Prius haters

BlueCollar said:
I'm not "calling out" anyone. I'm simply pointing out that a lot of people seem to have a blind/irrational hatred of the Prius (you stand out in particular, xrapidx, with your statement that it's not even a car), without actually judging the car on its merits.

The article I linked comes from a guy who felt the same way as you about the Prius, and who cared **** all about the environment, but who came away really liking the car after having spent some time with it.

Yes, the Prius is not everyone's cup of tea, but it's still a great piece of engineering and to simply label it as a crap car (or not a car at all) because you don't like it is immature and ignorant.

The cars you listed (Audi S3 maybe? Or the A3 Cabrio.... Golf 5 GTI... Civic Type-R with change. . . Almost a new S2000.... ) are also very good cars, but it's arguable that given the highly congested road conditions in our cities, the Prius makes more sense and would actually be a more enjoyable vehicle to use during a lot of one's motoring.

Seriously though, if you can't even bother to read the article, then refrain from commenting.
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How does it make more sense and how does it make stop and go traffic more "enjoyable?"
 
JK8 said:

How does it make more sense and how does it make stop and go traffic more "enjoyable?"
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*sigh* I'll link from the article for you then, if you don't want to read it on your own.

round-town driving is great and all, and open highway driving is very predictable (i.e. you're pretty much using the ICE once you're at speed), but what ultimately converted me to the "pro-Prius" camp for good was how excellent it is in stop-and-go traffic. As long as the battery has juice, the car stubbornly refuses to fire its gasoline engine while it crawls along. Eventually, the Prius will have to fire up the ICE if/when the battery's charge drops too low. When this happens, you almost sigh in disappointment, because it's going to cut into the "high score" you've been working on the last few days in the "game." Then you sit there, realizing you're kinda bummed out because of what will, in the long run, be an inconsequential dip in your average fuel economy. This is the epiphany. This is when you know you truly enjoy driving the Prius, a car you may have reflexively disliked before.
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So I guess it's quieter, more economical and more easy to drive in traffic than almost any other car. It's also fun to try and beat your economy high scores.
 
It's not that I hate the car, it's just that it does not really interest me. Yes it is an engineering accomplishment, but not really an exciting one. Well if your not BlueCollar. :p

I like the so called "performance hybrid" Lexus is on about. But that is about it. :o
 
xrapidx said:
I hardly ever sit in traffic though... maybe 30min on a bad week.
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Well then the Prius ain't for you. I also don't sit in traffic anymore, but when I worked in Rivonia I routinely had to spend about 1-1.5 hours every day in stop go motoring. My manual transmission was a mission and I was burning a lot of fuel while not moving at all.

My point is not that you guys have to like it, but that it's unfair to call it a crap car.

*edit* sox has the right idea.
 
Toyota has traditionally had excellent resale value in this country, but I don't know about this Hybrid. I mean the tech is about 10 years old and the new generation of energy saver cars will be much more efficient. I wouldn't want to be sitting in a lemon within a couple of years after forking out close to 300K
 
Hosehead said:
Toyota has traditionally had excellent resale value in this country, but I don't know about this Hybrid. I mean the tech is about 10 years old and the new generation of energy saver cars will be much more efficient. I wouldn't want to be sitting in a lemon within a couple of years after forking out close to 300K
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Its an under-powered, over-priced gimmick.
 
xrapidx said:
Its an under-powered, over-priced gimmick.
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Why is it a gimmick?

Why is it that power has to be the be all and the end all when judging the merits of a vehicle?

It's not *that* underpowered anyway or expensive. I've posted before on this forum a cost comparison of a VW Golf 5 TDI (very similar performance to a Prius) kitted out with all the options that a Prius has as standard, and the Golf comes out more expensive.

http://tinyurl.com/3trylk
 
Last edited:
I suppose you guys didn't see the Top Gear M3 vs. Prius episode... Anyway, Clarkson showed that a Prius used more fuel around their track in a day than the new 4L V8 M3.

:)
 
BlueCollar said:
Why is it a gimmick?

Why is it that power has to be the be all and the end all when judging the merits of a vehicle?
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Like the previous comment - there are way better hybrids on the way. This one is a first attempt, I had one first type of car.

Power isn't everything, just look at the other cars you get for the same price? You can't say this beats them.
 
Nocturnity said:
I suppose you guys didn't see the Top Gear M3 vs. Prius episode... Anyway, Clarkson showed that a Prius used more fuel around their track in a day than the new 4L V8 M3.

:)
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I've also read that the cost to manufacturing or some such makes it more enivornment unfriendly than a hummer
 
BlueCollar said:
*sigh* I'll link from the article for you then, if you don't want to read it on your own.



So I guess it's quieter, more economical and more easy to drive in traffic than almost any other car. It's also fun to try and beat your economy high scores.
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So thats cool, you get to hear everyone else more clearly... the taxis hooting, people with 94.7, old cars with a hole in their exhaust...
It can only be enjoyable if the car drives itself and you can take an afternoon nap in traffic.
 
Nocturnity said:
I suppose you guys didn't see the Top Gear M3 vs. Prius episode... Anyway, Clarkson showed that a Prius used more fuel around their track in a day than the new 4L V8 M3.

:)
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Hahahaha is this true?
 
It's not JUST about the power. Do you honestly want to tell me that driving a Prius is more luxurious/comfortable than driving and Audi A3 DSG? Seriously?

That's what I refer to. R300 000 is a lot of money, bud...
 
xrapidx said:
I've also read that the cost to manufacturing or some such makes it more enivornment unfriendly than a hummer
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Not true:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/03/08/hummer-vs-prius-redux-this-time-to-hummer-i-dont-think-so/

http://www.pacinst.org/topics/integrity_of_science/case_studies/hummer_vs_prius.pdf

M3 vs a Prius:

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/30/video-the-opposite-of-hypermiling-bmw-m3-vs-toyota-prius/

Yes, an M3 coasting around a track is more economical than a Prius driving as hard as it can.

How do the two compare in real world driving conditions though?
 
Nocturnity said:
It's not JUST about the power. Do you honestly want to tell me that driving a Prius is more luxurious/comfortable than driving and Audi A3 DSG? Seriously?

That's what I refer to. R300 000 is a lot of money, bud...
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As I said earlier:

It's not *that* underpowered anyway or expensive. I've posted before on this forum a cost comparison of a VW Golf 5 TDI (very similar performance to a Prius) kitted out with all the options that a Prius has as standard, and the Golf comes out more expensive.

http://tinyurl.com/3trylk
Click to expand...
 
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