down of the car bother you or do you feel better knowing it's not running when the car is stopped.... I realize that there will always be someone who won't accept new technology no matter what. But to criticize the vehicle and rate it lower than an inferior vehicle solely on that basis is a bit silly to me.
I'd seen this argument favoring the Civic hybrid over the Prius many times and yet, it still baffles me. Besides the external appearance, which is not that dramatic compared to other ‘normal’ cars on the road, how different is the Prius really? All of the controls are identical to any other car I’ve ever driven (steering wheel, gas and brake pedals, turn signals, etc). If one finds the very helpful display screen is so disturbing, why not just turn it off?
I find this to be the best review so far because it articulates the how's and why's of mileage variation and appears to take great effort to ensure uniform, fair, comparitive test results. I found the fact they picked up on the losses of the Civic climate control thorough. What still amazed me is someone like Car & Driver, who historically complains about copycat vehicles, has in short dismissed the Prius because it "doesn't fit in" to their idea of a plain car. Flying was not plain. Adding jet engines was not plain. Where would be be if everything conformed to what already was? I also give points to the Prius for the NAV system, something the others don't offer. It's not a perfect car, but if you want features, space, comfort, and great mileage for a reasonable price, you get more in a Prius than in any other car. They sure convinced me the Echo was not worth the $12k savings, something other articles have suggested! In any event, the two hybrids finished at the top, with nearly identical scores. This indicates that the hybrid vehicles are indeed "normal" cars with no compromises, just better mileage than others. I expect the lines to get longer.
It seems that these complaints don't hurt too much since there is only one point difference between the Prius and Civic.
Seems pretty balanced until you get to the result How can it be that the most frugal car didn't win? The article seems pretty balanced between hybrids and diesel, but biased against the Prius. Virtually everything I have read comparing the Civic to the Prius, the Prius comes out ahead. So if your primary criterion is frugality (and if it wasn't it should have been for this article), its pretty hard to see how the Prius couldn't have scored higher than the Civic without some bias coming into play.
well they do recognize the difficulties of refilling the tank uniformly. but this article by far hits the mileage game on the head waaay more than any article ive seen. as far as rating the Honda ahead... i have to question their acceptance of future shock. they obviously are clinging to their youth by choosing the honda simply because it looks just like the regular civic. (as if it was a car to write home about...)
I think the Car and Driver article is dead on accurate. The reality is, that the vast majority of the people out there buying cars, do NOT want the techy stuff as a showcase. They are buying an appliance for the purpose of being a member of the motorized anthill morning and afternoon commutes. They want it to be familliar. Personally, I like the Prius better than the Civic as well. If I'm going to have the additional parts of the drivetrain necessary for the hybrid system, I want it to be able to move the car on their own. However, the reality of the situation here, is that beyond those of us who are fascinated by hybrid powertrains, and how they work, most buyers don't care how it works, so long as it does what it's preached to be able to accomplish. The comparo was only one point apart, and if it wasn't for Toyota's rediculous fuel tank, they very well could have won that comparison. As for the Civic. I've driven them. Just like a Toyota, it's a very well built little car, that deserves their reputation. When it comes to Honda and Toyota, it literally is a matter of which car fits the perspective buyer best. They are both about dead even on product quality.
I had a chance recently to participate in local Open House that showcased a variety of Green technologies and processes. Along with a couple of pure EV's and BioDiesels we had two hybrids: my Prius and a Civic Hybrid. The Civic owner and I had a good bit of time to swap stories and admire each other's car. It has no statistical value at all but I can tell you that the Civic owner liked my Prius better than his car. I'd be interested in knowing the stats of how many folks have bought the Civic because they didn't have the patience to wait for a Prius. As for the techy stuff I imagine the younger crowd is going to more into it (in general) than the rest of us. Geek is chic.
They are raising the bar for everyone. Those resistant to change will observe how ridiculously convenient totally new features like SE/SS are and eventually desire it themselves. It is no different that the switch from VHS to DVD. The adoption rate for the players & recorders vary widely. But in the end, the entire population will be using them. Manufacturers simply stop production of the older technology once sales drop to unprofitable margins. Just look at how tiny the VHS displays are in stores now. Change takes time... and fortunately we actually have some available. The urgentness for HSD itself is a different story though, now that gas prices are permanently climbing to unpleasant levels.
well i do know of a person who bought an Insight because he couldnt wait for a car (his was totaled and his insurance company in no uncertain terms told him he had a maximum of 30 days to get a another car) but he regrets not waiting. i cant say he hates the car, but it took only one ride in mine for him to be convinced that he should have bought a some cheap junker and toughed it out for the 6 month waiting period. realize that he has other vehicles and this car would be used exclusively for his 60 mile one way commute. but even said the minimal difference in the gas mileage between the two cars wasnt worth the myriad of tradeoffs he has to live with. top it off with the fact that his car was 124$ cheaper out the door than mine was.
I, too, am surprised that they did not consider the many advantages of the Prius. But personal preferences are a factor. The reviewer may like a sedan more than a liftback, even though the liftback has so much more usable space. And the Civic is a known quantity. But I'd have thought the big mileage hit that the Civic takes if you want the A/C to stay on would have lost it some points. Personally, the ability to run on electric only was a big factor for me in choosing the Prius over the Civic. But lots of folks couldn't care less.
