Autocar has it's first write up of their long term Prius in the current issue (it doesn't appear to be available online). Quite good overall.

What astonishes me is their criticism at the end that the car didn't manage 72mpg! It's been one of the coldest January's for a long time and they admit that the car has mainly been used in London. Which means shorter highly stop/go journey's and the car probably doesn't get much chance to cruise to warm up. Therefore it needs to keep turning over to keep itself up to temperature.

Mind you those EU consumption figures don't help. The US EPA quoted level of 60mpg (UK) is much nearer the mark. And that is certainly achievable in the warmer months.

One wonders also if over the 3 weeks they've had the car if they have adjusted to it. The writer admits he mainly leaves it in Power mode (how many owners do that?).

[quote name='wooski' post='974254' date='Feb 18 2010, 09:06 AM']The writer admits he mainly leaves it in Power mode[/quote]

Actually, the writer can't leave it in power mode because it clears each time the ignition is turned on.
So the writer has to keep putting it back into power mode. !!

On the other hand, some Prius Chat members discovered that in the right conditions, PWR is the new ECO mode.
[url="http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-fuel-economy/68166-power-mode-anecdote.html"]http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-p...e-anecdote.html[/url]

I would't believe anything a Journo says, car mags get a lot of advertising money from some manafacturers and this could sway there opinion....

Autocar love Ford & BMW at the mo, 330d a 5 star car, yes on perfect days, not with an inch of snow your 40k bimmer cant move Focus Diesel 4.5 Stars shame they dont tell private buyer that fleets get 40%+ discount so in 3yrs your car is worthless and Ford dealers are *******

Am getting on my soapbox now

That's really about pulse & glide surely - a well known fuel sipping phenomenon with the Prius (and presumably other Toyota / Lexus HSD cars). I've certainly noticed that it makes more sense to accelerate quickly and then glide as much as possible. Maybe part of the problem with only sharing a Prius occasionally is that you dont learn these skills that owners pick up naturally. It took me a while to learn to get the car to glide in EV over speed bumps - but its actually easy - you just keep to a steady 18/20mph and dont lift much off the pedal over the bumps and you can keep the ICE off. Drive as most drivers do (accel / brake) and the engine is on/off/on/off etc (no doubt using much more fuel). Another trick is when at traffic lights to make sure you press the brake pedal enough to turn off electric power to the wheels. Of course you learn all these things watching the monitors Toyota helpfully provide.

Had a quick flick through Autocar yesterday in Morrison's......


....and decided to buy a copy of Classic and Sports Car instead!


If I had the money and the [u]space[/u] I would love to buy what might be called a 'modern classic'. If I could have persuaded the wife it was it her turn to buy the family car last year, I might have been able to find a nice 944 or something similar. I seen an ad the other day for a lovely looking 840i, only £5500!

But the wife loves her little car and I can't see her parting with it for a long long time.

Anyway, just as well, doubt a 944 or a 840i would have coped very well in our recent winter weather!

[quote name='Fujisan' post='975063' date='Feb 20 2010, 09:13 AM']I might have been able to find a nice 944 or something similar. I seen an ad the other day for a lovely looking 840i, only £5500! [/quote]

Nice I had an S1 944 for a year or so, it is still to this day the best handling car I have ever driven (M3 included). I have always loved the 8 series too, as well as the oldschool 6 series (Not the hideous new thing)

Of course if it wasn't for Labour, my old 944 would be tax exempt now

Read the Autocar review here [url="http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/RoadTestsHistory/Toyota-Prius-1.8-VVT-i-T-Spirit/241339/"]http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/RoadTe...-Spirit/241339/[/url]

I read the article.

A brand new car, and he carps that he's not getting the published mileage figures?

And that's before he cheerfully admits to spending the first thousand miles permanently hooning round in PWR mode?

Is he for real?

[quote name='coggerx' post='976015' date='Feb 22 2010, 05:52 PM']Read the Autocar review here [url="http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/RoadTestsHistory/Toyota-Prius-1.8-VVT-i-T-Spirit/241339/"]http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/RoadTe...-Spirit/241339/[/url][/quote]


Thats the original full road test - not the long term article in this weeks magazine that we are discussing. Autocar received their long term Prius in January 2010.

[quote name='Karma Supra' post='975953' date='Feb 22 2010, 02:16 PM']Nice I had an S1 944 for a year or so, it is still to this day the best handling car I have ever driven (M3 included). I have always loved the 8 series too, as well as the oldschool 6 series (Not the hideous new thing)[/quote]

Well, I'll keep chipping away at the wife (but she's made of tough stuff ), looking and dreaming

It'll happen one day.

My other half went mental, I bought it without telling it and she came home and saw it on the drive... Leeky was over at the time, she assumed it was his, and came at me with a tyre iron when she found out it wasn't

[quote name='Karma Supra' post='976413' date='Feb 23 2010, 12:24 PM']My other half went mental, I bought it without telling it and she came home and saw it on the drive... Leeky was over at the time, she assumed it was his, and came at me with a tyre iron when she found out it wasn't[/quote]



I was thinking along similar lines....

....with the added bonus of having to sleep in the d*mn car, when I came out of hospital!


Like I said, it will happen one day, I just have to wear her down enough!