Bad review, oh wow

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(seasidetraveler @ Oct 19 2006, 01:20 PM) [snapback]335206[/snapback]</div>

Interesting article. Of course, I had to give my two cents as well.

 

I also chimed in. Seems like everyone that reviews a car has a lead foot (and an agenda).

 

I added my opinion, too. I'm still breaking my Prius in and I get far better mileage than he did.

What's significant about it is that now I would have to question any review he does. If he screwed this one up then no telling what else he doesn't know about the cars he drives.

Vince

 

I added my comments too. That guy must have been towing a safe behind him!

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Oct 19 2006, 01:09 PM) [snapback]335232[/snapback]</div>

The wheels must have fallen off the safe.

 

I have an 07 prius with about 500 miles on it. Average MPG is 43. Almost all of the miles have been 15-20 minute trips to/from work.

 

I can't help but wonder if some of these testimonials about almost unimaginably low MPG averages are coming from people who have an axe to grind and are embellishing the details of their experience.

For example, one poster mentioned paying quite a bit over MSRP (silly, silly person) and then getting into a wreck. Surely the accident wasn't a result of their poor driving skills, and if the perfectly competent driver got into a wreck with the car it must be the car's fault. And obviously the wreck will have a negative impact on the resale value of the Prius for which the owner over-paid, and the owner is left with a sour taste in their mouth. So, fudging a few details, the car was in a wreck, but not because of the driver's actions; it got in a wreck because - let's see, what was that sensational headline... oh, yeah - the Prius stalled. Yeah, that's it. And it can't be a good value, not because the owner overpaid for it, but because it averaged... oh, let's say 33 miles per gallon. There. Now the car is at fault for the bad experience, and not the actions of the driver/owner.

Of course, I guess we'll never know what really happened.

 

I'm happy with my Prius, but I get 44 mpg when driving from Santa Clara to Sacramento and back -- all freeway miles. I drive between 65 and 70, and there are not many grades between SC and Sac. I've done this drive about four times, and the milage is consistent. I have my tires at 40/38 and my car is a 2006 with a little over 5K miles.

I love my Prius. It gets double the milage of my other car, but it doesn't get close to 50 mpg under any of my driving conditions.

 

Kelsey (the author of the article) mentions that when the temps were above 50 degrees the car started in all-electric mode and the ICE didn't kick on to warm up. That doesn't seem right to me. Anyone?

 

it's always the car's fault, and the cobalt will always get better mileage.. don't you people know that yet? :lol:

25/34... in case you're wondering. for a 5spd manual.

 

He mentioned losing MPG when he had to accellerate to make a yellow light. That may be necessary if the light turns yellow when you're already in the intersection, but when you're still APPROACHING an intersection, the light turning yellow is not a signal that you must accellerate!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jeannie @ Oct 19 2006, 05:31 PM) [snapback]335261[/snapback]</div>

Maybe he's originally from the south - that's what the driving manual says down there, at least when I learned to drive anyway. :lol:

 

<snip>"fuel consumption gauge, which drops from 99.9 mpg to a more believable 25 or 30 mpg."<snip>

The only time my fuel consumption gauge reads 25-30mpg is either 1) while driving at a steady speed in the first 5 minutes after the car has been started after sitting cold overnight/all day 2) while accellerating, until I've reached my desired speed 3) the battery is down to 2 purple bars and any the car is busy charging it back up while I'm driving around

<snip>The Prius can do 20 or 30 mph on battery juice alone, <snip>

Mine will do ~40mph on battery juice alone, for up to a few miles, depending on how light I can keep my foot on the gas pedal. I tend to only do that on the 35mph posted speed limit streets though...

<snip>"Clock lots of time on the highway at 55 mph, and the engine will yield gas mileage in the mid-40s.<snip>

I can get the same kind of mileage if not better travelling at 70mph. At 55mph it's not unusual for the fuel consumption gauge to read 50-75mpg.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jbarnhart @ Oct 19 2006, 01:56 PM) [snapback]335248[/snapback]</div>

I mostly do city driving, but I regularly get 55-60mpg when driving on the freeway. 44mpg is what I get as an average overall, so far (city and hwy). I have my tires at 44/42. Maybe that would make a little difference, but there must be something else.

Vince

 

At the bottom of the article he says his extensive testing (I'm sorry, "considerable seat time") consisted of a 4.5 mile commute (which you'll notice is short enough to measure in tenths of a mile) and a mix of less than 1 mile & 12-15 mile trips. So, he got 34 warm-up miles per gallon, in temperatures ranging from near freezing to about 20 degrees above freezing (which I suppose explains why he wasn't running the A/C). Of course he got such low mileage. Actually, when you look at it, he did pretty well considering the limitations his testing imposed on the vehicle. It's just a shame he put "Real-World Mileage" as the title when the testing was so constrained.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PA @ Oct 19 2006, 07:49 PM) [snapback]335319[/snapback]</div>

I was going to say something about the 4.5 mile commute, too. I wonder what his regular car gets on that 30-50 degree 4.5 mile trip... I bet it's nowhere near its sticker mileage, either. 4.5 miles isn't enough to even warm up any other kind of car. Sheesh! If he only commutes 4.5 miles, he should get one of those little electric commuter cars!

I'm currently commuting about 30 miles each way through southeastern PA and I've been averaging 51 or 52 each month.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jdjeep98 @ Oct 19 2006, 05:00 PM) [snapback]335324[/snapback]</div>

I drive my wife to work every morning, a grand total of 3.2 miles....round trip! And yet I'm still able to get the aforementioned 44mpg. That's why I don't understand how he could have gotten such crappy mileage.

Vince

 

The very last paragraph was indicative that the guy wasn't driving trips that were long enough!

I've been driving my 10-12 minute trip to work most of this last tank and it really does make a difference when the car is driven for at least 20 minutes.

 

We are now in Az. on our cross country trip. I always get 48-50 mpgs with my Prius, BUT this trip I have gotten just terrible mileage. Coming across the midwest I got only 38 mpg's and all time LOW. Admidtadly we were bucking heavy headwinds, rain, low temps but I never expected mpg's to be this low. All across to Utah we only got 38-42 mpgs. Now since we are in Az. it's back to mid 40's. I wonder if the gas has something to do with it. I noticed what I always considered regular (87 octane) on east coast is E-85 in the midwest. So I always put plus in it since the Prius needs 87 oct. minimum. I hope on our trip back east along the southern route the mpg's come back to at least the high 40's