@junyo: +1
@EMoShunz: "enter the government, force every new home to have some solar panels, and every new x mile radius of development to have a wind generator".
Yeah, and who's gonna PAY for all these panels and wind generators? Why stop there? Why not have the government FORCE us into riding bikes, or FORCE Amoco to switch to Hydrogen? Oh yeah, capitalism and democracy. It's not all about the evil government and greed. It has more to do with our freedom to chose. Why isn't the prius the best selling car in the US? Because we don't like it, not because the government doesn't let us.

kahri

A Prius is not nearly as long an extension as a Hummer.

tedbare

I think the King must own a prius.
To take a quote from southpark...

Good for yooooouuuuu!

tek_nic

Why the emphasis on city driving? At least for a city like NY, people simply don't use (or even own) cars. Is it simply because of regenerative breaking?

Prius is a step in the right direction, but isn't something like the Lexus LS460H a step in the opposite direction?

pantsonfireliarliar

@Monty: Pretty much agree with you on this one. I had a mazda in the mid-90s that got 40mpg and scooted around town very quickly, and that's with four doors and four cylinders.

I'm guessing if it had similar drag and tires as the prius it would have been close to the Prius's mpg.

jibbly

@EVERYONE
Do people not understand that Clarkson reviews the performance of cars for a living?

And the Prius is slow to accelerate. My room mate has one and I drive it a lot. For city driving, as in a large downtown area like in New York, the Prius is going to be good. But most people don't live in that environment. I drive the Prius in LA and the average fuel economy of the car is around 40mpg. Thats not that great compared to a diesel but there aren't many diesel options out there.

As for the person who said their 90s charger only gets 9mpg. You can't give that car as a standard when you're trying to compare the highest fuel economy's in the US and in Europe.

avrohim

@Superjuanvi: Clean diesels are better than the old ones.

Brian Lam

Everybody is talking wonders about diesel cars. After living 15 years in europe I can tell you, the US is better off without them: 1) they polute more (look up how diesel smoke is leading to asthma) , 2) their dirty smoke is unbearable (like kissing a smoker) 3) they are very noisy 4) vibrate through your bones. I am exaggerating a bit, of course, but I am glad there are fewer diesel cars in the US. If you want to go green, buy a 100MPG scooter!

Superjuanvi

@EMoShunz:

Do you know anything about wind generation? You do realize they create noise pollution, as well as pose hazards to birds right? Have you seen what one of these things does if it breaks and starts to tear itself apart? Want bit of a prop coming through the roof of your house like a javelin?

Forcing every new home to have solar panels isn't cost effective. People are having troubles paying for the houses they own now without increasing the costs.

Why is it that people think it's ok to further tax people to become green. Why not do something like offer tax incentives to retrofit homes instead? Give money back that would otherwise be spent poorly by the government.

Also, how eco-friendly is the manufacture of solar panels, what is the impact on the environment from it?

Again, you want to tax (punish?) people who earn more so that others can reap the benefits. Last I knew this was a company based upon capitalism, which means you're free to make obscene amounts of money if you want to.

Gasoline prices will force natural attrition in older less fuel efficient vehicles. Oh wait, it's not just the rich who drive such vehicles. Let's increase taxes on gas! Oh, but that hurts the majority of people, not the minority who drive such rediculously large vehicles. SUV sales are already in the dumps, the market has taken care of that.

Xavoc

well, I applaud toyota for sticking with the Prius, but, it's only a Parallel Hybrid car. I mean 100 year ago Porshe put out a Serial Hybrid car. Parallel means that both engines drive the wheels, while Seial means that only one engine drives the wheels. I mean in a 100 years gas powered cars have not been able to gain any MPG nor has hybrid technology made any advances.

[www.ecogeek.org]

Robert Isbell

Check out this article from March of '07. A Prius is actually worse for the environment, and costs more per mile to own and drive than a Hummer.

[clubs.ccsu.edu]

jrog

@Razta:

Indeed he does, nothing stops him voicing his opinion and that makes his reviews so much better.

Taime

I own a Toyota, I always thought of the brand being very reliable. Sort of disappointingly they may be cheaply made.
Honda is good too though.

Altanader

Yes. Lets switch to nothing but bio diesel. Becuase food is not important. I suppose if we could drink biofuel...hmmmm...

ianken

@ImTheKing: I love foilheads that think getting 60+ mpg is easy and companies/government/military-industrial-complex/aliens just don't want us to have them. The guy in Fast Company does make some cool, high-performance engines, but 100mpg is trickery - he's not counting the hydrogen he injects into the cylinders in his "gallons." Funny since Hydrogen is a pretty potent fuel. It's like pouring gasoline on a BBQ and claiming that the 4 briquettes at the bottom are producing the 20ft flames.

Yes, we have a lot of room for improvement. Yes, diesel and plug-in hybrids should be introduced as quickly as possible, followed by full electrics, following by a sustainable electricity source (noookular), but ranting about a non-existent conspiracy doesn't accomplish any of that.

MarcFen

@Monsterdog: i stand corrected. the reason eco friendly has not caught on is not greed, it's greed and ego.

EMoShunz

Yeah, too bad "ya'all" overthere can't get the VW Lupo 3L he mentions, about 62 miles to .8 of a gallon (33km/l). Of course any American wouldn't be seen dead in a car like that since its smaller than a Geo Metro, I suppose global warming and the death og the Tasmanian Fruitbat is a small price to pay.

Monsterdog

@Canoehead: right. the whole point is there has to be dozens of different green techs to pull this all off. i love nuclear, the CANDU is one of the safest, cleanest energy producers out there. combine it with lots of other individual tech and it all pulls together for a better world.

EMoShunz

@ImTheKing: Can someone explain why any one person would need to accelerate 0 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds?

Because I'm racing a motorcycle, dah.

God, evangelists of any stripe fail when they assume that their concerns are the only concerns that matter, and all other considerations are stupid/selfish. One of the main advantages of being free people is the lack of need for justification; I need to for no other reason than because I can and want to. Some of us drive cars not as transportation, not as a cargo hauler, but out of the sheer joy of driving. The Prius is an interesting technical achievement, and an adequate way to get you and a bag of groceries across town, but an awful, awful car. Now compare it to the Ariel Atom ([www.youtube.com]), which just barely meets the definition of car, and tell me which one looks like more fun. Make that a hybrid, or burn cow farts or whatever, I'm buying it.

junyo

@EMoShunz: hmmm selenium. And what about the areas with low or no wind? Or politicians (see Kennedy, Ted) that don't like windmills?

Canoehead

If we all drove biodiesel then we'd have to cut down all the trees to plant the crops, and half of the developing world would starve (plus the energy (often gas/diesel) invested to get the stuff is non-trivial). If there is any green energy to be had it will be more efficient hydrids, combined with plug-in charging that is nuclear supplied. Everything else (wind, solar, wave) might help around the margin, but won't get the job done for a real economy.

Canoehead

@Xavoc: my point was that by forcing these solutions into mass production, costs drop dramatically. 1 example: google's hybrid hybrid. more electric then gas. google can pull this off because they use *free* clean energy. enter the government, force every new home to have some solar panels, and every new x mile radius of development to have a wind generator. cost of electricity drops, people pay less for it (or pay the same and the extra mony goes to subsidizing older neighborhoods to get retrofitted).

EMoShunz

He keeps on harping on how the Prius is slow. I've had plenty of opportunities to ride in Prii, and as a physicist, I guarantee you that a Prius going 65 mph on the high way is traveling just as fast as every other car going 65 mph. =P

Someone needs to explain to this guy that if you have a modest 15 minute commute across town to work, the ability to go 0-60 in 1 second, or 30 seconds is only going to save you a handful of seconds, or a few percent of a percent.

He then compares it's fuel efficiency to a tiny 2-door Lupo. Did it ever occur to him that the Prius comfortably seats 5 while holding a trunk full of goodies? If he's so concerned with fuel efficiency, he should just ride a bike, or walk. Or drive a Tesla

The Prius isn't the be-all, end-all of green transportation, but it has a great combination of carrying capacity, comfort, innovation, etc. On a numerical basis, the tiny diesel beats the Prius in MPG or MP-emission, but that small, efficient vehicle only covers maybe 70-80% of the average family man/woman's driving needs. What happens when you're carting friends about, shopping for furniture, or taking the family on a trip? Suddenly you need an entirely different vehicle all together.

ludwigk

@ImTheKing
You really need to watch a lot more Top Gear (and read his newspaper column, if you're er... that sad) to really get an idea of how little Clarky "cares" for the environment - the guy fronts a CAR TV show... the last thing he cares about is making some nice points about a car that's as eco friendly as my burnt-asbestos-CFC-Nuclear-waste producing thingumy that I just invented.
Seriously, the Prius uses so many materials that it CAN'T be recycled... at least... that's what I read, whether or not _that_ comment is true is the original authors guess, but it sounds good :P

Jawdy

Yeah, I'd rather keep my 2001 TDI Beetle, thanks.

It may not get quite the fuel economy as these nifty hybrids, but it runs on 99.99% vegetable-oil based BioDiesel ! So these Toyota's have weened themselves off of gas, almost completely. My BioDiesel rig uses ZERO resources from the Middle East!

It's grown, processed, and delivered from about an hour away from my house. (Sequential BioFuels, Salem, Oregon)

If only the U.S.'s delivery infrastructure would switch to BioD; we'd never have a fuel shortage again; we'd never have to fight another war for oil, and it would severely slow down the effects of Global warming.

Problem:

Less Profits.

hoserelder

@EMoShunz: The problem with many "green" initiatives is that they are too expensive for the lay-person to afford. Forcing change upon an ever growing "lower-class" of people this way isn't going to work.

Recycling is easy to do, and requires little additional effort to make an impact. It is also cheap in regards to lower-income individuals.

SUVs are already putting themselves on the chopping block naturally due to gas prices increasing. I just purchased a car, and while I make good money mileage was high on my list of considrations. My new car averages 6 mpg better than my previous one, sacrifices no performance (in fact gains), and the company I purchased it from goes out of its way to have environmentally friendly production.

Peronally for my money, a Prius isn't efficient enough for my needs to justify the premium. The 2009 model sounds definitely worth waiting for.

Xavoc

@EMoShunz: Wow - you're so fascitst, its groovy!

Canoehead

Meet the Peel P50. [en.wikipedia.org]

duckandcover

IF Toyota surveyed me and asked why I won't buy a Prius, it would be the shortest answer ever. "It's Ugly as Hell"

CruJones

@virtualmatt: Already available.

Soot emissions can be controlled, as can Nitrogen Oxide. Both of which Blutec is designed to control.

What one also has to realize is that emissions standards are different between here and the EU. They also have much better developed mass transit infrastructures as well.

There is no magic bullet for handling pollution issues, there is always a tradeoff. A Prius is still out of the price-range of quite a few people as of yet.

Xavoc

If you mostly drive cross country in a Prius, yes it will drop down to 45 mpg.. but if you drive in the city and start/stop often, you'll get up to 65 mpg.

So, long distance drivers should drive a diesel, city drivers drive a prius.

kevininstereo

there is an underlying issue of half informed commenters in this post. there are ways to fix it all, now, "we have the technology". it's all about greed why it doesn't happen. a bunch of big, high profile, highly vocal and effective politicians need to step up and say "e-phuking-nough" and force feed green down people's throats!

EMoShunz

Bluetec. That's what I was after. It's a brand of Diamler's diesel engine that's supposed to be out soon if not already in some Jeeps and Benz'es.

virtualmatt

our big old estate car (deisel) does 50mpg, its way bigger, and faster.

thistle.john

that show just tries so badly to trash american and asian branded cars. just pure jibberish.

saych

So what if it is over-priced, badly made and not nearly as green as the best alternatives? It sounds good, allows Hollyweird Libs to feel good about the Enzo and Hummer in the garage, and it "is a step in the right direction" while "sending an important message". Remember, modern liberalism is all about what you feel, not what you actually do - and you must have the correct feelings. So take that!

Um, how do you plan to dispose of that nasty, chemical filled battery in five years?

Look, I'm all for conservation, especially if practiced by others (more stuff for me) or if it genuinely reduces costs or is at least performance neutral, but the Prius is nothing but a hyped-up hybrid, a prototype at best. Perhaps a necessary step on the way to developing something truly useful, but memo to Hollywood, you Prius + your trips on that GIV = a lot more carbon than my SUV.

Canoehead

@virtualmatt: i saw that episode, it was cool.
that said, top gear is a performance show, what did they really expect out of a prius?

EMoShunz

Jeremy Clarkson is the Ann Coulter of automotive journalism. He says provocative things just to get mentioned in the media. And naturally any british car (even if it was designed by germans) gets top marks. For all the people advocating diesel, I'd rather follow a prius through a traffic jam than a stinking diesel VW. There's a reason the backs of those cars are alwas black with soot.

Maladjusted

@IMTHEKING

+1

At least this car goes in the right direction, real retarded people use Hummer because they think with their penis first.

Dude27

for clarification, his 45mpg was highway as was the vw that got 75 mpg. however in the city his real world for the prius would have been more like 50mpg and the vw 50 mpg. the deisel is still better, hence why i keep saying wait for diesel/electric hybrids in north america.
side note: quality diesel engines produce less greenhouse gas then gasoline engines.

EMoShunz

The Prius is not particularly impressive in American automotive terms, either. I was getting ~60mpg on a Chevy Sprint (3 cyl engine) during my days in college, so a ~50mpg on a Prius has never left me very impressed. People buy the Prius because it is the automotive equivalent of 'look at me, I am green'.

The real 'save the world' automobiles will be all-electric. Even at the amount of coal we burn, it will still result in far smaller CO2 emissions, and as we slowly start replacing coal plants with other sources of energy, it only gets greener.

Of course -- there is that whole battery issue we still need to work out. But, I am going to ignore that for now.

Monty

@ImTheKing:

That show reviews cars for performance, that's why he addresses the speed (or lack of) of the Prius. I'm surprised they didn't put it on the track like they do with the rest of the cars they review. They raced a pimped-out Mitsubishi EVO against a Lamborghini(sp?) one time....and it won due to active stability management that enabled it to take turns at faster speeds than the Lambo. Neat show, and interesting take on the hybrid solution from the gear-heads point of view.

virtualmatt

Granted our Prius isn't exactly a speed burner, but it's not that slow. It performs great as a city driving car and decent on the highway for me. And my average mpg has been more in the range of 53 or 54.

pr0ff3ss0r_j3rkwh3at

Besides, Jeremy is in the UK and it doesn't really matter what we have in the US to him.

Razta

@ImTheKing: Why do people love art?

Brian Lam

This just shows the idiotic nature of someone who has no concept of a healthier environment. His comments about the Prius being slow are childish and utterly stupid. Can someone explain why any one person would need to accelerate 0 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds? It's not meant to be fast. Its meant to make a step forward in the right direction. Not only that but the government regulates what these cars can access in MPG. Anyone remember the articles related to the Prius being unleashed and pushing 100 + MPG? Or how about the recent article published on multiple magazines of the mechanic thats able to double the MPG of any vehicle just by using correct techniques of energy consumption and tuning. People WAKE UP!

ImTheKing

Jeremy Rocks!

Razta

He's right... but missing the point... for some reason all of those better alternatives he's talking about... aren't available in the US.

Most importantly, that care is hideous.

Voltron80

HAHAHA I love that guy!

hagrun

Oh snap! I think I hear the whirlwind of patchouli stink and nonsense heading this way. Very enlightening though...we've (America) outlawed some form of the diesel engine that apparently gets good performance and efficiency---blue diesel or something? Last I read (probably in a 2 year old car rag at the barber shop) there were a couple models going through emission trials to be approved for US roads. Maybe one day we'll learn that other nations have been doing this a lot longer and that we could, you know, learn from them. And stuff.

virtualmatt

Sorry, ...the US haven't.

Elvisisdead

Across the Pond it might not be the greenest of vehicles, but over here 45 mpg is incredible. My '90 Dodge Ram Charger gets 9 mpg. Yes, nine.

jawzxy

Expected from a Euro point of view. They've always had access to high MPG diesel options. We in the SU haven't. With that said, the Prius is a step in the right direction in the US.

Elvisisdead

That's Top Gear for ya! Love that show :P

Stang70Fastback

I suppose to listen to him? Dude wasn't even driving on the right side of the road!

T-man

this is why i've been telling people for years, wait for a deisel/electric hybrid. but does anyone listen?
well, europe did aparently, but that doesn't count, i got the idea from there.

EMoShunz

I am holding out for that "flying" electric car.

Mayor McRib

@jkadin: I've driven my Prius at 108 mph on the highway a few times. The stock Goodyear Integrity tires are "S" rated to 112 mph so there shouldn't be a problem.

A strolling player

@Robert Isbell: Do you have any idea what you're talking about. Parallel is more advanced than serial. The honda hybrids are serial. Basically they just run a large starter inline with the drivetrain. Makes it drive more like a conventional car but it's not as efficient.

Even IC technology has come a long way. Modern engines are magnitudes more efficient than their ancestors even 30 years ago.

MarcFen

Plus, Top Gear was off on that 99mph top speed (that is what they said, right?) I've driven a Prius at 102 on the highway, although maybe it wasn't the best idea in the world considering the tires...

jkadin

And I thought my Mazda3's 30mpg highway was good...

jkadin

@Monty: I've never driven a 3-cyl Chevy Sprint, but I can't imagine it's nearly as comfortable as my Prius and probably slower to boot.

A strolling player

have all of the detractors here actually driven a prius? it's an amazing car. it has enough speed and power for anyone's needs, unless you are planning on engaging in illegal drag racing. The fuel efficiency is great for city drivers. and if you decide to take a cross country trip, this is a great car to do it in. it may not get the same great gas mileage going cross country, but it seats 4-5 and holds lots of luggage, handles well, and creates a wonderful driving experience.

the first time you are stuck in stop and go traffic, you'll start to appreciate the prius. you'll be sitting there in the roomy interior, comfortably cool, and getting great mileage. and when you are stuck and the traffic draws to a halt, you'll suddenly notice that the car is dead silent whenever it is running off the electric motor. that silence really helps to make driving in such conditions a lot more peaceful.

my only gripe is the price. i think the prius should be priced a lot lower so that the folks who truly need to save money on gas because they have low incomes can actually afford one - and not just trendy yuppies and band-standing celebrities. or people who don't mind living beyond their means on credit so that they can afford high car payments.

Terranova

Top Gear is the greatest show ever. The Polar Special was awesome. Man I would be so down with a hybrid propane injected turbo diesel. I agree the Prius is overrated. It has cool on-board gadgets but clean diesel motors are much better for increased MPG.

matt448

@jrog: If you read the actual CNW study that article is based on it's easy to tear apart their methodology.

[www.thecarconnection.com]

@Monty: I hear this stuff all the time, but I've never seen anyone actually get ~60 mpg for extended periods. Did you calculate your mileage with a log for years over multiple fill ups or is this another guesstimate you made every once in a while. I'm not trying to sound snarky; if you truly got 60 mpg for the long haul that's great, I have just never seen that to be true and I've driven many different tiny "econoboxes" back in the day.

Besides, my Prius gets better mileage than I was ever able to get out of them and it's huge compared to my old tiny cars. Seriously, we borrowed a family member's Cadillac the other day to drive somewhere because my visiting family thought it would have more room for all of us. I said it didn't and then was cramped in the back with no leg room for 3 hours.

The other thing to consider, for those of you who keep mentioning diesels, is emissions, not just mileage. Yes, the diesels are getting much better mileage in many cases, but component emissions are dirtier in some ways and in one very significant way: my Prius shuts down and emits nothing quite often during my commute.

I'm a big fan of biodiesel and especially diesel hybrid technology. I don't necessarily see everything as a this vs. that competition though. I'm not really all that defensive of my Prius, I just don't like all the misconceptions and don't understand the people that are obviously threatened by it. It doesn't make me feel any better than anyone. It doesn't take away your choice to buy an SUV. I like supporting the technology and the direction it could take us. And it is a well built car with many nicer luxury features compared to those little crappy cars I used to drive to get good gas mileage.

giuseppe

blah blah blah

Brookespeed

I've owned two Golf diesels in Europe that were a lot zippier and got 55mpg with mostly city driving. The Prius is a joke in the European market. In the US, it's a little different, but still... I just can't live with severe lack of performance and mediocre fuel economy. Definitely looking forward to the Tesla roadster though: 0-60 in 4 seconds or less and 250 mile range on a fully electric engine. Oh and it looks good too.

crazybelgian

i've always hated the prius...

rainfever

@mor10:
man you crack me up. "insanely fast"? damn im glad you dont live in california. i'd hate to be stuck behind you, going "fast".

you can accelerate UPHILL? DAAAAMN! whatsit got like, 80 HP? 90?! thats insane!!!

nutbastard

@mor10:
you outran a ferrari going uphill? uh, was he aware y'all were, you know, racing? because it's hardly "outrunning" someone just because they're incidentally driving slower than you, behind you. @Brian Lam:
whatchu driving? hachi-roku? : )

nutbastard

I just want my atomic car. I'm being totally serious. I want the Ford Nucleon. That would be 25 shades of awesome.

smitty1123

@mor10: There are some new blu diesels that meet CA emissions. Most of what you said, I don't know enough to comment on. But I have a car that does 0-60 in 5 seconds and eats a lot of gas and I kind of like it. A lot. It is my favorite thing. That's what I call fast, and it's not even that fast compared to newer cars.

I think that if faster hybrid cars come out, I'll bite, even if they have paddle shifters instead of 6 speeds. But not until they drive fast.

Brian Lam

@mor10: "I am so unimpressed with this video I'm going to email them and complain. what a pile of rubbish"

You can, and they won't care. Along with most of their viewers.

quiksilver180

Thank you Brian! Thank you! The Prius is awful... slow, not very fuel efficient, green, AND ASS UGLY. I'm holding out for an A4 diesel or the Subie Diesel coming soon....

quiksilver180

I'm sorry but this is total bull. I own a 2004 Prius and I can tell you from first hand experience that much of what this guy is saying just simply isn't true:

- It's insanely fast - disturbingly so in fact. Because of the CVT and the electric engine it has a tendency of wanting to just keep going faster and faster. I often find myself going 70kph in a 50 zone without even noticing I'm accelerating

- the acceleration is insane if you floor it. the wheels spin, you feel like you're in a jet engine and it's actually quite dangerous. It also allows you to accelerate up steep hills and past other cars. I outran a Ferrari climbing up Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver about 3 weeks ago

- I dunno what kind of crappo version of the car he got but my arm rest box doesn't rattle AND it is padded with nice small rubber feet just like you would expect

- The only way to get the mileage this guy got on the car is by driving very erratically, under inflating your wheels and dragging a piano behind it.

- The diesels he is talking about are not available in the States or Canada because the diesel here is so dirty it would kill their catalysts in less than 30 seconds. If the US and Canada were to set their sulphur standards for diesel to the same level the European countries set it to about 15 years ago these diesels would be a viable alternative. But alas the good people in government still don't understand the first thing about pollution.

I am so unimpressed with this video I'm going to email them and complain. what a pile of rubbish

mor10

I drive a Prius a lot for work, and have to say that it is an absolutely terrible car.

To all those people defending it on here:

1)Yes, it feels like it's good at accelerating- that electric motor delivers instant torque. The problem is, it's not so good when it transfers to the gasoline engine, say, when you want to reach highway speeds. An example: the onramp to the highway near my house is dangerously short. The speed limit is 100, and most are doing 120kph. I want my car to propel me to highway speeds as fast as possible because it's safer for everyone in my car and those on the road around me. The Prius gets you to 60kph in a hurry, then struggles for a few seconds beyond that. Terrible.

2)Again, this car gets driven nearly constantly by the people who work at the studio I do. The average fuel consumption (mostly in-city driving) from heavy usage: 6L per 100km, or just over 40MPG (remember, this is from a variety of drivers and driving styles, not some one person with a lead foot) Environmental, fuel-saving dealbreaker? Hardly.

@ludwigk: Because everyone must want a big 4-door saloon over a small fuel-efficient beast, right? Small cars are cool, agile, fuel-efficient, cost-effective and fun to drive (the VW Fox and the Toyota Aygo are excellent examples). The Prius is none of those things.

And here's the thing: Top Gear heaps praise on small, fuel-efficient cars that are fun to drive. It's a motoring programme, they focus on what's good in all kinds of cars. Top Gear even trumpted the Toyota Aygo as the 2005 Car of the Year, alongside the Bugatti Veyron.

topcatticus

@A strolling player:
" To be fair the 65 mpg he says a Lupo [iirc] gets is based on the bigger Imperial gallon"

The Lupo is rated at 78 miles per US galon, and 94 per Imperial galon.

edgarj

Its true, in europe there are better choices, and he doesnt really care about what choices the american market has.

@saych: are you insane? he drives a ford gt, an american car, and he will not hear a bad word said about it. They all traveled across america in american cars, and had nothing but good things to say about the cars.

They CONSTANTLY tell people to buy asian.. they once said "it doesnt matter what it is, buy asian and you wont regret it"

They even raced lovely old aston martins and an old jag against a modern honda accord, the honda won, they didnt complain...

The ONLY thing top gear complains about, is foreign cars that do not work in the UK, which happens to be a bunch of cars designed for america.

I mean, in one show they recommended people buy a ford instead of a BMW 3 series.

You just have to watch every show to get why they complain about some types of cars, but they absolutely love Asian cars.

prodigal_son

@nutbastard:

"you outran a ferrari going uphill? uh, was he aware y'all were, you know, racing? because it's hardly "outrunning" someone just because they're incidentally driving slower than you, behind you. "

exactly. If you're driving a sports car of note, it sometimes makes other drivers more aggressive around you. In their minds, they're racing you. In your mind, they don't exist. Sometimes if you do realize some other car is getting lippy, you let them zoom ahead just to get rid of them because as long as they're around it's dangerous and annoying. All the while, you know that if you wanted to they would be far far behind....

frigg

@mor10: Okay, you're exaggerating.

If my 2006 (mechanically identical to your 2004) is "insanely fast" then my previous car, the 1996 Camry V6, is ludicrous, and my father's Infiniti G35 is impossibly quick. The word you're looking for is perhaps "deceptively": the car will accelerate to 107 with little to no fuss, and it does feel fast.

Acceleration also isn't incredible, though it feels quick because of the constant power from the power-split transmission and the 300 lb-ft. of torque available from the electric motor at zero rpm. Regardless, I once beat a Camaro with my Camry in an... impromptu drag race; the only car I've beat in such a race was a 1995 4-cyl Plymouth Voyager. Wheelspin never happens if it's dry out, and if it's wet or icy out, VSC grabs them after a half second.

The first time I saw this clip I was bothered by what Clarkson said about the build quality, but then the spring behind my hood release, the rear cupholders, and the plastic piece around the rear centre armrest have all come out. Not what I expect from a Toyota with under 24000 miles on the clock.

I average 40 mpg in my Prius. I drive aggressively but not erratically. I do not tow pianos, and my tyres are inflated to 42 front/40 rear. If I wanted to do better I could, but I don't want to. The same driving got me 16 mpg in the Camry so I'm happy now. To be fair the 65 mpg he says a Lupo [iirc] gets is based on the bigger Imperial gallon, and it's a much smaller car.

You're right about diesel tech, though. One of the many, many transportation-wise follies of the US government.

Email them all you want, but yeah they will ignore it, especially seeing as this episode originally aired almost 3 years ago.

A strolling player

Despite toyota and their hyprids, Honda is still more gas efficient overall than Toyota or any other car makers.

nxp3

"And at a tested 45mpg, it's actually less green than a diesel."

Great, let me go ahead and replace my TDI Jetta and Passat with diesels. Well.. wait... green isn't just MPG, it's also emissions.

*glances at sticker of cars, notices they're at the very edge of the badge emission side*

*glances again, notices the TDI manages barely more then the Prius, and the Passat noticeably less*

*glances at the market and notices there isn't a single TDI for sale in north america that gets 45mpg*

*glances at the new Camry which has taken over for the Passat and pollutes a whole hell of a lot less*
Though what can I say? I've only got a pair of diesels and a hybrid, that's not a whole lot to go on right?
Gets tired of ignorant generalizations and moves to another tech blog.

ruggels

@ImTheKing:

"Can someone explain why any one person would need to accelerate 0 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds? "

Because it's fun.

frigg

@tedbare:
incidentally, Woz owns both.

nutbastard

if your tires are spinning in a prius... it's time to get out and push it out of the mud or snow or whatever and stop pretending you own anything more than a glorified golf cart.

nutbastard

I'll say it. Cars suck. People that drive fast, insist on accelerating fast, and do not understand stop lights, suck even more. Driving should be a luxury, not a necessity. The only thing that has made it a necessity in the United States is the piss-poor transportation infrastructure and the complete lack of adequate public transportation.

Give me a maglev or equivalent train with decent destination oriented off-shoot transit options and I'll be happy, there faster, and representing less broken pedestrians. Wait, don't do that, lawyers need the business.

maztec

@ruggels: Actually, the 2008 Jetta TDI gets 45 mph average. Too bad it doesn't come out until March.

As for all the comments about deisel emissions, in late 2006 diesel fuel was switched over to ultra-low sulfur fuel, helping to cut emissions. Also, 2007 EPA mandated emissions levels are much lower than 2004 levels, and 2010 is even more promising, cutting emissions by 90% of 2004 levels.

@virtualmatt: Blutec is a technology to cut emissions. It's not any more efficient than other methods, it's just easier for them to do. Since Daimler is using it a lot in Europe, they are bringing the tech over to the US. There's a couple of competing methods to drop nitrous oxide levels down to mandated levels.

soultrain

@A strolling player: Suggestion: I hope for your student budget's sake you don't run into any mechanical problems with your Prius, as they are expensive to mend (compared to having just an IC engine). Fact: pointing out the nature of the next bit you are going to say is quite lame.
Concession: next time I'll remember that the US is the center of the universe and how dare I use examples from where you might not be.

topcatticus

@djdare:

Actually the other cars I tested before I decided on the Prius were the VW Jetta GLI, Audi A3, Mazda 6, and yes the Honda Civic Hybrid. I chose the Prius for a couple reasons, mostly because it was the most practical decision for a college student. My parents paid for the car but not for the gas.

Number two was the GLI, no question. It was about $2000 more than the Prius, but it was loaded and fast.

I honestly prefer the way the Civic Hybrid looks. The problem is that it's not as full a hybrid as the Prius, it doesn't have all the features the Prius has (Bluetooth is so insanely convenient), and it's slower: 13 seconds 0-60 instead of 10. It does handle a little better but all told the Prius was more practical. Agreed that the sentiment is ludicrous, though.

A strolling player

WHAT THE CHRIST WAS THAT

Stacky Botrus

and just to prove I didn't make the last part up here's the comment

BY NEWGALACTIC AT 10/09/07 08:28 PM
I think it looks absolutely wonderful. One of the unforeseen issues with the current Civic Hybrids is that they don't look "hybrid" enough, and more like a regular Civics. Hybrid owners often are looking for some prestige among their peers when the consider a hybrid. As a result, people tend to favor the Prius because it looks like a hybrid (futuristic). This should help Honda hybrid sales in general.

and the original post it appeared in:
[gizmodo.com]

djdare

meh, I'll take my 93 Toyota MR2 turbo any day, efficient 2.0L 4cyl gets 35mpg when I keep my foot off it, and when I want delicious forced induction power. If you enjoy your prius enjoy it, I'm happy for you, I wonder if you realize the other options available or just picked the prius for the status, but that's neither here nor there. I did once see a quote on another post on this site regarding the honda civic hybrid where someone complained it looked too much like the regular civic, meaning you wouldn't get recognized for purchasing a hybrid in it. And I think that sort of sentiment is just ludicrous.

djdare

@topcatticus:
Fact: I cannot fit all my things to move to and from college in a car any smaller than a Prius. Corollary: Any car that I can fit all my things into is less economical than a Prius. Fact: Whether I could fit my things in them or not, the Aygo and the Fox are terrible examples as far as many Jalops are concerned because they are not sold in the United States.

Anyone who rides in my car thinks it's the coolest thing. Blame the cool technology and gadgets. The type of agility that matters is in the parking lot, and its incredible turning circle means it's very agile. It's more fuel efficient than anything its size. It's cost-effective if I keep it as long as I plan to. And I have quite a lot of fun driving it.

A strolling player

old. but i love Top Gear. Go Jeremy!

The.Goalkeeper

If you have the ability to get 55mpgs now - then it's worth it vs. waiting for that "magic bullet" electric-hydro-fusion-diesel getting 1billion mpgs... I have no need to go 0-60 in 3.2 as it'll be to work everyday anyway and why do I want to get there so fast? But I DO know I hate smog and high gas prices so I'll start there. Top Gear talking about the Prius is as fair as Britney about class - can't do it. So jabbering back and forth of blah blah torque and horsepower on something which the owner couldn't care less about is silly. check this guy out if you have enough cash & really need that much power: motorhead-messiah... start talking about that to make it into a fair conversation.

zarchitect

my bike gets 10000000000000000000000000000000000000 x infinity miles to the gallon and goes 0-5 pretty quickish

chanmoss

@AznSmith: Actually, 110, all said.

A strolling player

@topcatticus: Don't get me wrong, they're great examples for people in that market. Most people over here don't know the Aygo, Fox, Lupo, Swift, et al. exist. If they existed here, maybe I would consider them. However, since I cannot buy any of these, a Prius makes sense for me in the United States.

Besides, I did say that they're too small for my needs, anyway. The Prius doesn't make sense if you compare it with even the Yaris, Versa, and Fit/Jazz. Compare it with other cars its size.

A strolling player

@nutbastard: 73

AznSmith

@ImTheKing: why would you say something like that? i am personally offended because i do appreciate a car capable of doing that an at the same time does not look like an old man's asshole, which imho, the prius does. Exotic cars are art. most people don't drive them but can appreciate them. there are much cheaper and i daresay more effective ways of achieving high mileage and maintaining stellar performance. VW is leading the way in europe and i bet if we beg nicely they'll let us have a taste too

AznSmith

Very old video, however
Top Gear is an entertaining show, that's it.
BTW the only reason why diesels aren't as widespread is because:

[1]tougher emission laws (however this could be solved by including a more expensive filtering system for exhaust)this of course does the second
[2] increased price (compared to cars in same range)

Now a diesel (liion) electric would be perfect. (and I've been slowly waiting for one since 2005)

kayne001

Ah, Top Gear. I love the show, but there's no way Clarkson would ever give a decent review to the Prius - petrol heads see it as the thin end of the wedge, as a threat the big old-fashioned shitty mileage cars that you all seem to love.

I've been to Texas, and it's scary - every person and their Grandma drives a truck, and it's STUPID behaviour like that that messes up the environment and keeps America dependent on foreign oil.

WAKE UP! The Prius may be tacky, but it's a first step that needs to be taken so that other, better green cars can be made.

"Only does 99mph"... FFS.

cbdsteve

@EMoShunz:

Keep in mind though, it's damn near impossible to find a new diesel vehicle in the states. I tried for some time to get a jetta or a golf here in the states before finally giving up and getting the camry hybrid.

trekkie

@Paradise: yup. still would be nice to see the gas part of the prius diesel though.

EMoShunz

this is ridiculous. the prius is a Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (PZEV). a disel is fucking not; your car is likely fucking not.

get a clue people; there's more to it than just how many mpg your car gets.

Paradise

@kahri: again i say DO SOME RESEARCH! who will pay...well, um, how about the power companies pay you for the power generated off those panels going to the grid. no one said the panels had to power YOUR house, they power the grid, and for less real estate (size) impact on the environment, use existing spaces, i.e. your roof.
seriously people, look for solutions, not oportunities to complain "oh no, the government made me do something that will better everybody at no short term expense but long term benifit"...tards.

EMoShunz

@Xavoc: do you know anything about supply and demand
honestly, you seem to be one of those half informed people, who half read my comments. did you notice i DIDN'T say put a windmill on every street, or even a full size, or even a 'traditional', why not use a horizontal (more efficient, quieter, less visual and occupational impact) generator.
how much does it cost to build and maintain a power plant, did you factor that in?
have you researched the (not-so) new technology out of holland. seriously dud, all of the issues you mentioned are solvable right now if the world would just get off it's 4$$, which isn't going to happen until gov't steps up to the plate.
example of 1 of the many solutions that need to be force implimented:
where i live the gov't is going to heavily tax incondescent bulbs in about 5 years in order to force people to use more efficient solutions, but since dimmers need incondescent, they are still available and the tax money goes to help lower prices of green energy in other areas.

EMoShunz

@hoserelder: The downside to biodiesel (or even E85) is the increased competition for the source material. With urban sprawl helping farms to vanish, we have less and less space for producing the corn, soy or other vegetable to produce the ethanol or oil for the refining process. As demand increases, cost will go up and soon the cheapest veggies at the local megamart will be the most expensive. Now you're getting into national nutrition issues. When will we start bulldozing suburbs to build farms? Where will we import our veggies from?

balloondoggle

@trekkie: agreed, but that is part of the problem. why must it be so hard for the average person to be green. my wife drives a cavalier to the tune of 30 mpg 200 km every day to work and back. when it kicks the bucket in a year or so i am already looking into viable, responsable solutions. a little diesel commuter like buddy was talking about would be perfect, 75 mpg (she is all hiway, so hybrids would be less benificial), but a hybrid diesel would be perfect-er. can i do that...no.
even our minivan for our 5 kids (and my 15 min drive to work) would be way better with a diesel/electric hybrid drive system since it is mostly city driven, and the added torque of an electric motor in a larger vehicle would be great.

EMoShunz

@balloondoggle: i'm not 100% sold on biodiesel either (or any tech for 100% for that matter). that needs to be blended into standard diesel and/or ethanol blended fuels. combined with diesel/electric hybrids of all shapes and sizes, that will dramatically decrease emissions. as the infrastructure builds (again, won't happen without gov't intervention) make the hybrids more and more electric as power generation becomes more and more green. eventually phase in some hydrogen and grow the infrastructure of that (start with mandating all public/gov't vehicles that can refuel centrally switch to hydrogen).
it all has to work together, no 1 solution will fix it, it all has to be implimented in moderation to keep costs down, and supply high, which will stimulate the market more dynamically.

EMoShunz

1. People who say "I got XX mpg in my [name-of-car]" don't impress me. What they're saying is "I got 60 mpg once in my car-of-choice." My 2002 Prius does 42-44 mpg all the time [including lots of highway miles]. I recently saw an ad touting a car as getting good mileage because it was EPA rated at 29mpg. That would be a really really bad day for me.

2. It may take longer to go from 0 to 60, but with the high torque and CVT, it can go from 0 to 30 faster than most other cars. [Oh, are you still in 1st gear? Buh-bye...]

3. Yes, I've accelerated up very steep hills.

You can hate all you want, but please use facts not unfounded opinions, or you just look stupid.

ideaman2020

@EMoShunz: Yeah, time is needed to get multiple techs online and working together, but I wish they'd focus more on improving mass transit. It seems to me that the fastest bang for the buck is just improving bus service. Huge returns, and get people accustomed to the mass transit as you establish other, more efficient forms and thier infrastructure. Then the roads we have will suffice for those times you just can't use the mass trans option. That's when the alternative fuels and efficient vehicles come in.

For twelve years I worked just 3 miles from home and it was more expensive and time consuming to ride the bus than drive. Now I work 12 miles out and the bus doesn't even come within 6 blocks of my office - and that's after a transfer and 1.5 hours riding.

I'm sure that there will be a turning point and we'll all switch to a common source that isn't hydrocarbon. After all, we don't depend on whale oil like we used to, or wood before that. It's just a question of what the successor will be.

balloondoggle

I love top gear, however they seem to like to bash america a lot.. and it sure aint pronounched "pry-us"

toyotaboy

@A strolling player: 76 hp @ 5000 rpm (57 kW @ 5000 rpm) [www.toyota.com]

AznSmith

@smitty1123: 25 shades of nuclear holocaust

AznSmith

A hybrid isn't a super car - it won't save baby seals, or cure cancer. It just uses less petrol. So for folks sitting around waiting for a better vehicle (yes a diesel hybrid would be good but it isn't invented yet), you're still chewing through more gas than a hybrid on a daily basis. Only gets 45mpg ? lol And your current car gets ? Best thing about Top Gear - the races between different methods of transport. Awesome show, I love it. And I drive a Prius. And follow Nascar racing. I just use a hybrid because it's cheaper to run on a daily basis than anything else.

simtelevision

As a Prius owner, I am biased but I think in a good way. ;-)

First, the Prius' mileage is a remarkably sensitive to how you drive it. If you are a "stomp and go" driver, as this reviewer is, you get the mileage the reviewer got. If you are an equally dangerous "hypermiler" driver, then you can get into triple digit mileage on a stock Prius. I get an honest 51-53 mpg in the summer.

Second, because of the low end torque of the Prius' electric motors, I take very high horsepower diesel pickups off of the line. (Yes, they are empty. You can think of them as "champagne" trucks driven here in Austin by cowboy wanna'bes.)

Third, a diesel hybrid would be an even better eco-friendly car than the Prius. No one's making them right now.

Fourth, folks seem to think that the Prius was designed to maximize mileage but it wasn't. It was designed to minimize pollution. High mileage is a virtuous side effect of the design. How does the Prius minimize emissions? It does it by using the electric motors in preference to the gas engine for speed changes. These changes in load during acceleration are when gas and diesel engines make the most emissions. The Prius shifts those changing loads to the electric motors. (Also, the Atkinson/Miller cycle engine puts just enough fuel into each cylinder to produce just the power necessary. This also helps in the emissions story.)

Andrew

adonoho

@hoserelder: It's less about profits than you think. Remember the oil companies are going to be the ones to deliver all your bio fuels too you on a large scale, as they already have the logistics in place, albeit in another form.

Also remember the great and all powerful unintended consequence. Because of bio fuels, prices for virtually every single food item go up, since feed becomes more expensive since it's more profitable to grow bio fuels because of govt subsidies, meat goes up in price. Base items like corn go up since land it switched from food use to fuel use. While doubling the price of corn in a first world country isn't going to break anyone's bank, doubling the cost of rice and grains can be potentially devastating in the third world. Also you have countries like Brazil that are exporting a lot of ag product for fuel use, but they're also clear cutting rain forest to do it, so it's not exactly an environmental wash there.

Really, IMO, for the US the future will have to be some form of hydrogen fuel cell tech that can leverage with marginal investment in changing the fueling infrastructure we have now.

zoe9906

I test drove a Prius the other day. After 5 minutes driving the car I felt myself getting tired. As I drove back to the dealership it dawned on me. The car runs on gas, electricity, and my will to live. It's about as much fun to use as your microwave is. Yipee!!!

tallonjf