Videos Top Gear: Supercar Fuel Economy Test & BMW M3 vs Toyota Prius

[siko]

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2008 Top Gear Episode 1: Supercar Fuel Economy Test & BMW M3 vs Toyota Prius

We stumbled upon the first episode of Top Gear Season 11 on YouTube and we immediately knew we had to share it with you. In this first part the team is concerned about rising gas prices. In typical Top Gear style, they fill up five supercars (Ferrari 599, Lamborghini Murcielago, Aston DBS, Audi R8 and Mercedes SLR) with 1 gallon of fuel and race them around a track to see which one will go the furthest.

Next up, they drive a Toyota Prius Hybrid on the race track as fast as possible with a new BMW M3 Sedan following behind at the same pace. Ten laps later, guess what? The Prius did 17.2 UK MPG (14.3 US MPG) while the M3 Sedan 19.4 UK MPG (16.2 US MPG)! Not that anyone will drive a Prius like that, but it does go to show you that fuel economy isn’t always only about the vehicle you drive, but it’s also about how you drive.

[Source: CarScoop]

 

[RoWis]

What a great first episode!

 

[siko]

The Prius vs M3 really raises a serious question... myself, I would have never thought that the Prius when pushed very hard would be ever that bad.

 

[Giannis]

I would have never thought that the Prius when pushed very hard would be ever that bad.

Oh C'mon mate! It's Toyota after all

 

[chonkoa]

The result comes as no surprise to me because I have being averaging 26-28 mpg on my 330i with 30/70 City/HWY driving. Like they pointed out in the video, it is more about altering the driving style.

 

[Centurion]

I would have never thought that the Prius when pushed very hard would be ever that bad.

At full throttle or on a highway the Prius is crap. Over 50km/h the car is powered by the petrol engine alone meaning that the Prius won't be consuming any less fuel than your average four door sedan. The real benefit with the car is merely in areas suffering from congestion where the car will be starting and stopping a lot rarely exceeding 50km/h. Like I have said before, the Prius is somewhat a gimmick and I can only imagine the crap sales people are feeding potential customers.

 

[bum-man]

Rowis, your avatar is epic.

Oh, and the results don't surprise me one bit.

 

[Sunny]

At full throttle or on a highway the Prius is crap. Over 50km/h the car is powered by the petrol engine alone meaning that the Prius won't be consuming any less fuel than your average four door sedan. The real benefit with the car is merely in areas suffering from congestion where the car will be starting and stopping a lot rarely exceeding 50km/h. Like I have said before, the Prius is somewhat a gimmick and I can only imagine the crap sales people are feeding potential customers.

And the irony is that here in California you could drive your Prius in the car pool lane which has less congestion and hence get worse mileage than you would in another lane.

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Like I have said before, the Prius is somewhat a gimmick and I can only imagine the crap sales people are feeding potential customers.

Some people just love to push the same old crap time and time again... especially when it concerns a Toyota or Lexus. It's bordering on pure fanboy hate.

The Prius was not designed to be thrashed around on a race-track or to be ultra-efficient on highway driving. It's main focus was on achieving excellent mileage in city driving (which you clearly pointed out)...which it successfully does so. Where exactly is the 'gimmick' in the Prius?
If you're complaining about how Toyota has marketed and promoted the car, well then it's purely the regular Tom, Dick or Harry's fault for thinking that the Prius is some sort of god-send or the answer to all the world's environmental problems. It was the first hyrbid on the market, so of course it carries a lot of buzz and hype eventhough it's a fair few years old now. So don't blame the Toyota sale people for simply doing their job...blame the naive consumers who think such a miracle is possible.

You really have a BIG chip on your shoulder coz you dismiss the Prius as 'crap' and a 'gimmick' every time there's a thread relating to it or hyrbid technology. Yeh sure in Europe diesel is now seen as a highly efficient alternative to petrol, but open your eyes and look at countries where petrol is still the main source of energy (eg: USA is a good example) and you'll clearly see that the Prius trumps all other passengers (excluding the scarce few diesel passenger vehicles from MB, BMW, and VW/Audi) in terms of efficieny regardless of whether it's city or highway mileage. What exactly is so hard for you to accept about that? ... It ain't crap, it ain't all lies and smoke-screens, it's a pure and simple FACT that the Prius does have a noticeably better mileage than a petrol-only vehicle of a comparable size and weight in terms of city driving, and even highway driving.

Yeh sure it's a bit of an eye-opener that the Prius and M3 had fairly similar mileage when driven on a race-track, but the Prius was not enginereed for that....and all this episode really proves is that driving style plays a BIG part in a vehicle's fuel efficiency.

Remember, it's not the Toyota's marketing department which makes the Prius so efficient, it's the hybrid technology.

 

[Beemer B773ER]

And the irony is that here in California you could drive your Prius in the car pool lane which has less congestion and hence get worse mileage than you would in another lane.

Yet, regardless of if you were in the car-pool lane or stuck in the slow lanes, you'd still achieve better gas mileage than all the vehicles around you... so why exactly are you trying to mock or detract from the Prius' hybrid technology?

Simple Toyota hate....

 

[Sunny]

Yet, regardless of if you were in the car-pool lane or stuck in the slow lanes, you'd still achieve better gas mileage than all the vehicles around you... so why exactly are you trying to mock or detract from the Prius' hybrid technology?

Simple Toyota hate....

Except not. A golf TDI will get you way better gas mileage at highway speeds.

Anyway my post was not about Prius or Toyota hate, but the stupidity of a rule that takes diminishes the advantage of driving a hybrid.

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Anyway my post was not about Prius or Toyota hate, but the stupidity of a rule that takes diminishes the advantage of driving a hybrid.

In that case, I apologise for my harshness.

As for the 'stupidity' of the car-pool lane concept... I mean, you can't be so critical, coz the car-pool lane is beneficial in terms of fuel efficiency for every other sort of vehicle except a hybrid...and that's the vast vast majority of vehicles.

I love to see the mpg figures comparing only the city driving mileage of the Prius against the M3. ...and more importantly, I'd love to read the comments from some members if such a comparison was posted here.

 

[Centurion]

It ain't crap, it ain't all lies and smoke-screens, it's a pure and simple FACT that the Prius does have a noticeably better mileage than a petrol-only vehicle of a comparable size and weight in terms of city driving, and even highway driving.

I wouldn't say so. A VW Golf with a 1.4l engine would easily beat the Prius on the highway since the Prius would sole be operating on it's weak petrol engine which is completely stressed out and inefficient at high speeds. That is why the M3 was able to acheive comparable fuel economy as the Prius, the M3 engine was relaxed while the Prius engine was sweeting. Like some people might have already pointed out diesel is probably the best choice for anyone looking for low fuel consumption across the entire range.

 

[Sunny]

In that case, I apologise for my harshness.

As for the 'stupidity' of the car-pool lane concept... I mean, you can't be so critical, coz the car-pool lane is beneficial in terms of fuel efficiency for every other sort of vehicle except a hybrid...and that's the vast vast majority of vehicles.

I love to see the mpg figures comparing only the city driving mileage of the Prius against the M3. ...and more importantly, I'd love to read the comments from some members if such a comparison was posted here.

np

I doubt any one has did that. But there was a comparison between Prius and BMW520d done by Sunday times. Here is what the Prius wiki page says about it:

The UK's Sunday Times did a comparison of the Prius with another car in long distance town and country driving.[40] The results showed that the other car, a BMW 520d SE with a 177 bhp (132 kW) diesel engine and regenerative braking, averaged 50.3 mpg–imp (5.62 L/100 km / 41.9 mpg–U.S.) whilst the Prius averaged 48.1 mpg–imp (5.87 L/100 km / 40 mpg–U.S.) over exactly the same route. The comparison was performed on a journey of 545 miles (877 km) from London to Geneva, including 100 miles (160 km) of urban driving, about 200 miles (320 km) of driving on rural roads, and about 200 miles (320 km) of motorway driving at speeds of up to 78 miles per hour (126 km/h) on one French autoroute. It should be noted that the diesel fuel used by the BMW 520d SE has a significantly higher energy density than the gasoline used by the Prius.
Auto Express magazine performed independent fuel efficiency tests, on public roads, on a number of hatchbacks, and in August 2007 published their list of the ten most efficient. The Prius achieved 10th place in the list, returning 41.5 mpg–imp (6.81 L/100 km / 34.6 mpg–U.S.). A Citroën C4 Coupé 1.6 HDi got 1st place with 49.6 mpg–imp (5.7 L/100 km / 41.3 mpg–U.S.).[41]

 

[warot]

I wouldn't say so. A VW Golf with a 1.4l engine would easily beat the Prius on the highway since the Prius would sole be operating on it's weak petrol engine which is completely stressed out and inefficient at high speeds. That is why the M3 was able to acheive comparable fuel economy as the Prius, the M3 engine was relaxed while the Prius engine was sweeting. Like some people might have already pointed out diesel is probably the best choice for anyone looking for low fuel consumption across the entire range.

Ok, this is TG, so again let's think for a second. How scientific is this? Who can say they would drive a Prius like that on a highway. That's just not realistic. Are you guys telling me that the Hammerhead corner represents how you drive on an offramp? Of course not.

They are driving the Prius like there's no tomorrow. Obviously, it's competing against a 414hp V8, it's going to need to be pushed to the limit while the M3 was just puffing along.

Don't get me wrong now, if I had a choice between the M3 or even the 520d against the Prius, I'd pick the BMW everytime. Also keep in mind that emissions from the Prius would destroy the BMW's. They just aren't really meant to be compared heads on like that

 

[Monster]

I want to know, out of M3 and Prius, which car has the biggest environmental impact in terms of the life cycle of the car, how much resources are used, how much pollution were generated during the manufacturing process, the operational life of the car, as well as its after life recycling process. Companies should take a holistic approach towards this issue, and not just focus on part of it.