Hybrids claiming false gas mileage

[publicenemy137]

^ with 25 grand, i'd save up another G and get the 350z instead of a slow ugly-ass hybrid that gets slightly better gas mileage

[DevoutWankelist]

The volkswagen jetta tdi with the 4cyl turbo deisel gets ~50 mpg. Better than the hybrids on almost all comparisons.

[Ricochet]

Originally Posted by DevoutWankelist

The volkswagen jetta tdi with the 4cyl turbo deisel gets ~50 mpg. Better than the hybrids on almost all comparisons.

Didn't those have something like 300ft/lbs of torque and 150hp?

[replicant_008]

Ummmm... here's a thought (BTW don't own a hybrid either).

Whilst 'fuel consumption' is part of the package when considering the use of a hybrid another thing to consider is the overall emissions being produced too. While C02 emissions pretty much are proportionally related to fuel consumption - other emissions aren't necessarily so depending on the efficiency of the combustion process. Particulate emissions from diesel engines (no matter how efficient) do potentially pose significant health risks.

Another thing to consider is the issue of fitness for purpose. The diesel bus that went past me this morning on the commute to the office relatively has wickedly bad emissions and fuel mileage compared to the cat equipped UL petrol V6 I pedal around but if you take into account the number of passengers it took to work this morning & the opportunity cost of the fact it probably meant 20 less cars waiting in the queue or the emissions/passenger mile it probably wins hands down.

On the other hand, I don't especially like electric cars either. Unless you happen to live in a country where there is a significant production from renewable resources eg hydro-electric, wind-farming most of the electricity is produced either from coal/oil/gas powered thermal stations or potentially nuclear.

Hybrids signal a compromise - the hybrid Escape will for most folk have better emissions and consumption performance but you could argue that with most trips in the western world we really don't need to be tooling around in SUVs (even smallish ones).

To give another perspective on it... I could jump into a powerboat and motor out to the Outer Gulf in three hours and burn a boat load of fuel or I could sail out take half a day and use practically no fuel...