do you reckon you jazz up a hybird?

easyontheeye

Lads,

do you think its possible to make one of them hybrid cars look half decent? From what i can see the honda is the only one with abit of hope. anybody own one?

ta2kev

I don't own one, but I drove the Prius for about a month, I was selling it in the garage I work in at the time. They're a comfortable car, nice driver, but they're not to everyone's taste, looks wise. They remind me a lot of the Primera, similar shape. The whole shape of the Prius is for aerodynamics, that's what we told customers anyway.

flanzer

I presuming you mean 'an affordable hybrid'. If not, what about an RX400h or the Lexus GS? They're nice

I've been asking myself the same question also though. Why can't the main manufacturers put a hybrid engine into one of their mainstream cars?

I'm just back from the states where Ford have launched an SUV hybrid which I thought looked tastey enough, called the Ford Escape. It's a mainstream SUV with a new hybrid engine in it. Kind of like the Subaru Forrester I thought. Here's the linky . Doubt it will ever reach our shores though.

Stephen

The Honda Civic hybrid isn't terribly bad looking - its the same as the petrol-only Civic saloon. I don't think they're able to cram all the hybrid gubbins into the small engine bay of the hatchback yet, hence no hybrid version of the more attractive hatchback model.

What would be nice is a diesel hybrid, but since the hybrids all seem to be targeted at Americans nobody is doing that.

E92

Mercedes will soon have an S350 Direct Hybrid, which averages 35 mpg, and also a 40 mpg diesel S-class Diesel, which has a 4 pot engine with 204 bhp.

ninty9er

I bet there's accountants everywhere waiting for that diesel S Class hybrid:D

zilog_jones

Weren't Peugeot planning on making diesel hybrids?

E92

Yes theres a 308 Hybrid Dieselopn the way, and when BMW can make their petrol Hybrids more efficient in the real world than a normal diesel, and by that I don't mean the mpg figures we get from the EU, then there will be BMW Hybrids too. BMW already have mild Hybrid, which provide 70% of the Fuel Economy benefits without the drawbacks of a Hybrid of which there are many.


ninty9er, I dont know about that Diesel S-class, its only a 4 pot, a 2.2 litre(well actually a 2.1 litre since its engine boasts 2148 cubic centimetres) based on the lump currently found in the C-class, but with 2 turbos, and of course a 4 pot engine is one of the least refined type of engines possible to make, so its gonna be obvious what source its fuel comes from. Good and all as diesels are, 4 pots cant disguise what fuel they use too well. And by the way, its NOT a Hybrid, contrary towhat I said earlier, so I'm sorry about that.

However its fitted with Bluetec, which means that there are 2 tanks in it, one for Diesel, and one for AdBlue, which is basically piss(Urea), and a couple of other things, and very enviornmentally unfriendly if not used appropriately. The car will be the first Mercedes sold in Europe that meets the Euro 5 standards I believe.

JHMEG

E92 wrote:

without the drawbacks of a Hybrid of which there are many.

Oh no, here we go again....

jon1981

are hybrids more expensive to get serviced?

E92

I would imagine the answer to that question to be yes. They have a much more complicated transmission,drivetrain, and they boast batteries, and don't forget, that Hybrids may not be exactly the safest thing to be in an accident. As far as I know they tend to go on fire, because of electricity issues.(battery)

colm_mcm

E92 wrote:

I would imagine the answer to that question to be yes. They have a much more complicated transmission,drivetrain, and they boast batteries, and don't forget, that Hybrids may not be exactly the safest thing to be in an accident. As far as I know they tend to go on fire, because of electricity issues.(battery)

Ok, here are the facts. If you compare servicing costs of an Avensis 1.6 and a Prius, they are identical, both have the same service interval, use similar VVT-i engines, need spark plug and oil changes at the same time. The Prius' Hybrid Synergy drive is warrantied for 8 years, and there are no extra maintainance parts. It could be argued that the Prius would cost less to service, as there is less risk of clutch needing replacement.

To say that hybrids "tend to go on fire, because of electricity issues" is ill informed. That's a bit like saying petrol powered cars tend to ignite bacause they carry petrol

JHMEG

E92 wrote:

I would imagine the answer to that question to be yes. They have a much more complicated transmission,drivetrain, and they boast batteries, and don't forget, that Hybrids may not be exactly the safest thing to be in an accident. As far as I know they tend to go on fire, because of electricity issues.(battery)

Rubbish!

Colm is right.. The servicing of a hybrid is identical to any other car. Oil, filters, pads etc. The additional parts that make it a hybrid require no servicing.

mad m

So if I was going out tomorrow to buy a Hybrid with around 27-30k in my arse pocket,which one would it be? Isnt there a grant cash back that comes with these Hybrids?

crosstownk

I've a few Prius on fleet, and tbh, they are probably cheaper (from a maintenance perspective) to run than an Avensis - and that's cheap.

unkel

mad m wrote:

Isnt there a grant cash back that comes with these Hybrids?

There is. It's a reduction in VRT if you buy a new one. Good for Honda and Toyota, as it reduces (a bit) the huge loss they make on each petrol hybrid they sell. Bad for you and for me for it is us that pay for that silly subsidy as the tax payers we are

I'd like to think our minister is just a fool that doesn't know what he is doing. I sure won't start any allegations here that he is being paid by some car manufacturers!

colm_mcm

If hybrid technology is encouraged at this early stage, then it becomes attractive for manufacturers to develop the technology

unkel

Good point in that governments can encourage the market by offering subsidies / lower taxation or even issue vetos!

Shame that no more subsidies were available when petrol / electric hybrids were being developed many years ago. Shame that those subsidies are still available now that it has been proven that petrol hybrids are not the best option. Let's instead divert some of our hard earned tax money to best of class diesel manufacturers like FIAT. Surely if they can combine superior diesel engine design with some soft hybrid technology (no huge bank of batteries) and we would all win?

JHMEG

unkel wrote:

Good for Honda and Toyota, as it reduces (a bit) the huge loss they make on each hybrid they sell

Jeez, enough already!

Honda make a healthy profit on each hybrid they sell. They made a loss on the Insight, which is long out of production.

Toyota got to #1 largely aided by the success of the Prius. They couldn't have done that if the were making a loss on each one.

What subsidy are you paying?

unkel

JHMEG wrote:

Jeez, enough already!

Honda make a healthy profit on each hybrid they sell

Oh right. That's new to me. I concede I haven't seen figures for Honda, but I've seen figures for Toyota which were big losses. All companies should maximise profit otherwise they wouldn't be companies. Any linky to the profits Honda makes on petrol hybrids?

JHMEG wrote:

What subsidy are you paying?

50% of the total VRT charge. Now that is a lot of money!

JHMEG

Toyota makes profit on each Prius sold:
http://hybridcars.about.com/od/hybridcarfaq/f/PriusLosesMoney.htm

Honda, like Toyota, doesn't reveal profit margins, but they've said from the outset that the Civic IMA will not be a halo model, but instead purely commercial. The reason there aren't as many around is because Honda can't make enough of them. Afterall Honda is waaayy smaller than Toyota.

Captain Slow IRL

don't bother jazzing up a prius, you won't do a lot of good - it'll still look odd!

the civic hybrid is identical on the outside, bar the lightweight alloys (imo look sweet) and the badge on the back, to the saloon - which is probably one of the best looking saloon cars on the irish market today!

projectgtr

land9 wrote:

don't bother jazzing up a prius, you won't do a lot of good - it'll still look odd!
QUOTE]

it can be done and done well, alot of american companies are now realising the market for this chassis and quality kits are now starting to hit the market

projectgtr

as for the civic, stock its a really nice car stock but again being a civic it has more kits availible although most being "rice", allthough again alot of quality kits can be had, would you be interested in importing a civic from japan, the price if i remember is ALOT cheaper