is hybrid better than normal car?
 

is hybrid better than normal car?

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:10:49 +0800, Patrina <moonr@tm.net.my> wrote:

>is hybrid better than normal car?

Yes. What is the criteria that would make it better?

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

dgk wrote:
> On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:10:49 +0800, Patrina <moonr@tm.net.my> wrote:
>
>> is hybrid better than normal car?
>
> Yes. What is the criteria that would make it better?


What's normal?

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

News <News@Group.Name> wrote in news:vdCdnfDvQK6_
467WnZ2dnUVZ_qBi4p2d@speakeasy.net:

> dgk wrote:
>> On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:10:49 +0800, Patrina <moonr@tm.net.my> wrote:
>>
>>> is hybrid better than normal car?
>>
>> Yes. What is the criteria that would make it better?
>
>
> What's normal?
>


The opposite of abnormal, of course. And abnormal is the opposite of
normal.


--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

dgk <dgk@somewhere.com> wrote in news:m3v6j5lpog5d727a2o4m9vid2smmr16pl6@
4ax.com:

> On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:10:49 +0800, Patrina <moonr@tm.net.my> wrote:
>
>>is hybrid better than normal car?
>
> Yes. What is the criteria that would make it better?



It's not better for saving money, that's for sure.

Hybrids are an awfully expensive way to save money. Forbes Magazine's Jerry
Flint has calculated in the current issue that a Prius will take 12 years
to break-even compared to a Corolla. And a Lexus RX450h will take 7 years
to break-even compared to the non-hybrid version.



--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

In article <Xns9CEB6E05C5AF1tegger@208.90.168.18>,
Tegger <invalid@invalid.inv> wrote:

> Forbes Magazine's Jerry
> Flint has calculated in the current issue that a Prius will take 12 years
> to break-even compared to a Corolla.

....unless you need some feature of the Prius that's not in the
Corolla...like the extra room...in which case, buying the Corolla is a
$15K waste of money.

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

Patrina wrote:
> is hybrid better than normal car?


It depends on your situation. If you do mainly city driving but need
a family-sized car, a hybrid is better. If you drive mostly in the city
and don't mind owning a very small car, a subcompact is a better buy. If
you drive mostly highway miles a hybrid is not worth the extra cost,
because it's advantage comes from recovering and storing the energy lost
during lots of slowing and stopping.

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

In article <rqXYm.74756$de6.54438@newsfe21.iad>, Leftie <No@Thanks.net>
wrote:

> If
> you drive mostly highway miles a hybrid is not worth the extra cost,
> because it's advantage comes from recovering and storing the energy lost
> during lots of slowing and stopping.

except, try to find a modern car of similar size and comfort as the
Prius that gets 50+ mpg.

There's more to the Prius than just managing kinetic energy. No car of
similar size and feature set is capable of getting over 50mpg on the
highway, or anywhere near 50mpg.

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

On 12/25/2009 04:55 AM, Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article<rqXYm.74756$de6.54438@newsfe21.iad>, Leftie<No@Thanks.net>
> wrote:
>
>> If
>> you drive mostly highway miles a hybrid is not worth the extra cost,
>> because it's advantage comes from recovering and storing the energy lost
>> during lots of slowing and stopping.
>
> except, try to find a modern car of similar size and comfort as the
> Prius that gets 50+ mpg.
>
> There's more to the Prius than just managing kinetic energy. No car of
> similar size and feature set is capable of getting over 50mpg on the
> highway, or anywhere near 50mpg.

i was going to respond to leftie, but you've pointed out what i was
going to say. reason is the prius's cvt. it's a great system. the
civic hx used to have it and can get very good freeway gas mileage -
high 40's.

many euro and asian market vehicles have cvt, but they're
extraordinarily scarce here, and gas consumption correspondingly higher.
"part of our great american gas guzzler conspiracy".

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <rqXYm.74756$de6.54438@newsfe21.iad>, Leftie <No@Thanks.net>
> wrote:
>
>> If
>> you drive mostly highway miles a hybrid is not worth the extra cost,
>> because it's advantage comes from recovering and storing the energy lost
>> during lots of slowing and stopping.
>
> except, try to find a modern car of similar size and comfort as the
> Prius that gets 50+ mpg.
>
> There's more to the Prius than just managing kinetic energy. No car of
> similar size and feature set is capable of getting over 50mpg on the
> highway, or anywhere near 50mpg.


No, but there are cars of similar size that will get 40mpg highway
and are substantially cheaper (like a Jetta diesel), so there is no
payback of the difference.

I support using hybrids. I just don't want people mislead about the
advantages.

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

In article <dw4Zm.2757$pA1.482@newsfe17.iad>, Leftie <No@Thanks.net>
wrote:

> > There's more to the Prius than just managing kinetic energy. No car of
> > similar size and feature set is capable of getting over 50mpg on the
> > highway, or anywhere near 50mpg.
>
>
> No, but there are cars of similar size that will get 40mpg highway
> and are substantially cheaper (like a Jetta diesel), so there is no
> payback of the difference.

Have you ever owned a VW?

'Nuff said. They're absolute pieces of junk. I wouldn't drive one if
you gave it to me and paid for all gas, maintenance, insurance, and
repairs.

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

Leftie wrote:
> Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>> In article <dw4Zm.2757$pA1.482@newsfe17.iad>, Leftie <No@Thanks.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>> There's more to the Prius than just managing kinetic energy. No car
>>>> of similar size and feature set is capable of getting over 50mpg on
>>>> the highway, or anywhere near 50mpg.
>>>
>>> No, but there are cars of similar size that will get 40mpg
>>> highway and are substantially cheaper (like a Jetta diesel), so there
>>> is no payback of the difference.
>>
>> Have you ever owned a VW?
>>
>> 'Nuff said. They're absolute pieces of junk. I wouldn't drive one if
>> you gave it to me and paid for all gas, maintenance, insurance, and
>> repairs.
>
>
> Ok, I have a '95 Civic EX sedan that isn't as roomy as a Prius, but
> gets 55mpg on the highway. It isn't rocket science: cars got better fuel
> economy in the '80's, before they started to make them larger and faster
> than necessary. The Prius is in some ways just a return to '80's design
> philosophy: efficiency and quality over acceleration.


I can attest to that.

My '83 Civic FE got low 40's city and 55+ highway in real tests and my
current one has an '81 engine (which is substantially different than the
'83) but uses the tall gears of the FE and even with today's lousy gas
gets in the mid to high 40mpg range highway.

Best part is the complexity compared to today's tin is greatly
simplified. Most of it is "old school" and easy to maintain/repair.

JT

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

jim beam wrote:
> On 12/25/2009 04:55 AM, Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>> In article<rqXYm.74756$de6.54438@newsfe21.iad>, Leftie<No@Thanks.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> If
>>> you drive mostly highway miles a hybrid is not worth the extra cost,
>>> because it's advantage comes from recovering and storing the energy lost
>>> during lots of slowing and stopping.
>>
>> except, try to find a modern car of similar size and comfort as the
>> Prius that gets 50+ mpg.
>>
>> There's more to the Prius than just managing kinetic energy. No car of
>> similar size and feature set is capable of getting over 50mpg on the
>> highway, or anywhere near 50mpg.
>
> i was going to respond to leftie, but you've pointed out what i was
> going to say. reason is the prius's cvt. it's a great system. the
> civic hx used to have it and can get very good freeway gas mileage -
> high 40's.
>
> many euro and asian market vehicles have cvt, but they're
> extraordinarily scarce here, and gas consumption correspondingly higher.
> "part of our great american gas guzzler conspiracy".
>

You can get CVT transmissions on Nissans here. Keep in mind too that
the Prius isn't really a midsize car: it qualifies as one because they
managed to stretch the interior space out just enough to earn the
designation. The same could be done with a non-hybrid.

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <dw4Zm.2757$pA1.482@newsfe17.iad>, Leftie <No@Thanks.net>
> wrote:
>
>>> There's more to the Prius than just managing kinetic energy. No car of
>>> similar size and feature set is capable of getting over 50mpg on the
>>> highway, or anywhere near 50mpg.
>>
>> No, but there are cars of similar size that will get 40mpg highway
>> and are substantially cheaper (like a Jetta diesel), so there is no
>> payback of the difference.
>
> Have you ever owned a VW?
>
> 'Nuff said. They're absolute pieces of junk. I wouldn't drive one if
> you gave it to me and paid for all gas, maintenance, insurance, and
> repairs.


Ok, I have a '95 Civic EX sedan that isn't as roomy as a Prius, but
gets 55mpg on the highway. It isn't rocket science: cars got better fuel
economy in the '80's, before they started to make them larger and faster
than necessary. The Prius is in some ways just a return to '80's design
philosophy: efficiency and quality over acceleration.

Re: is hybrid better than normal car?
 

In article <SGgZm.57281$ZF3.48390@newsfe13.iad>, Leftie <No@Thanks.net>
wrote:

> Ok, I have a '95 Civic EX sedan that isn't as roomy as a Prius, but
> gets 55mpg on the highway.

US miles per US gallon?

I had a 92 Civic that got 35mpg on the highway; several years into
owning that, I discovered that the speedeometer was wrong, and as a
result the odometer was wrong.