BMW 520d beats Toyota Prius on economy
 

I will have to admit to finding this rather amusing. Lets just hope its not a SIAL :lol1:

As per title, the Times Newspaper got some journos to do a bunch of miles in both cars and then compare economy. The Prius lost, lets make sure we remind owners of these cars at every opportunity.

Toyota Prius proves a gas guzzler in a race with the BMW 520d review | Used Car Reviews | Driving - Times Online

Without reading, I was under the impression that the Prius is stupid expensive for servicing etc, with its £ per mile being rediculous compared to other cars.


Prius or 5 series, tough one that eh!

Oh yes, the Prius is a stupid price. It costs too much to buy, too much to run, and OMG if you have to pay to change the batteries :eek:

Not to mention its slower than a 520d, with the final nail in the coffin being that its not even more economical :lol1:

Not a hard choice is it :D

Nice "real world" test, driving from London to Geneva :rolleyes:

In that kind of driving, it's pretty obvious that the BMW would be better. It's a pity they didn't drive round London for a week and compare the averages. That'd be more interesting given that London's the only place I've ever really seen them driven (I think I've seen 2 up here in the north where we have open roads)

Why no-one makes a hybrid with a frugal diesel and gets 80+mpg, I'll never understand.

lol indeed mate, build quality, safety etc BMW all the way.

The batteries are changed during a particular service I believe so its not even a case of "if" more when!
Paying 500 for the C service on the scooby is a pain but knowing what they do for it I dont mind lol. But for a Prius, I would rather burn it. lol

I am thinking about going a greener shade of my current colour though. Due to circumstances, im currently considering a Smart 4-2 as a run about :D

Even Smart or Prius..... Smart please lol

I recently read BMW are actually testing just that hybrid on a 5 series :)

As for real world testing, guess it depends on whos real world your in :) Driving round London all day is not real world testing for someone who lives in the countryside and wants to be cleaner..

London does not have that many of them, considering how successful they said they would be in town. Most are going for the lower emissions standard cars. Just like its all about money for the government, its the same for the public. Buy the cheapest option to get the cheapest passage into town.

Well, as I said to someone else recently. I have also thought about buying a green car, but on balance silver just looks so much nicer :D :lol1:

lol I had a green car, and it was greener enviromentally than my current ones.
So its all in the paint, your right.!

There was some extended driving around just a city centre to help the Prius out. I think there was an hours worth or something.

At the end of the day a car has to work wherever you choose to drive it. The people who drive the most miles are those who pollute the most. Its those miles that we need to tackle (if we actually need to tackle anything).

Since the people who do the most miles do those miles mostly on motorways, or at least outside of town centres then it makes for a very worthy test. There are a lot of numbskulls out there who end up buying a Prius only to realise its economy is worth than the car they were in before they got it! If articles like this help them, then that is a good thing :D

It's a no brainer: despite all the fancy techno gubbins, the Prius is still based on a rather basic and untechnological petrol engine to gain its power from...combine that with its huge weight, and you can quite easily wipe the smug grin of the bearded sandle-wearing nitwit who thinks he's buying an economical car.

Ok, that petrol engine emits less carcinogens than a diesel (linked to cancer and all sorts of other nasties)...but that deosn't matter...if you listen to the governments and the media, the REAL KILLER is is CO2, yes that stuff we breath out. So sod all those nasty carcinogens that diesels produce, it doesn't matter in the slightest. ;)

I believe the reason why Toyota don't make a diesel Prius is becuase they believe that carcinogens are more of a environmental concern than CO2 (especially in an urban environment). Or they believe that there is a stigma attached to diesel with public concern to carcinogens, thus reducing its market potential (is there really a market? :wonder: ).

Given the choice: Smart Roadster with a supercharged hayabusa conversion ;)

Sharkman - CO2 is deadly stuff - try having nothing else to breath.


Anyway - BMW seem to have gotten a bee in the bonnet about fuel consumption. Instead of doing something completely different, they are just adding lots of bits of inexpensive technology to give you and extra mile or two. We had a 123D on loan a couple of months ago...... It gave performance near that of a classic scoob and 60 MPG :eek:

And there is still no clear policy on how to dispose the batteries.

Yes, diesel is a nasty fuel, PM10 particulate emissions.

Not suprising!

Indeed.

The 530D I used around London averaged 17mpg on normal driving and 11mpg on a busy shift;)

From the Pistonheads thread...

Prius is partly driven by a battery which contains nickel. The nickel is mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the ‘dead zone’ around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles.

The plant is the source of all the nickel found in a Prius’ battery and Toyota purchases 1,000 tons annually. Dubbed the Superstack, the plague-factory has spread sulfur dioxide across northern Ontario, becoming every environmentalist’s nightmare.

“The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the soil slid down off the hillside,” said Canadian Greenpeace energy-coordinator David Martin during an interview with Mail, a British-based newspaper.

All of this would be bad enough in and of itself; however, the journey to make a hybrid doesn’t end there. The nickel produced by this disastrous plant is shipped via massive container ship to the largest nickel refinery in Europe. From there, the nickel hops over to China to produce ‘nickel foam.’ From there, it goes to Japan. Finally, the completed batteries are shipped to the United States, finalizing the around-the-world trip required to produce a single Prius battery.

And they start all over again when it needs new batteries, dispose of the old and make new........... Enviromentally friendly, who are they kidding!

Smart 4-2 for me thanks lol.

They're ugly and crap do drive, anyway.

And the Prius......... Even worse lol

The 5 series or the Smart ?? lol
As you say about the in town fuel econ of the 5 series, hardly suprising given the abuse and "irratic" (in a nice way) driving they have to undergo

Regularly get 40mpg from my 530D. It'll spin its wheels in third and has about 350Lb Ft of torque at 2000 rpm. It's a gas guzzler and the intelligent choice ;)

And just think...all one really needs to do is buy an old milk float and strap a petrol generator on to it = Recycled Hybrid :D

I've got a E90 320d and its even better mpg than 530d

Toyota Prius....?

Shouldn't that be Toyota PIOUS? ;)

:lol1: Everyone has a duty to print out several copies of this and place them under the wiper blades of any Pious they encounter. If you know anyone with one, then take great delight in watching them squirm as you advise them of their eco-terrorism :lol1:

Good to get that MPG on a run. I never managed more than about 18mpg with London driving. Auto one.

:notworthy I like the idea, might have to do that. THEN..... see if they just screw it up and throw it and FAIL to recycle too lol