Alternative to a Prius?
Alternative to a Prius?
Author
Discussion

dpbird90

Original Poster:

5,535 posts

206 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
Please help me! I've been doing lots of town driving the past year, and fuel prices are on the increase. Its getting to e point where I'm actually beginning to think a Prius isn't such a bad idea! I'm donning as much flameproof gearas possible for this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the Prius run solely on electric up to x moh, then the petrol takes over? A lot of my town driving is stop/start stuff, so would run e electric motor mostly which would be cheaper than what im filling thte fiat with at the minute. But to salvage what little ph-ness I may have left, I find the Prius boring and I hate the sort of hippies who drive them(namely an ex I'd rather forget). So please recommend me a suitable alternative which is half decent todrive! I have a budget of around £7k, which is the arse end of the Prius Market, so hopefully I can get something much better for the money

Mr Will

13,719 posts

222 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
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dpbird90 said:
P...run solely on electric up to x mph, or until the batteries run low then the petrol takes over? ...
You missed this bit. If you only ever drive it in town, don't think that you'll be able to do all the running on batteries. It still needs to charge itself up regularly.

What MPG does your Panda get around town?

Emsman

7,112 posts

206 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
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I'll bite.

I had an 11 year old skoda octvia diesel estate with 134,000 on the clock, it regularly managed 50 odd to the gallon, often more on a gentle run. 4 up to le mans and back with a boot load of kit (and booze) and running it for an hour or so per day, it averaged an indicated 48.
It was in good nick, and used for everything for the tip, to Le mans, via a boot full of wet dog.
It's paint was a little faded on the roof, the wheels look far too small for it, and it was ultimately, as uncool as you would expect an 11 year old skoda estate to be.
Would I change it for a brand new praise? No.
I would rather bounce my way to my destination with a bare arse over broken glass than drive one.

Mr Gear

9,416 posts

206 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
Hybrids work best for stop-start town stuff. Alternatives to the Prius are Honda Insight (mk1 is a car nerd's wet dream, but only a 2-seat coupe), mk2 Insight is a bit disappointing.

Honda CRZ is good, but you won't get one for 7k, and Auris hybrid is good also, but again, because it's new, you won't find a cheap one.

Small petrol cars like Toyota Aygo will be good, but maybe also consider the Renault 1.5D cars (this engine is available in almost every model) and Volvo C30 1.6d

Bluebarge

4,519 posts

194 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
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You will barely get more than a mile before the petrol engine kicks in, and you will lose a shed-load of cash on trade-in. Enough, in fact, to pay for your petrol bills. Stick with the Panda or take the bus.

frosted

3,549 posts

193 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
Bluebarge said:
You will barely get more than a mile before the petrol engine kicks in, and you will lose a shed-load of cash on trade-in. Enough, in fact, to pay for your petrol bills. Stick with the Panda or take the bus.
I once got nearly 3 miles out of a hybrid 4x4 that was 3 years old , So I would think the prious could easily do at least 2 miles .

Depends which town you live in , but before you do anything I suggest hiring one for a day and see the difference in petrol , stop start traffic is the petrol killer , that's why people can get 40 mpg out of a monaro

If you do hire/test drive one for longer than an hour please share your experience . My IT guy says he gets 65mpg in London that's a lot more than a diesel could do



philoldsmobile

524 posts

223 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
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Polo bluemotion, fiat panda multijet, Fiat 500 twin air, all will be considerably better if your driving is purely urban. the prius is a total con, and only returns its optimal mpg in a very small window in its performance envelope.

don't be a sucker.


VeeFour

3,339 posts

178 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
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If you want something that returns decent MPG in traffic - and is easy to drive in traffic with an auto box, then the Prius and Insight are the only options.

If you add an auto box to any of the diesels, it kills the economy and you lose the stop / start tech.

marksx

5,151 posts

206 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
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frosted said:
that's why people can get 40 mpg out of a monaro
I wish biggrin

Harji

2,223 posts

177 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
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I've driven a Prius, and it is a perfect car for the OP's needs. It's actually quite a nice waft-mobile. It's a pity he has a The Sun minded view about the drivers and is silly enough to let sterotypes put him off.

PabloTeK

1,073 posts

191 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
dpbird90 said:
Please help me! I've been doing lots of town driving the past year, and fuel prices are on the increase. Its getting to e point where I'm actually beginning to think a Prius isn't such a bad idea! I'm donning as much flameproof gearas possible for this. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the Prius run solely on electric up to x moh, then the petrol takes over? A lot of my town driving is stop/start stuff, so would run e electric motor mostly which would be cheaper than what im filling thte fiat with at the minute. But to salvage what little ph-ness I may have left, I find the Prius boring and I hate the sort of hippies who drive them(namely an ex I'd rather forget). So please recommend me a suitable alternative which is half decent todrive! I have a budget of around £7k, which is the arse end of the Prius Market, so hopefully I can get something much better for the money
NO. Buy a Prius and I'll disown you as a mate hehe

Focus diesel of some sort maybe?

XitUp

7,690 posts

220 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
PabloTeK said:
NO. Buy a Prius and I'll disown you as a mate hehe

Focus diesel of some sort maybe?
Cos that would be so much more interesting.

+1 on a mk1 Insight if you can find one at that price.

pilchardthecat

7,483 posts

195 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
Frontal lobotomy? Syphillis? Anal Penetration of an elk?


Disclaimer; I have only read the thread title, and yes I am a troll.

saaby93

32,038 posts

194 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
loads of experts here, and another one smile
You have to remember the Prius is a relatively big car, you cant compare it to a Polo or a Panda, think bigger than a Golf and a Focus
A mates has post 2004 1.5 model and best MPG was on a trip in stop start traffic on a motorway where he got 62mpg end to end.
Usually he gets about 52mpg mixed driving and 55mpg around town
It drops off past 80 where its down to just under 50.
If you can get the recent 1.8 that has the overdrive for motorway speeds
It has a frustrating 1 second delay if you floor it pullig away but you can use that if you know it
Acceleration is good mid range but you have to work it
I think tax is £10 this year and brake discs last 100k miles due to electric braking
Its main downside is the styling. Dont knock it - one day all cars will be built this way

Waugh-terfall

18,488 posts

216 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
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Panda or bus, I'm getting up to 23mpg around town at the moment, I'm just using the car less and less and my feet/bike more and more

M Powered

349 posts

225 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
I am also a Insight Mk1 fan nerd (850kg!) but they aren't that cheap and the batteries are a bit long in the tooth now. In simple terms, as has been said already really, small (engine capacity and vehicle) petrol (Aygo/C1 type effort) and diesels are best (Renault/Nissan 1.5dCi, VW 1.2TDi, Hyundai/Kia 1.6CRDi, or 1.6 Peugeot engine is a good 'un in 110PS format in C30/Fiesta/Focus). If you want the benefit of Stop-Start (between 5 and 10% dependent on a huge number of factors), then just turn the car off when you stop and restart before you get going again - its been a hyper-miling technique since the year dot (certainly before it become fashionable as an automatic feature). Only thing to be aware of is potential lifetime of starter motor etc. NB. - This is not advice to switch off during decels, in a modern vehicle the fuel is cut during decels, so its of little benefit to coast.

things to look out for...
diesel vs. petrol
longer gearing (6 speed)
automatic stop-start ( or just do it manually)
low rolling resistance (light car, good aero, skinny tyres)

frosted

3,549 posts

193 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
I know what you mean , I have always been amazed that BMW,Hond,porsche etc ... Have spent millions on stop/start technology when even I can insert a switch to turn the engine on/off biggrin

dpbird90

Original Poster:

5,535 posts

206 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
Thanks guys. Here's an idea of my daily drive, pretty much a straight run from the bottom of Aberdeen (Garthdee) to the University (King Street). Trip computer says ~3 miles, best the Panda can manage is 32mpg, would be more except for all the bloody traffic lights on Union Street, that and buses who decide they want to move into a gap barely big enough for a bicycle, and the gormless mongs who think its OK to walk straight into the path of a moving car then stand there and argue when you show your displeasure. Anyway, I'll get back to the point before I start ranting too much about idiots on the roads. Did forget about the batteries having to recharge, I may be OK by the time I get onto Union Street, as I go on Broomhill Rd then Holburn Street, which is fairly clear up to the crossrods with Great Western/Willowbank. After that there's around 1.5 miles of stop start stuff, then the last run from Mounthooly to the Uni is clear most of the time. Am quite tempted by the diesel Panda, no size upgrade (getting to the point I need to lug tools and stuff around a lot more) but I can live with that. The Honda Insight sounds interesting too, will take a look.

Mr Will

13,719 posts

222 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
saaby93 said:
loads of experts here, and another one smile
You have to remember the Prius is a relatively big car, you cant compare it to a Polo or a Panda, think bigger than a Golf and a Focus
A mates has post 2004 1.5 model and best MPG was on a trip in stop start traffic on a motorway where he got 62mpg end to end.
Usually he gets about 52mpg mixed driving and 55mpg around town
It drops off past 80 where its down to just under 50.
If you can get the recent 1.8 that has the overdrive for motorway speeds
It has a frustrating 1 second delay if you floor it pullig away but you can use that if you know it
Acceleration is good mid range but you have to work it
I think tax is £10 this year and brake discs last 100k miles due to electric braking
Its main downside is the styling. Dont knock it - one day all cars will be built this way
It's a fair point that it's a bigger car, but the OP doesn't need/want a bigger car. He's just looking to save money, which he won't do by spending a big chunk of it on a Prius when he already has a small petrol engined car designed for city use.

If you think the Prius is impressive for economy though, you should take a look at the magic BMW have been working on their efficient dynamics diesels. The new 320d has 160bhp/280ftlb, does 0-60 in 8 seconds, 142mph flat out and will still return 56mpg in town or 78 on a run. If I was in the market for a ~25k four door saloon, I know which I'd rather have.

ajprice

30,893 posts

212 months

Tuesday 15th February 2011
quotequote all
Honda Civic IMA?

Hybrid like a Prius or Insight, but its a Civic (4 door, not the current 5 door), so its a little bit more 'under the radar' if you don't want to shout HYBRID DRIVER!