"Best cars with great gas mileage" : CNN.com

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GreenGene @ Apr 21 2006, 02:36 PM) [snapback]243254[/snapback]</div>

Heh heh... I like how they title the article "Best cars with great gas mileage", then proceed to list mostly expensive performance vehicles - which are not really groundbreaking in fuel efficiency. :lol:

Corvette? Fuel efficient? A stretch, indeed. For a sports car, how about an Acura RSX-S for about half the price (and power) of the 'Vette and about 50% better mileage? I also like the comment about telling people to put regular gas in an engine designed for premium... good thing to teach people!

I like the irony in criticizing hybrids for costing too much, but does not hesitate to recommend a Mercedes or Corvette (!) in an article about best fuel efficient vehicles (which can be interpreted to be mean economical and reliable).

I also noticed that they consider the Prius a 'compact', then again, we all know how much Edmunds likes this car.

Well, at least the article was entertaining. B)

Anyway, at least the negative press for Hybrids potentially theoretically the waiting lists for the educated buyers as the more naiive people will believe these stories and move on to their 'fuel efficient' Corvettes...

Kevin

 

No need to be stress about these stupid articles.

There are a long waiting list for "high mileage" Hybrids already. Let the press do what they want because the smart people have spoken.

Just look at the polls around the country. More than half the people looking for their next car would at least consider a hybrid. With gas prices continuing to go up like wild fire, hybrids will only get more popular until the next real gas saving technology comes along.... or better yet, the next non-gas technology..

 

Wo—what? Corvette? GreenGene, we need conformation on this article. Do you have a link to the publication or are you trying to start a firestorm by making this stuff up?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cameron @ Apr 21 2006, 05:04 PM) [snapback]243401[/snapback]</div>

See the link in the first sentence of the OP.

 

In the end.....it doesn't matter.

People are buying hybrids. And the people buying them don't care what the sticker price is. They care what mileage it gets. And at 45+ mpg they're buying Prii. No matter how many articles in the newspapers or online. They'll find someone that drives one and they'll ask questions. They'll go test drive one. Or they may just order one blind.

But they're buying them. And no amount of this negative press is stopping them.

So.....I'm laughing. I'm pious. I'm smug. I'm thrilled. I saw the writing on the pump and I bought my Prius last April. And lo and behold....gas is over $3 now and heading to $4.

I'm not eccentric anymore.

I'm brilliant.

And I don't care what they write because.....I'm right.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Apr 22 2006, 12:08 AM) [snapback]243539[/snapback]</div>

You are a Priuschat goddess!

 

Seems to me that most of these learned articles make their biggest mistake in estimating depreciation. Edmunds is a renowned source for such info, but they continue to stumble with Prius.

See their 2006 new price of $21725 w/o any options. See their 2005 used price estimate of $20736. That suggests a 1st yr depreciation of $989. Their price for a used 2004 is $19375; 2nd year depreciation of $1361. I assume that the base model is actually available, and 15k miles/yr.

Now see their total cost of ownership calculator for the 2006 Prius, which suggests $5123 depreciation in yr 1 and $2650 in yr 2, also based on 15k miles/yr. The disparity between these two Edmunds estimates is $5423 after 2 years, and that ain't hay.

 

Not to say I agree at all with this article. But, folks, this seems to be pretty fair to me. The 5 cars shown there are not the 'top 5', but they're 5 different categories. I don't have a problem at all with any of the 3 top cars listed in the luxury class. They're fine cars, and quite efficient. Neither do I have a problem with the sports car class topped by the Corvette. That base 400hp v-8 getting nearly 30 on the highway is very impressive to me. To top that, it'll get that mileage whether you're going 65 or 85.
Crossover class? No problem either. Those are good choices within that class.
I would argue with grouping the Prius in with the compact class. I would call the G2 Prius a sedan, but oh well.
In any case, CNN uses different weighting factors than others. Reminds me of Consumer Reports - still trying to rationalize some of the weighting factors they use - little off base in my opinion.
Anyway, this article isn't that far off, really.
I'm biased toward the Prius because of its forward thinking approach. But, the more 'conventional' tech cars in the list are quite impressive in their numbers as well.

 

What's the big deal? They quite clearly stated they chose a luxury car, a sedan, a sports car, an SUV and a subcompact.

The only hybrid luxury car is the $55k Lexus GS 450h and it may get worse fuel economy than Mercedes' diesel, so you can't blame them for choosing that car.

The only hybrid non-compact sedan is the $30k Accord Hybrid which doesn't really get good mileage. Camry Hybrid isn't quite out yet and it's $5k more than a Camry LE anyway.

There are no hybrid sports cars and the Corvette is generally regarded as the most fuel-efficient sports car. Granted it's expensive, but it's a different kind of car than an RSX, S2000, etc.

The cheapest hybrid SUV is about $30k. The RAV4 starts at $20k. You can't make up that $10k in gas savings, especially when the RAV4 is rated 24/30 (probably real-world mileage of 26 mpg?).

The Corolla starts at $14k and is rated 32/41 mpg.

All of their choices were perfectly well thought-out. They chose to represent the most economical (but good) cars in each class.

 

Hmmmmmm..... this should stir the pot a little.. LOL

A report released by CNW Marketing Research is shaking up many a tree hugger today. CNW’s research concluded that a hybrid vehicle will have a higher energy cost per mile travelled through the life of the vehicle than many larger and less “green†vehicles; what CNW terms the “Dust to Dust†cost of a vehicle.

CNW’s findings show that the Chevrolet Suburban has an energy cost per mile of $3.134, while a Toyota Prius , the darling of the hybrid crowd, comes in at $3.249. Obviously the Prius can go much farther than the Suburban on a gallon of gasoline, but according to the CNW report, that is only part of the equation, as you must also factor in the energy required to build the vehicle, service it through its lifetime, and recycle its parts at the end.

read more here.

Source (http://www.gadgetopia.com/post/5191)

 

Right. Those are the numbers.

Do you believe them?

Anybody who claims to know how much it costs to recycle a car is blowing steam. And I doubt seriously that Toyota has ever released any figures as to how much "energy" is required to build any of their cars, much less the Prius.

And have any of us Prius owners had to mess with expensive repairs? No? OK then.

There is a lot of anti-hybrid propaganda going around at the moment. In a few years when everyone is driving hybrids and everyone realizes it's marvellous technology, only then will it stop.

For now, we just need to remember that oil companies want us to buy as much as of their products as possible. Someone, somewhere sees Hybrids as a threat, and seems to be planting propaganda. If you're here, you've already proven to not be a tool, so just ignore it.

 

well said....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ Apr 21 2006, 06:38 PM) [snapback]243415[/snapback]</div>

Thanks Tripp, always there to help.