Hybrid Vehicle Drivers in Sheffield

[GRUSS 10]

I'll stick with my Suzuki kei car. 50-55mpg daily running and 60-65mpg on a run. Small engines are making a comeback. Hybrid technology is just a stop gap until hydrogen fuel cells are developed more. The trainer on the vx ampera course even said this.

[euclid 10]

Hybrid technology is just a stop gap until hydrogen fuel cells are developed more. The trainer on the vx ampera course even said this.

But .. he would wouldn't he,he's hardly going to slag the car off when it's his job to convince people to buy one..why do you need a course to drive one in the first place??,Both Mercedes and BMW are using Toyota technology for their own vehicles...have to say tho' my neighbour came home in one he had for a test drive,and it really was a very nice looking motor..as are the Astra and Insignia..but at £34,000 for the basic model,..£12,000 more than a basic Prius...there won't be many around,and, after all, it is a Vauxhall..well known for unreliability/poor build quality/very poor customer service ( i speak from personal experiece)..Toyota/Lexus on the other hand..I'm not singing the praises of the manufacturer's,just giving my own honest opinion as an owner,people who have not owned one cannot really give an opinion on fuel economy/driving experience at all...only an armchair critic kind of view

as i said..Horses for Courses..

[dawny1970 10]

I wouldn't get a full electric car as they chsrge extra per month for batteries, bit like buying a oetrol engine and renting the engine. ....yea rite!!

 

 

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[Penistone999 10]

I wouldn't get a full electric car as they chsrge extra per month for batteries, bit like buying a oetrol engine and renting the engine. ....yea rite!!

 

 

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I wouldnt drive an electric car full stop .

[GRUSS 10]

But .. he would wouldn't he,he's hardly going to slag the car off when it's his job to convince people to buy one..why do you need a course to drive one in the first place??,Both Mercedes and BMW are using Toyota technology for their own vehicles...have to say tho' my neighbour came home in one he had for a test drive,and it really was a very nice looking motor..as are the Astra and Insignia..but at £34,000 for the basic model,..£12,000 more than a basic Prius...there won't be many around,and, after all, it is a Vauxhall..well known for unreliability/poor build quality/very poor customer service ( i speak from personal experiece)..Toyota/Lexus on the other hand..I'm not singing the praises of the manufacturer's,just giving my own honest opinion as an owner,people who have not owned one cannot really give an opinion on fuel economy/driving experience at all...only an armchair critic kind of view

as i said..Horses for Courses..

 

The course was a technical introduction to the ampera at the GM academy (I'm a vx tech by trade) Toyota will develop the next batch of technology in the coming years.

 

Vx aren't the most reliable I agree but the majority of vehicle manufactures share engines and technology these days.

 

Personally I'm a Japanese car man myself and have been for a good few years now. Believe it or not I used to like French cars lol

[Sheff Laser 10]

No one has an lpg converted hybrid then?

[ear8dmg 10]

I have a 2010 Honda Insight ES. Done about 22k miles over 2.5 years, mainly commuting between Sheffield and Chesterfield. I've averaged 47 mpg over that time (calculated from receipts and odometer - the trip computer claims 50mpg). Best tank was 57 mpg with mixed motorway and rural driving. Worst was 39mpg for repeated short journeys from cold starts. Have seen 60s and 70s mpg for individual journeys but never a full tank. The official combined figure is 61 mpg.

 

By comparison, my previous 2 cars were Skodas. In an Octavia 1.9 SLX TDI I averaged 48mpg but only ran it from around April until August (so didn't include a winter fuel economy drop). In a Fabia 1.4 8v MPI I got around 30 to 35mpg but didn't track fuel consumption carefully for most of the time I had it (otherwise I'd have got rid a lot sooner).

 

Not considered an LPG conversion.

Edited February 10, 2014 by ear8dmg

[mg16 10]

they are meant to be good for the environment but what about the production, shipping and disposal of the battery in the hybrid? personally I have seen 66.1 mpg, and as high as 70.1 mpg on a run from Sheffield to st.austell from an old school, and remapped Octavia 1.9tdi non pd.

Edited February 10, 2014 by mg16

[ear8dmg 10]

I did get one 60mpg plus tank in my old Octavia 1.9 tdi on a trip to Cornwall. That's not a realistic figure for daily driving around Sheffield is it though? That Fabia I mentioned would get nearly 50 mpg sat on a motorway all day.

 

The Octavia was an 11 year old car with little service history when I bought it though and stuff just kept breaking. Nice car but proved to be horrendously unreliable.

 

Thankfully the Insight has been almost entirely trouble free, but it was just a year and a half old when I got it.

 

Edit: frankly I think environmental benefits of hybrids are overstated. If I wanted to be environmentally friendly, I'd get the bus. Running costs however... Hybrid batteries cost no more to replace than a dmf, servicing is cheaper on a hybrid than most diesels (same as a normal small petrol car)

Edited February 10, 2014 by ear8dmg

[mg16 10]

it does say on a run in my post!!! mine has proved to be ultra reliable i have a home in st.austell , the Octavia does the 354 miles each way without complaint!!! theres a lot to be said for proper maintenance. interestingly top gear ran a test a Toyota prius versus a bmw m3, they both did the max mileage they could on a gallon of petrol around the track and the bmw proved to be more frugal!!! go figure!!

Edited February 10, 2014 by mg16

[ear8dmg 10]

Indeed.

 

The final thing that promoted me to get rid of the Octavia was sticking vanes in the turbo. Most likely a combination of poor maintenance and too many short runs in its history.

 

It wasn't that it was insurmountable - more a combination of the rest of the to fix list and the age of the car I didn't know where the repairs were going to end.

[mg16 10]

Indeed.

 

The final thing that promoted me to get rid of the Octavia was sticking vanes in the turbo. Most likely a combination of poor maintenance and too many short runs in its history.

 

It wasn't that it was insurmountable - more a combination of the rest of the to fix list and the age of the car I didn't know where the repairs were going to end.

 

i know you no longer have the car but theres an easy fix for that problem definitely worth trying, i have done a few including my own car 30k ago!!!

Edited February 10, 2014 by mg16