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End of the World: gtt gets a hybrid......well......
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27-01-2013 1:55pm#1...kinda, but not really....
....I'm galwaytt, and I'm a petrol head. :cool: Always have been. Four wheels, two wheels -doesn't matter. Petrol first, converted to diesel, converting back to petrol again and then.................I got a hybrid. :eek:
Or, to be more correct - the loan of a hybrid. For about 10 days.
So, I thought I'd make it the Mother of All Test Drives. Use it like I normally would a car, and see what/if, this hybrid mullarkey has any truth in it......
So, the car is a 10-reg Toyota Auris Hybrid. A mini-Prius, if you like. In nice, Alpine-ish pearl white. Quite a nice car to look at, really, all things considered. Inside is finished in a half-leather/Alcantar material, and the whole dash/binnacle/console area is nice: nice layout, colours, lighting.
First impressions when you get in are.......feels very well built. A mile from the 97 Xli Corolla I last remember getting into - doors have nice weight, close with a nice 'clunk', and, dare I say it, that 'whoosh' of an airtight cabin - very.....er, 'Like a Golf' ? :P :P
I like the driving position - not saloon low, not MPV high, somewhere in between. Like so many modern cars, the windscreen is nearly in the next county it's so far in front of you, and again, like so many modern cars, the A-pillars are absurdly large - and in that spot you most find yourself naturally looking, at junctions, etc for motocyclists and cyclists............but like I said.....every car is like that now anyway.....
Nice size steering wheel, with a nice texture - the dash has a curious texture - reminds me of the material wetsuits are made of. But not unpleasant for all that.
Interior space is good front & back.
So, what's it like to drive ?
Er, quite good, actually. Er, tbh, more than that, even.
My first introduction to Hybrid driving, in the rain, at night, took a while to get going: I spent 10 mins rooting around the dash looking for the space to put the keyfob into (like a Passat, say...)..........and then the metaphorical lightbuld came on: er - there isn't one. You just have the thing in your pocket, and that's it. Then, foot on the brake, and push the Big Power Button (I'll come back to the subject of the naming of that button later.........
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The low-speed electrically driven thing is very.........disconcerting. You're not sure if it's 'doing it right', if it's supposed to do that, or what. Then half way down the driveway the engine starts and you're going OMG what do I do now. Actually, you do nothing. But varying your speed, but having an engine work at whatever speed it likes, irrespective of your motion speed, is also kinda odd. You roll to the end of the driveway and brake and........the engine dies. Like an old '80s car with a crappy carb, you don't know if the thing is supposed to do that, or not. Petrol heads would be tempted to left foot brake and use the right foot to keep engine revs up
At a junction on the road, it's similar - you're sitting there in silence, and your brain wants to start an engine in case the lights go green and you're not ready/able to get going, and holding everyone up !! But, of course, it's not like that at all: what it actually is, is that it's reverted to EV status, and the engine switched itself off. Your junction is clear, you press the 'accelerator' and.....off she 'whooshes' again...........even odder, given a 'handful' halfway across the junction, the engine starts up again all by it's lonesome at a speed it feels happy with and............the car just keeps going at IT's speed. Like I said, it takes a bit of getting used to.
...........more, in a mo..........Ode To The Motorist
“And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, generates funds to the exchequer. You don't want to acknowledge that as truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at the Green Party, you want me on that road, you need me on that road. We use words like freedom, enjoyment, sport and community. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent instilling those values in our families and loved ones. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the tax revenue and the very freedom to spend it that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a bus pass and get the ********* ********* off the road”
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....actually, I have to pop out for a while, so I'll revert later, and try and put in some pics as well. Got a message to go on, so might as well Hybrid-It...
Ode To The Motorist
“And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, generates funds to the exchequer. You don't want to acknowledge that as truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at the Green Party, you want me on that road, you need me on that road. We use words like freedom, enjoyment, sport and community. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent instilling those values in our families and loved ones. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the tax revenue and the very freedom to spend it that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a bus pass and get the ********* ********* off the road”
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Where this auris makes most sense is when you consider that the car it effectively replaced is the 1.6 vvti multimode automatic.
...intuitive Post of the Day, that
The car drives very well - it's a bit stiffly sprung. There again my local roads are shoite - as it's very nice on the motorway. The silence is surreal, really, and hints at those levels in, say, an S-class. It's uncanny. And it's also very lovely. Hit the backroads though and it's noisier, but the culprit is the too-large wheels and tyres. An economy-targeted car running fat wheels and tyres is just daft.
The outstanding part of the driving experience though, is the CVT transmission. It is very smooth, very quiet, and I am impressed. Considering I'm actually looking for a small automatic at the moment myself, and having driven some and they're awful, those looking for a small automatic could very easily forget to even look at this car. And that would be a pity. As an alternative to a std 1.6 auto, this car is much better - the hybrid is just a bit of a distraction, really. If this quality of transmission was possible in an ICE engined car of the same size, it'd be perfect, albeit noisier. The hybrid-ising of it lifts the quality of the whole thing. Indeed boardsie Lutecia said as much on here recently about her Prius - she bought it iirc not because it was hybrid, but because it was a nice auto. And my experience of the Auris concurs with that. Whether you are prepared to pay a premium for it though, or at least this much of a premium, is a different matter. Maybe not so much if you decided to keep it for 10 years, at any rate.
Now, Priiii have been around a long time, some very long-lived, and so the transmission does seem very robust. If only Audi could get their Multitronic close to it, they'd be laughing.Ode To The Motorist
“And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, generates funds to the exchequer. You don't want to acknowledge that as truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at the Green Party, you want me on that road, you need me on that road. We use words like freedom, enjoyment, sport and community. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent instilling those values in our families and loved ones. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the tax revenue and the very freedom to spend it that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a bus pass and get the ********* ********* off the road”
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The instruments are very nice, and there's loads of buttons to play with....
...and driving via the 'power meter' gauge turns into a bit of a game sometimes - to see what progress you can make without invoking the ICE ...
It's an Engine, Jim, but not as we know it....
......which leads me to performance. Mmmmm.......when crawling, in EV mode, it's better than an ICE car - but there's no getting away from the fact that mashing the pedal into the carpet does.........feck all. You really do end up driving differently. Reminds me of my ancient Vespa: once you get that inertia going, you need to keep it going !! I haven't had the opportunity to, but I don't fancy power overtakes with it, as acceleration is very modest. Almost feeble. Shoving it into ICE Power Mode doesn't even feel very nice or refined. So this is a car for commuting, and travelling gently.
Captainspeed tells us the hybrid is faster than the diesel, and not having driven the diesel, the only thing that comes to mind is OMFG. If this is someone's idea of 'power' then.......I see no future in diesel at all at all Ode To The Motorist
“And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, generates funds to the exchequer. You don't want to acknowledge that as truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at the Green Party, you want me on that road, you need me on that road. We use words like freedom, enjoyment, sport and community. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent instilling those values in our families and loved ones. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the tax revenue and the very freedom to spend it that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a bus pass and get the ********* ********* off the road”
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It has a boot. Quite shallow, really.......
I assumed this was because there was a million AAA-batteries under the floor - but no, it's got another 'layer' underneath....
Not ugly from the front, either....
Ode To The Motorist
“And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, generates funds to the exchequer. You don't want to acknowledge that as truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at the Green Party, you want me on that road, you need me on that road. We use words like freedom, enjoyment, sport and community. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent instilling those values in our families and loved ones. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the tax revenue and the very freedom to spend it that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a bus pass and get the ********* ********* off the road”
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All my cars are operating in the same conditions, so that cancels that out.
While cold weather adversely affects mpg on all cars, it affects hybrids considerably more than other cars. This is because the engine has to come on more often when the weather is cold to do things like heating, demisting etc, otherwise you'd have no electric motor or battery (as with an ordinary car, the engine charges the battery)! 0 -
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Nothibg wrong with over 40mpg on short journeys.
True, the 2005 Mondeo TDdi I had returned 35mpg on all urban short spins for me one week where I went nowhere in it, the 1997 Rover 420 diesel I had used to do just over 30mpg in all urban driving. The Merc 250d I had for a while did 26mpg all urban.
My "urban short spins" would be trips of under 2 miles in 50kph zones where you'd rarely get to 50kph with a cold engine mainly 0 -
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OK, final chapter on this car - it went back to the owner yesterday
I filled it and checked mileage when I handed it back, and it took 17.18 litres having covered 176 miles from the last fill. This equates to having consumed 3.78 gallons for the 176 miles = 46.56 mpg. The computer on the dash was telling me 46.4mpg, so that seems accurate to me.
Difference between this fill and last is...........a few longer runs (but still only 25km), and I took to driving it a bit harder. Tiddling about seems to save nothing.
On balance I would have to say a few key things:
It's a very nice car, well built, nice finishes, eerily quiet.
As an an automatic, it's very, very good. Toyota's CVT system works very well, and I'd have no problem owning one.
For passengers, spacious, the boot is ok.
The only downside - if even a downside at all - is that it doesn't delivery the advertised mpg. Everything else it is very good at. And, 46mpg is not bad at all, it's just the good ol' Expectation vs Delivery colours it.
New, I think it's way too expensive, but used is do-able.
As an alternative to any humdrum midsize auto, the Auris is a very good choice - I wouldn't let the HSD technology put me off, and the comfort factor would be a big ++Ode To The Motorist
“And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, generates funds to the exchequer. You don't want to acknowledge that as truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at the Green Party, you want me on that road, you need me on that road. We use words like freedom, enjoyment, sport and community. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent instilling those values in our families and loved ones. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the tax revenue and the very freedom to spend it that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a bus pass and get the ********* ********* off the road”
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...I can't believe it's two years since this post, but I've just had, from the same source, the use of a newer Auris for the. last couple of weeks again.
So I thought I'd revisit this, re-calculate the mpg, and try living with it normally. If I want my bhp-kicks I can out the TT or 911, so thought would do a Joe Public on it.
First: looks. This one is v nice as well, and sports the newer Toyota front end treatment, and looks well. I also particularly like the colour the owner chose - the chrome, blue & black highlights make the car sparkle.
The interior is lovely as well: this version moving up a notch from Alcantara seats to half-leather. Heated
Even the dash is leather clad, with a nice contrasting stitch on it as well:
Ode To The Motorist
“And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, generates funds to the exchequer. You don't want to acknowledge that as truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at the Green Party, you want me on that road, you need me on that road. We use words like freedom, enjoyment, sport and community. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent instilling those values in our families and loved ones. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the tax revenue and the very freedom to spend it that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a bus pass and get the ********* ********* off the road”
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...the dash is a nice mix of materials, colours, textures, even if the central panel is a tad slab-sided.
Ode To The Motorist
“And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, generates funds to the exchequer. You don't want to acknowledge that as truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at the Green Party, you want me on that road, you need me on that road. We use words like freedom, enjoyment, sport and community. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent instilling those values in our families and loved ones. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the tax revenue and the very freedom to spend it that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a bus pass and get the ********* ********* off the road”
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...not too much I can add to that: it still drives very nicely, very refined, very smooth. The Hybrid drive really does work very well, and in reality is a very very good, and arguably the best, form of automatic transmission. If you're in the market for an automatic, that alone would make it a must for a test-drive - the Hybrid part you can take it or leave it. Me, diesel car - any diesel - wouldn't match it.
Ode To The Motorist
“And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, generates funds to the exchequer. You don't want to acknowledge that as truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at the Green Party, you want me on that road, you need me on that road. We use words like freedom, enjoyment, sport and community. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent instilling those values in our families and loved ones. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the tax revenue and the very freedom to spend it that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a bus pass and get the ********* ********* off the road”
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