I'm in the market for a new car and I want it to be ultra high-mileage. It needs to be a four-door, for four adult passengers. In the U.S., that basically limits my options to a
Prius or a
Civic Hybrid. The Prius officially has better city mileage (though there are those who dispute the 60 MPG city rating), but the Civic is pretty much equal on highway driving. Most of my driving is sort of inbetween -- in the suburbs, on rural roads, with a stoplight every mile or two, so I'm thinking this basically counts as highway -- that suggests the mileage issue is a wash.
Anyone have experience with either of these cars? Want to weigh in on which is a better value / better driving experience? Which one gets better real-world mileage? Just have an opinion about which car looks better? Let me know!
I can't speak on the Civic, as I have never driven one, but I do own an '05 Prius. I LOVE IT. As for the 60 mpg - depends on where you are in the country, road conditions, weather, how you drive, etc. I have gotten 65 mpg on occassion and I used to AVERAGE around 54. I now average about 45 (we''ll see what happens in the summer, as it is going up). Why? I moved. I went from 80 - 100 miles a day (40+ mile trips non stop) that were in traffic, large flat spans of road, and open highway. I now drive about 3 miles per day, and trust me- that hurts the car- poor little guy has no time to warm up. Soon I will start biking to work.
My wife drives a Prius and gets about 46-48 mpg between city and highway. She loves it, and it is fun to drive (and cheap to fill up).
It's ugly as sin though, and suprisingly annoying to park.
I actually prefer the look of the Prius. It's different and, in my opinion, very well designed. I also think it's extremely fun to drive (granted, it's not fast, nor do I want it to be. But there is something very exciting about coming to a stop a at light and not hearing a sound, or when someone tells you that they think your car just stalled.
The Prius also has a TON of storage. I love that I can fit a couple snowboards and skies, my bike, some furniture and a large tv (not all at the same time, mind you) in the car. Gotta love hatchbacks!
My wife drives a Prius and gets about 46-48 mpg between city and highway. She loves it, and it is fun to drive (and cheap to fill up).
It's ugly as sin though, and suprisingly annoying to park.
How is it hard to park? I live in the city and this thing parks like a glove.
Because a lot of folks don't realize that diesel technology has improved and it's rather quite clean-burning, efficient, and cold starts aren't as problematic as they might have once been.
Agreed. My father's next car is going to be a VW diesel- I am quite looking forward to that day, in the next year or so. Diesels are also extremely easy (relatively speaking) to convert to ethanol and fry oil burning "hybrids"- something I think is very, very cool.