"Dave Plowman (News)" Incoherently wrote in message
...
In article ,
Pete C wrote:
Then a figure for their standard test route which is a mixture of
suburban
type high streets with moderate traffic and suburban dual carriageways
with a speed limit of 40 or so. They're based in Teddington, so it
doesn't
involve central London traffic jams.

Right, so it's not stop start town/city driving then. In that case
their testing isn't much use to people who drive in those conditions.

No test can ever be exactly the same as your driving conditions. And
surely you've noticed your economy varies according to how heavy the
traffic is?

They do this because it gives a reasonable comparison between all cars
as submitted for testing. Cars submitted for government testing might
well be fiddled to improve their economy at the expense of performance.
Since Autocar also check the performance, and many will buy on this, it
would be a stupid maker who would try this trick on them.

Their *overall* test figure may well be on the low side against what
most drivers will get, because it includes testing for top speed and
timed acceleration runs. And the Prius was truly poor at 23 mpg.

At long last! Some context! Those whose driving includes top speed and
timed acceleration may want to look elsewhere then.

They do this with every car since it gives a comparison.

A comparison of what? Dragsters? Who the f**k does 0-60 all day? Only
idiots. The test is crap, totally unrepresentative of the driving conditions
of which it will meet. The test is total crap. Mine does over 55mpg - and
glides.

If it was sold as a city only car, why does it have a top speed of 100
mph?

I can't believe anyone half sane would day that. It is aimed at city
driving, but needs to be capable of moving on motorways. It is not tram.
Duh!

As it is when
driving at 70 mph on a long motorway journey - it's much worse than a
equivalent performance diesel.

Of course, it's a town/city car not a touring car.

They don't advertise it as that.

They don't advertise it as dragster either,. but Autocar use it as one.

Had it been designed for real economy, it would have used a diesel
rather than petrol engine. But it was designed for certain parts of the
US market where petrol is cheap and diesel not popular. And near zero
pollution at the point of use in city centres.

Diesel emit particulates(soot), so are dirty and they are noisy (noise
pollution). Diesels are made by Satan.

Don't forget the Japanese market, where they have big problems with
pollution in cities. I think diesel hybrids will appear when the
hybrid bit gets cheaper.

They will. Then we'll see real economy.

60mpg plus is real economy enough, in car only slightly smaller inside than
a Camry.

It's merely a curiosity in the UK. Just how many do you see on the
roads? If it was so wonderful, there'd be many thousands.

There are waiting lists because they are in short supply.

They're not appearing just secondhand at a premium as happens with cars
which are in demand.

He said "There are waiting lists because they are in short supply".

Oh - it also has rather high depreciation. It's quoted as only
retaining
50% of its cost after 3 years. Something like a VW Golf is 60%.

Rather high? Parkers say it has slower than average depreciation:


http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/ca...l_id=1173&page
=3

Might be slower than average, but not the best in class for this sort of
car. Strange if it's that much in demand.

He said "There are waiting lists because they are in short supply". Also
there is ignorance toward this car, as you overtly demonstrate. Once
ignorance has dissolved, the residuals will be brill.

Also depreciation is only part of the whole picture.

Yep. In central London the running cost are miniscule.