Do Prius Owners Hate People with Big Cars?

I pulled a small trailer with my 650 on a 5000km round trip back in may and I was using fuel at an alarming rate. I was only managing 7.5 L/100km! My Prius can do about 5.2 L/100km on the open roads at the same speeds. I could have carried much more in the Prius also and I wouldn't have been soaked in the rain.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Sep 6 2007, 09:06 AM) [snapback]507883[/snapback]</div>

I've got an Aerostich suit for the rain, which works out well.

You do bring up a point: you don't need a gas hog to get performance. Almost any motorbike will give you all the performance you could ever want, and provide excellent fuel economy.

Harry

 

Agreed.
Saturday I am off to Broken Hill, about 600km away for a brief camping trip on the bike. Traveling with a friend this time. Last trip I took a rather large tent, table chairs full bed and sleeping bag stove cooking stuff etc.
This trip I wont be taking the trailer but sleeping in a swag taking not a lot this time. Clothes, food stove swag. Should be good.
If I drove the Prius I wouldn't need the swag, I could sleep in the back of the Prius.

 

People can drive what they want to drive. I just don't want to hear the complaints when gas prices go higher!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Aeron @ Sep 2 2007, 01:52 AM) [snapback]505750[/snapback]</div>

Neither. You are entitled to your choice as are we. Drive safely and prosper. (throws a vulcan salute)

 

Pat,
The 650 Burgman also gets about 45-55 mpg... the eCVT is what probably what hinders higher mpg, as the 'little brother' (which has a 400cc engine) typically gets in excess of 70mpg and only has a standard CVT. But the eCVT is just so much more responsive and fun to ride. After going clutch-less, I don't think I'd ever go 'conventional' MC again, with constant shifting up and down in the twisties, in traffic, etc..

Regardless, what you say is true... the smaller bike only does about as well as the bigger, protected Prius in terms of fuel efficiency. I'd imagine a lot is lost on the bike due to its very aerodynamic inefficiencies.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AussieOwner @ Sep 6 2007, 08:03 AM) [snapback]507881[/snapback]</div>

although you are asking Aeron the questoin i will answer as well.


Performance to me means the way in which a particular item fulfills its intended purpose.
A cheap chinese CD player will undoubtably have much worse performance than a Rotel or equivalent.

A car is a vehicle used for transporting a human from one place to another.

A performance car is a vehicle that performs better than a normal vehicle in regards to aesthetics, acceleration, v-max and handling characteristics. This can be achieved via increased engine output, lower overall weight, better traction and gearing etc etc. People enjoy driving performance cars because of the pure dynamics of the vehicle and raw emotion involved with powering out of a corner in a blaze of tyre smoke and g-forces.

A Prius is not a performance car, it is a vehicle designed to transport people from A to B in a more energy efficient manner than a normal vehicle and its performance in this capacity is very good, but it cannot be termed a Performance Car in the traditional sense of the word.

Like everything though there are tradeoffs - it is very hard to find any type of performance car that has fuel economy comparable to a Prius, most performance car owners are not concerned about economy anyway.

It is also next to impossible to find a Prius-economy-like car with any kind of performance car like characteristics.

The Lexus GS450h is probably the closest in this regard, but a combined 254kw in a ~2350kg body is never going to be very athletic, plus the AUS$121,000 + onroads is very expensive considering the other vehicles available for this sort of cost.

If someone would release a vehicle (electric, diesel, hybrid or otherwise) that looks good and performs well enough to be considered a performance car, yet returned 50mpg and was a reasonable price i'd be all over it like a fat kid on a cupcake.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(EnviroSafeForLife @ Sep 6 2007, 07:27 PM) [snapback]508212[/snapback]</div>

Sounds to me as though you've answered the question for yourself. I can assure you that once someone manufactures a 50 MPG car that you would accept as a "Performance Car" there will be someone else who is producing another car that is faster, louder, accelerates more quickly and looks better to you than the 50 MPG "Performance Car." I think you are unlikely to change the way you value and evaluate cars.

I do hope you would be open to purchasing a car that is more fuel efficient, but I don't see that happening any time soon. As you've noted in your response, you really can't eat your cake and also take it home with you to enjoy again later.

Here's hoping you will accept the fact that many of us find the Prius to be a beautiful car we can enjoy for many reasons other than moving from Point A to Point B and that there are values and aesthetics involved which we, as Prius owners, find more compelling than you are willing to accept.

 

I love the way my car looks, I love the way it performs, I enjoy the handling which most drivers would struggle to find the limits of regardless of what Jeremy Clarkson says.
Remember when formula 1 cars had fuel consumption limits? Back when they had 1.5 litre engines? I wonder if those restrictions were still in place would hybrid technology now be in more performance cars?
Of course I'm being ridiculous right?
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/07/16/hybrid-...tokachi-24-hrs/
No race car would ever embrace hybrid technology!!

For those who don’t know, in V8 Supercars only Holden and Ford are allowed to compete to prevent companies like Toyota and Mitsubishi competing and beating the dinosaurs made by Holden and ford. Toyota tried to get a car into V8 Supercar racing with a 4 litre quad cam engine competing against Ford and Holden's 5 litre engines running at the same weight but they were knocked back. The irony of this is Toyota sell more cars in Australia than Ford or Holden.

I guess it's a bit like a septic tank, there are ordinary septic tanks then there are systems like Envirocycle. At the end of the day or at the start both get rid of turds but one supposedly does it better? Which one?
Gravity still works the same in the first part of the process and after the flush who cares? But people pay more for the high performance option, why? Because the high performance system is better for their environment.

 

Oi Pat! Please don't compare my prius to a septic tank :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(samiam @ Sep 6 2007, 09:40 PM) [snapback]508301[/snapback]</div>

Sorry, Sam, but I think there is something quite poetic about the comparison. Of course it really is a comparison between all ICE-driven cars and septic tank. In both cases complex organic matter goes in one end (long-chain carbon molecules: gasoline in the tank in one and human waste in a different tank in the other) and simpler products come out the other end (smaller-chain carbons, usually arrived at through oxidation, though not always).

It makes me wonder whether we shouldn't work a bit harder to find a way to mine our septic tanks as a source of fuel or find another fuel source for our automobiles. Hmm. . . Which would you choose?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bhaynnes @ Sep 6 2007, 12:37 PM) [snapback]507965[/snapback]</div>

Music: What a wonderous gift. For me, it makes life worth living. Do I pity people who are tone deaf? I guess not, because they think they get it. It's just that I have to endure their out-of-tune humming!

 

Hi Enviro...

The Prius and other HSD cars (like the GS450H) outperform comparable power rated standard cars. The Prius has the accelleration of a 145 HP standard car of the same weight, even though its only rated at 110 HP. Similarily, the 254 KW GS450h is going to accellerate as if it was a standard car with 335 kw.

Part of the problem of getting good gas mileage is impedance matching of the engine to wheels. At low speeds, this is especially problematic, due to the very large torques for any appreciable horsepower. This better power matching can be seen as doing more with less, which is what fuel economy engineering is all about.

An advantage of the electric transmission HSD system is that it has a large effective gearing ratio range. So, the engine can be up at a high RPM, delivering its maximum horsepower, even though the car is still slow. A standard car limits the engine speed at slow speeds by the torque reflected back from the wheels. So, a 145 HP engine (at 6000 RPM) it can only put 50 hp to the road at 10 mph (2500 RPM) . Where the Prius is putting 75 hp (4000 RPM, and 20 HP from the battery). At higher speeds the 145 HP car has full power and catches up for the tie at 60 mph.

While this is of limited usefulness in a Race car, in every day driving its proper tuning of the car to the road. The Prius has a big accellerator lag too from stop - it has to turn on the engine. So, its not always apparent to other drivers initially what Prius will do. But cruising along at low speed, and then accellerating, the Prius scoots right along, however. And in that situation a GS450h, and RX400h are very impressive - from personal experience seeing them fly by in traffic.

 

I wonder if there is a connection?
Sorry guys n gals I got Envirocycle mixed up with Envirosafe.
http://www.envirosafe-australia.com.au/

I guess both Prius and septic tanks reduce the amount of s**t in our environment.


For getting fuel from your septic see if you can find the video,
Bates Car, Sweet As A Nut. He runs his car on pig poo.
He also invented an energy recovery system for his suspension seat on his bicycle.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Sep 6 2007, 09:35 PM) [snapback]508298[/snapback]</div>

That’s not really a measure of whether they are a good car or not.

McDonalds sell more hamburgers than anyone else in the word, yet they are certainly not the best hamburgers.

Generally, in Australia, cars from Toyota like the Corolla, Camry, Yaris and Aurion tend to appeal to those people who care little about style, dignity or how well they drive on the roads.

 

No it isn't a good measure of whether they are good cars or not, but it is good justification for Toyota being in the V8 Supercars series. Ford and Holden don't sell all V8s.
Where does dignity come into it?
If you hang your dignity on your car you need help son.
Maybe they are people who don't care much for your sense of style, afterall you drive a conventional car.
Style? doubt it!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Sep 6 2007, 10:54 PM) [snapback]508361[/snapback]</div>

Have you been doing research on me, or was this just a lucky guess?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Full Noise @ Sep 6 2007, 10:52 PM) [snapback]508359[/snapback]</div>

You had me until I read "Generally." High sales does not necessarily equate with quality, and the McDonalds example is quite on point.

BUT . . . your incredible reach in this generalization discredits what you've written.

Style? How well they drive? Dignity? DIGNITY? If this truly is your view, please take a moment to consider what values inform your views, decisions and actions.

 

Little joke for ya, sorry about the stereotypes.

Why wouldn't the homophobic Aussie V8 driver go to New Zealand?




You gonna love this








It's a good one








Because ...






... he heard ...

... they f**k sheep in New Zealand!!!

 

Don’t give up your day job.