Top Gear on the Prius yet again

not again.... but change your driving style is a good tip.

 

If the Prius was built in Britain, Clarkson would be calling it the best car in the world.

However for those of this forum not incensed by the video, he IS making a valid point about the way people drive in Europe. Unlike the USA the majority of cars here can do 40mpg plus, with a bit of intelligent driving. So he's saying keep your current car, and follow the tips on the bbc website to improve economy like all the serious priuschatters already know(bbc link not working today so i don't know if the tios are any good).

BTW i think somebody asked/posted here before, wondering what the worst mpg a Prius could do; the answer seems to be 17mpg (imperial gallon)

I used to read a lot more car magazines but attitudes like Clarkson's divert people like me towards websites like priuschat forums, with its up to date info and expert advice.

 

lol... this moron must work for British Petreleum!

 

Classic. Sad but True

 

I watched it last night too and as a Prius owner was highly miffed that he took the p*ss out of the Prius in this fashion ,rather than shooting it...

But after a few minutes I thought if anyone truly buys this genuine BS ("...and we have the figs to prove it...") then they are not serious in getting a Prius anyway, which will be all the more for the people who REALLY want one.
This car doesn't scoop top honours in the JD Power survey because its a dog, it gets them because it satisfies its owners (me included) more than any other car, M3 included.
I find it a shame that JC always slags the Prius off, as this is such a good show, but then I suppose he slags off most cars really, except the ones no-one can really afford to drive. Oh well, thats showbiz..

 

You should realize that Top Gear is neither a consumer report type of show nor serious automotive journalism - it's entertainment.

 

Makes me go, "Hmmmmmmmm."

If Clarkson is going to regurgitate that BS about a Prius doing more environmental damage in the long run than a [insert big SUV here], I wonder what else they are going to not be truthful about . . . Hmmmmm, maybe the driving competition itself?????

So what could they have done to rig the test?

1) Pre-drain the traction battery to a point where it will barely spin up the ICE.
2) Turn on the air conditioner in the Prius, but not in the other car.
3) Start the drive with an absolutely cold engine on only the Prius. I mean, push the start button and then drive like hell.
4) DRIVE LIKE HELL! Oh, wait! They did say, "Drive as fast as possible." Who drives like that in the real world? So, like I said, drive like hell, brake hard into corners, drift the car sideways, etc. As far as we know, they could have been giving it gas AND braking at the same time.
5) Have the Prius be the lead car. Let the BMW draft off the Prius. Looks like they did that one!

IF the good people at Top Gear wish to be fair . . . they do, as long as they are talking 'fast as possible' and 'muscle' cars . . . they should invite Wayne Gerdes to do some hypermileing during a retest. If Clarkson thought their test drive was "one of the dullest" of his life . . . "in the interest of science," he should see if he could 'stick with it' with Wayne Gerdes driving the Prius.

 

As per the other posts, BBC's Top Gear is purely motoring-based entertainment, not a sobering informative magazine show. And a very good one too dispite the Prius criticism!

If you search for "Top Gear Prius" on youtube, you'll see Clarkson's original assessment of the Prius, in which it got a real hiding. In a funny way, I'm glad actually; buying a Prius in the UK is hard enough these days with demand so high, that if Top Gear endorsed it we'd have no chance!

 

I thought it was lame. I mean, it was not entertaining. Just crap.

I WOULD like to see an independent review of their results, though. I find it highly BS-likely.

 

I find the BBC to be dull and entirely non entertaining. It doesnt surprise me that the BBC would sanction a show about this kind of thing. With the UK now 30% muslim I expect to see Camel races next episode.

 

By now, everybody should know that Top Gear is somewhere between Monty Python and Jackass (on wheels) on the entertainment level. There is a reason most auto engineers aren't comedians, and vice versa.

 

oh,as always top gear was entertainment with big E.
They had humorious point of view,Super car economic test.Winner was it 5 mpg?
All people cant change their cars to Prius so their should change how they drive,right?
When I saw first time Prius in top gear I was dissapointed but then I loose my cap and still like to watch that show with n sense on it in my point of view.If I had to be honest I really,really like to have test drive with Lamborghini or Aston martin then I´ll be stirded not shakened.
These days when everybody is so streched with gas price(my last fill 1,58€/l) we Prius owners can be little bit relaxed.

 

They should repeat the test, only drive at a maximum of 22mph tops

 

They should fill the M3 and the Prius with just one gallon each, and let a M3 owner and a Prius owner compete to see who could go farthest.

 

Sheepdog, I hope you're joking, otherwise I'm going to have to take SERIOUS offense at that comment. It's both racist and ignorant. Faith has nothing to do with this issue.

Unless of course, you were making some random statement and passing it off as scientific fact in the same way that Top Gear does.

Yes - Top Gear is supposedly entertainment but unfortunately those sheep who don't actually have the brainpower to think for themselves will follow whatever suggestions someone like Clarkson will give. And yes, there are people who think that way.

I do find it rather strange that in ten years of car ownership I've never had any dings or bangs left on my car, but within a month of owning a Prius I've had two rather nasty dents left on my car door. Kate picked one up almost instantly when she got hers - and we've both been harrased for driving a Prius.

It's simple based 'entertainment' for those who are.... sheep.... that causes negative BS to end up as public opinion. Of late the media in the Uk have started to drive political change and some may argue that they even have more power than the government. While the BBC may not be as polarized as say, Fox News, it does have a political agenda and I think they exersice it on a daily basis. The Top Gear show is just one of them.

If you want "Entertainment" that you can swear at then watch Top Gear. (I do enjoy the show when they're not EV or Hybrid bashing)
If you want proper facts and figures, go watch Fifth Gear - who are the leading motoring show in the UK IMHO.

Nikki.

 

i love top gear...this was all done in good fun, and still doesnt change how i feel about the prius...its NOT for everyone...and i consider myself a pretty hardcore "car guy" :thumb: