If Prius got only 30 MPG, would you buy?

Strikes me as a darned silly question! The Prius is what it is. Hatchback is handy tho, so ya if the price was right. I think the Gen III with the 17s is a good looking, almost sporty car.

 

A 30 MPG non Hybrid Prius fails my List of Reasons.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...502-2010-prius-school-project.html#post979468

Reason 1, 4, 5, 6, and perhaps 7, will be tough in your non hybrid Prius.

 

What environmental advantages other than the high MPG and hybrid system?

My new Lexus gets 30MPG on the highway too vs the 26 on the old one.

Its incredible what great highway mileage Corvettes get!

 

Ah, but therein lies the hidden danger of ANY car with a bigger engine, and capable of much greater performance...that you will take advantage, and if you do, 30MPGs is not likely over any significant stretch of asphalt.

EPA (which is about the only way to normaize things) for a 2005 Corvette is 24 on the HW. 19 combined. A 2010 has a highway EPA of 26, and 16 city.

Lexus ES350 is 27 HW and 22 combined.

In addition, most cars with higher compression ratios, like these, require (or recommend) using premium gas, which is, on average, about $0.30/gallon more than regular.

 

I think that a car that gets 30 mpg is doing pretty well on conserving fuel--but not many cars will AVERAGE 30 mpg. Sure a corvette can hit 30, but tell me what your overall average is for the time you have owned it. And can you load it with 5 people comfortably? And can you carry 8 foot boards of lumber, hardware, 30 gallons of paint and still get 4 people in the car. And with all that, can you still get around 45 mpg around town? To paraphrase Sen. Bensen: "I've had Corollas. They were good friends of mine. But the Prius is NO Corolla!"

 

Darell, I was thinking along the lines of car models with decades of history, like the Mustang or the Corvette, or even the new Camaro when stating 'iconic'. It's a long way from a similar price point, but a Ferrari (any model) will forever be more iconic than any Prius, just based on it being a status symbol. Maybe it wasn't the best choice of words, and I see your point, but a 30mpg Prius wouldn't be iconic. It would just be another hatchback in a long line of hatchbacks. I am still not overly enamored with the styling of the Prius - although the GIII is a big step in the right direction in my eyes - but you are right in that it does have a special look.

 

It's a choice the driver can make.

I would call the 3,000+ mile trip through some Western National Parks I averaged 30.0 mph actual on summer before last a significant stretch of asphalt. BTW, it was 29.7 by the computer, computer MPG doesn't have to be a fairy tale.

Next week for my track day at Thunderhill next week, 10-12 mpg will be more like it for my tack time but that's a conscious choice. Maybe someone will have Prius there and we can compare.

 

As per your post, I did an experiment. This morning (when the temp's were only in the high 70's on my way into work), I drove my entire commute without AC...and my average for the week remained in the low 60's (60.3 to be exact). So when I drove home, and the outside temperature was reading 94, I ran the AC the entire way home. Cabin temp set at 74 degrees. When I pulled into the garage about 45 minutes latter, my average remained (again) in the low 60's (60.5 to be exact - a slight bump up). I realize that running the AC should hurt MPGs, but I think the degree to which it is lowered, is not as much as you seem to believe/indicate.

 

Prius wouldn't be on my list if it didn't get the kind of mpg it does. I love hatchbacks so I'd probably purchase a Honda Fit instead for my next car.

I do love my Saab 900 SE Turbo hatchback. Amazing cargo capacity. I feel so safe in the car and it rides like a dream. But it only gets 17mpg in the city, 25 hwy, and when something goes wrong it's uber-expensive to fix, soooo....Prius has been in my sights and will remain the car I get unless something radical happens in the meantime.

 

Oh, I agree. Im simply talking about temptations. I own a 12-cylinder Jag. My fun car, if you will. If I have wide open space in front of me, I'm not doing the posted...and i'm NOt getting anywhere near what I could be getting if I backed off...but then again, if i backed off, what would be the point of owning a jag? Really? After all, I didn't buy it so that I could drive like I was in a Prius.

I don't know...but where i live, you can't go very fast in these national Parks...so I'm not sure that's a viable test. Tell me what your HW mileage is running 100-200 miles @75-85mph on some major highway?

 

My Rav4 gets ZERO mpg.

But I'll tell you what - the ONLY reason I own that Rav is for the terrible gas mileage. The Prius is a way more practical car in all other aspects. The only real downside is that it burns gasoline.

 

us too!:rockon::cheer2:

 

I likely would have looked at other cars (Altima Hybrid) had the Prius only gotten 30 or even 40 mpg. I am a definite MPG nut, and have been since I was a little kid.

My only fear is that 5 years from now, lots of cars will have better MPG's than my Prius (we should be so lucky), and then how could I be all smug and everything?

Heh!

 

now, with all of this having been said. the prius is a great little car. even at 30 mpg, the roominess, hatchback, sks, what else? it's a great little car. i just think at 30mpg which would also mean higher emissions, i might never have even looked at it. but you can't get a set of drums in many 30 mpg vehicles!:rockon:

 

You know, this was the main complaint that had me wondering about getting the whole solar package (which includes the NAV). Reviews I've seen of it have rated it just aweful. I don't know if maybe it's the software version I have or the region I'm in....but so far, I'm finding it the best GPS I've had. It could use a better display about what turn you should make, but so far I'm finding it really accurate. Tonight I went out to a suburb of Atlanta, which made me go on the highways. I was surprised that this mapping software took me on the highway the way I normally do (where most mapping or GPS systems have me going alternate ways). It also found my home address...where most GPS systems won't (I normally have to instruct delivery folks where my house is).

So far the only thing I'm finding counter-intuitive is the mpg. Here in Atlanta, I'm finding I can get 50mpg on the highway....but so far on my normal city commute, it's 48mpg.

 

Ah. Understood. And for some reason I do think that the American makers tend to use that term more than others - for the exact models you bring up.

For me, the most iconic vehicle (not just for looks as I guess it means for the other cars) but just for what it stands for - is the Prius today. And... love it or hate it, the shape is definitely unique and... iconic.

 

Not just no, but **** no.

My Prius replaced a manual transmission Accord Hatchback that easily produced 35 MPG in summer before I learned any hypermiling. I refused to replace it with anything delivering lower MPG. If not for its 1980's era safety standards, I wouldn't have replaced it at all.

 

I'm suffering from that very problem. The 2010 Prius is really making my 2001 Prius look wimpy at 49 mpg.

 

Don't overlook some indirect aspects of the Prius-
1. Great reliability
2. Brakes last like 3-4 times longer than a normal car
3. The MPG displays change your driving habits for the better.
4. Quiet
5. Long Intervals between fill ups (which can be done with 30mpg and a very big gas tank).


The real hard part of your question is that if the Prius only got 30mpg, then there probably would not be any other hybrids out there as alternatives. So I have no idea what I would have gotten as the best car for avoiding gas stations.