Well I am starting a site about them and wanted to get other opinions about them and maybe include them on the site. Just curious as to what other student has one of them

8/29/2005 12:50:06 AM

might as well just buy a economy car.

like a civic VP. 40mpg around the city/highway.

after taxes and markups, you gonna pay a lot for the hybrid cars. (from what i saw a while ago)

8/29/2005 12:56:22 AM

yeah....but its a hybrid lol!

Just playing.

I get what you mean. I have a saturn that gets 30-40mpg.

8/29/2005 1:03:06 AM

i don't even own a car, but i would love to get my hands on this hybrid:

Lexus GS450h

8/29/2005 1:06:28 AM

hybrid cars are pulling premiums like any other special vehicle these days, i.e. C6 ZO6, jetta TDI, etc

8/29/2005 1:07:43 AM

^^ its a nice car

8/29/2005 1:20:47 AM

When's that Lexus coming out?

8/29/2005 7:54:16 AM

if you are buying a hybrid new you get tax credits.

8/29/2005 8:24:36 AM

i just met a guy that said he just bought one of the toyota hybrids and he said he gets 55/gal on highway, plus it's not just about personal gain, it's about reducing dependence on oil

8/29/2005 10:53:37 AM

you can get that with a diesel.

400 miles. 1/2 tank.

8/29/2005 11:26:12 AM

the lexus is coming out early 2006.

it has a 3.3 litre v6 (or maybe 3.5), coupled with an electric motor. combined hp will be over 300.

lexus says it will perform better than the 4.3 litre v8 GS 430!

it is the first luxury hybrid car.

they also came out with the first luxury hybrid suv, the RX 400h.

i don't get the naming though. does anybody else? RX 330 has a 3.3 litre engine. when you add the electric motor, it becomes the RX 400h. what's up with that? why can't it be the RX 330h? does the new name indicate the performance potential? so for e.g., the RX 400h, though has a 3.3 litre engine with an electric motor, its performance is that of a typical 4 litre engine...?

same with the GS 450h. performance typical of a 4.5 litre engine?

if that's the reasoning behind these names, it is completely arbitrary. or maybe there is something logical behind them?

8/29/2005 12:30:02 PM

Quote :

"I'm not exactly a betting man, but I'll give you 100 to 1 odds that if you're reading this nonsense you are not a hybrid-car owner. That's probably a good wager, considering that the new miracle vehicles are stuck at about a one-half-percent market share of the roughly 17 million annual new car and light-truck domestic sales and that you are vastly more likely to tear up the asphalt in a gas-swilling, earth-choking, mega-speed road rocket like the rest of us motorized Neanderthals. Of course, if we pay attention to the Cassandra-like fulminations of the liberal media, we might be led to believe that hybrid vehicles are our only hope to save us all from ozone asphyxiation and indentured slavery to the Arab oil barons. To ignore their PC incantations and to continue our binge buying of conventional internal-combustion engines will, according to these all-knowing scribes and electronic chatterers, doom civilization to a dark age embroiled in a heat-soaked Sahara. Yeah, maybe. Then again, maybe not. Yes, we understand the feds are giving a one-time $2000 tax credit to hybrid owners, and 16 states are offering come-on tax breaks ($1500 in Oregon, $4173 in Colorado), inspection exemptions, and single-driver use of HOV lanes as incentives. Moreover, the hybrids being sold by Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Ford, and, soon, Chevrolet are all reasonably priced. Example: The hot-selling Toyota Prius—with a three-month waiting list in most markets—can be purchased for under $22,000 loaded (although most experts estimate that Toyota is taking a $2000 hit on each sale). The Pious—oops—Prius costs about $5000 more to manufacture than a conventional Corolla and retails for about three-grand extra. Now let's jump ugly about the whole situation and talk a little reality. The guys at Edmunds.com, who run hard numbers about the car business as well as anyone, estimate that a Prius owner would have to drive at least 66,500 miles annually for five straight years, or gasoline would have to soar to 10 bucks a gallon, to equal the cost of operating a cheaper, conventional Corolla. Then we have the battery pack, that heavy lump of nickel-metal hydride juice boxes that presumably improve fuel efficiency (but not that much, according to our road tests). Although the warranties are for eight years or 100,000 miles, battery replacement will cost $5300 for the Toyota and Lexus hybrids, and the Ford Escape replacements run a whopping $7200. Moreover, the industry types aren't talking about total battery life. Will they actually last 100,000 miles? How will this affect resale value? Will the systems stay at full efficiency, or will they slowly drain power as they age or operate under heavy use? These are questions that remain to be answered, understanding that storage batteries, be they dry cells in your flashlight or exotic Ni-MHs, all have finite lives and store less power with age. And now comes word that the computer brain inside the gas-electric grids in some Priuses is tending to go nuts. This causes instant blackout stalling at either 35 mph or 65 mph—the latter possibly in the fast lane of an interstate where 50-ton semis running 90 mph can crush compacts like beer cans. This brings up an undiscussed issue: At some point, all these hybrid batteries will die and have to be disposed of somewhere, somehow. These are hardly biodegradable items like spoiled vegetables. They are in fact self-contained toxic waste dumps. How and where millions of these poisonous boxes will be deposited in the new hybrid nirvana has yet to be considered, much less resolved. And speaking of the environmental component (the glamour issue centered on the brave new world of hybrids), a number of EMT and fire crews have announced that they will refuse to rescue victims trapped in such vehicles, openly fearing electrocution or fatal acid burns. As with the now-defunct electric-car miracle, where it was quickly realized that the national power grid could not energize millions of vehicles without massive expansion of horrors—nuclear generation—the dark side of the hybrid miracle is now beginning to surface. Says a dealer friend whose immense franchise network includes several brands offering hybrids: "There is no advantage to owning a hybrid in terms of fuel mileage when the extra cost of the vehicle is added in. Period. Do the math. This is a feel-good purchase. Hybrids are a statement about the environment, and they simply do not square with economic reality. "The truth is, although the Prius is selling like mad, hybrid Honda Accords and Civics are backed up on dealer lots. Why? Because they look like conventional Hondas, whereas the Prius has unique styling. It has an iconic status among the Greenies. Like it or not, that's real life." Until hybrids become economically feasible in terms of cost, reliability, and valid fuel savings and make real sense regarding performance and disposability, we're going to be driving conventional internal-combustion-powered vehicles—either gas or diesel —until rogue asteroids clean us all out. "

-Brock Yates

8/29/2005 12:37:32 PM

Can you provide the link for that?

8/29/2005 12:41:27 PM

hybrids are a marketing scam.

8/29/2005 12:47:50 PM

Like diesels, you'll never save enough money over a 10-year ownership period to justify the premium price of a hybrid. If you buy one, it's just because you think they're neat(which they are).

8/29/2005 12:55:31 PM

^^^you can probably find it here: http://www.caranddriver.com

It was in this month's issue.

8/29/2005 1:09:57 PM

http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=27&article_id=9844&page_number=1 For TypeA. Meant to put the link...Must've forgot.

8/29/2005 1:10:34 PM

Quote :

"a number of EMT and fire crews have announced that they will refuse to rescue victims trapped in such vehicles, openly fearing electrocution or fatal acid burns"

that is fair. i know a guy who's a ford mechanic. he said on the escape hybrid, they tell 'em to not touch the main power wire. when they were training/introducing the vehicle to the techs, they cooked burned a hot dog in a couple seconds by touching it to this wire.

8/29/2005 1:22:10 PM

They should really advertise that as a feature. Gimme that hot dawg cooker.

8/29/2005 1:35:20 PM

Quote :

"FORD’S INNOVATIVE USE OF HYDRAULICS ADDRESSES LARGE TRUCK FUEL ECONOMY 2002 NAIAS DETROIT, Jan. 6, 2002 – Ford Motor Company today introduces a clever adaptation of existing hydraulic technology designed to improve fuel economy in large trucks in city driving by an estimated 25 to 35 percent. Product Information Overview Design Powertrain Technology Specifications History The new Hydraulic Launch Assist (HLA) system is showcased on the Ford Mighty F-350 TONKA concept truck debuting at the 2002 North American International Auto Show. "HLA is just one of the numerous technologies Ford is researching that is aimed at improving fuel economy and reducing emissions," says Richard Parry-Jones, group vice president, Global Product Development, and Chief Technical Officer, Ford Motor Company. "We believe this technology holds promise for making large trucks more fuel efficient and environmentally sound." The Hydraulic Launch Assist system recovers energy normally lost during deceleration, stores it as hydraulic pressure, and then reuses it during acceleration. Ford’s HLA system is mounted downstream of the conventional powertrain on the Mighty F-350 TONKA. It consists of two major components: a reversible hydraulic motor/pump coupled to the drive shaft through a clutch system and an energy storage module containing two large accumulators filled with hydraulic fluid and nitrogen gas. During deceleration – when the driver is applying the brakes – the pump/motor, powered by the vehicle’s kinetic energy, forces hydraulic fluid out of the low-pressure accumulator and into the high-pressure accumulator, compressing the nitrogen gas and storing energy. The pressure is significant – up to 5,000 psi. During acceleration, the flow of hydraulic fluid is reversed, forced by the pressure in the accumulator. The HLA system is switched from pump mode to motor mode, and torque is applied to the driveshaft through the clutch. For approximately 10 to 15 seconds, normal acceleration is handled by the HLA system, allowing the vehicle’s primary engine to idle. Up to 80 percent of the initial kinetic energy is returned to the vehicle as hydraulic fluid flows from the high- to the low-pressure accumulator. If quicker acceleration is required, HLA works in tandem with the primary engine, which is the Power Stroke® Super-600 concept diesel engine in the Mighty F-350 TONKA. The system is most effective during initial acceleration, when the engine works the hardest. In addition to significantly increasing city-driving fuel economy, HLA virtually eliminates turbo lag during launch in vehicles equipped with turbo-diesel engines. Early research indicates that application of HLA could be ideal for larger vehicles such as commercial trucks, delivery vans, buses and work trucks. Heavier vehicles employ more energy in stop-and-go traffic, creating greater opportunities to capture and reuse energy. Using hydraulic pressure to drive a vehicle is a key aspect of the innovative hydraulic hybrid research project being conducted jointly by Ford Motor Company, Eaton Corporation and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In future, optimized hydraulic hybrid applications, highly efficient internal combustion engines would produce hydraulic pressure to drive the vehicle. The system also would capture this energy during vehicle deceleration. # # # "

8/29/2005 10:04:39 PM

^holy crap, a photoshopped riced-out bodykit for a ford CONCEPT truck that originally had about a foot of clearance. AHAHAHAHAHAHA

8/30/2005 8:32:00 AM

I like hybrids because I'd rather give an auto manufacturer money to do more creative things than an oil company can do other than just charge me too much. diesel torque GOOD, diesel sound BAD (or at least passenger car diesels sound bad. I kinda like the way a cummins goes....

8/30/2005 9:46:07 AM

id rather just get a cheap used mercedes diesel benz
as a beater.
and get a nice fast performance car to mod and use as a fun car.
then i would be happy with that

8/31/2005 11:31:20 AM

Quote :

"you can get that with a diesel. 400 miles. 1/2 tank."

That is so fucking hot.

8/31/2005 1:38:30 PM

apparently in europe they call the vw lupo the "3-liter" b/c of the way they do their gas "mileage" over there. it's how many liters per 100km (62 miles). that puts it somewhere like 75mpg. its a 1.2L TDI, so its probably slow as dirt, but thats some awesome mileage.

sure, its an ultra-econobox (except its not cheap, around $17k) but im sure it would pay for itself if you worked as a courier or something.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/consumer/autos/mareview/mauto497.htm

[Edited on August 31, 2005 at 2:07 PM. Reason : -]

8/31/2005 2:07:20 PM

^^that's unbelievable :-)

I did a ton of hwy driving last week, and now the algorithm for my range is on ecstacy or some shit b/c it's suggesting I can get 385 miles on a tank when I filled up with 93+ at BP on duraleigh ($3.17/Gal !!!!)

9/1/2005 1:58:00 PM

Quote :

"except its not cheap, around $17k"

Hey, a TDI Golf costs more than that in the US, I think.

9/1/2005 3:33:41 PM

Quote :

""you can get that with a diesel. 400 miles. 1/2 tank."

I have an '05 Jetta TDI, and I've never seen better than 500 miles to a tank.

9/1/2005 3:49:36 PM

jetta TDI with an electric motor!!!! where is this product? no batteries run it like a train.... 600 mpg

9/1/2005 7:35:33 PM

nm
if that pic is true then sign me up for a cheap used one!

[Edited on September 1, 2005 at 8:11 PM. Reason : ]

9/1/2005 8:10:08 PM

dont eat at fucking mcdonalds 3x a month and your gas will still be $2.50 a gallon. im looking how many people at my work eat out for lunch every single day and then wonder how everything is expensive. golden coral $6.99+tax+tip=$9 monday, $6 at bojangles on tuesday, $5.50 in wendys on wednesday. make a fucking sandwich from home and you wont fill it as much on your budget. let alone you are eating better food.

[Edited on September 1, 2005 at 9:02 PM. Reason : f]

9/1/2005 9:02:29 PM

^I've thought this one over a lot on my ridiculously long vacation (been out of school since sumII ended, don't start work for another 2.5 weeks.) . I think there's a certain satisfaction to eating out, even if it's in a crappy, loud place with bad food that, even if it's cheap, is more expensive than home-made. I can't put my finger on it, but I'd honestly rather go to chick-fil-a for lunch than eat the yummy stouffer's stuffed peppers in my freezer that cost me all of 2.50 apiece. go figure. I think it has something to do with the escape of it all. You leave work to go get it. It's kind of like how it's really nice to go home and stay at home after work, but if you've been at home for 2+ weeks, you'll make up any excuse to get the hell out of the house, even if it's to take a lap of the beltline when gas is 3.29 for regular.

9/3/2005 3:18:57 AM

a manual geo metro gets around 47mpg highway

and aha the beltline lap thing IS pretty fucking stress-relieving... I wonder how many people out there on any given day are just getting away from it all

[Edited on September 3, 2005 at 5:04 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on September 3, 2005 at 5:06 AM. Reason : and anyone that mentions highway mileage in conjunction with hybrids knows shit about hybrids]

9/3/2005 5:02:44 AM

current hybrids are a scam.

I read an article recently about plug in hybrids that can get 250 mpg, and when recharged from your home's electricity, uses about $0.25 worth of power.

that seems a bit more viable to me.

9/3/2005 8:57:01 AM

Quote :

"current hybrids are a scam."

according to the new consumer reports i just received yesterday, they agree.

9/3/2005 10:51:16 AM