18th Oct 2005, 08:43
If this vehicle, the Prius, is returning 47 mpg, is a gas/electric hybrid, supposedly more fuel efficient, then why do I get similar consumption with a 1994 1.4 litre Ford Escort? With a catalytic converter?
Also, what is everyone else driving that only gets 10 mpg?!
I am shocked. Such inefficient vehicles should not be allowed to be economic to run. They should be priced off the road, so that only the rich and stupid will use them.
24th Oct 2005, 12:25
The catalytic converter converts the harmful emissions of an IC engine (NOx, CO, and Hydrocarbons) to CO2 and N2. However, these harmful emissions are only a fraction of the CO2, N2, and water vapor that the IC engine produces anyway.
All hybrids still produce these same emissions - just not as much of them. However, the only place you would truly see the benefit of it would be in large city, rush hour, stop and go traffic.
No matter what, the hybrid is still burning x-amount of fuel. The amount of pollution produced depends on how far and how often you drive.
If a small car (said Geo Metro WITH the converter) gets 50 mpg and the brand new hybrid gets 50 mpg and the Metro driver shuts off his engine at stop lights and stopped traffic, both drivers are going to fill up at the same time AND produce the same amount of emissions.
8th Jan 2007, 19:12
First off, while it is a Federal crime for a dealership or a mechanic to remove a catalytic converter, I don't believe that this law applies to individuals working on a vehicle they own. It IS very environmentally irresponsible, though.
Second, may I suggest that you test drive a Geo Metro and a Ford Escort, then test drive a Prius. There is no comparison, the Prius is a superior automobile to either of the others mentioned in many ways. Handling, comfort, safety, these are all clearly superior in the Prius. I have enjoyed my 2004 Prius since the day I purchased it, and I anticipate many more years of enjoyment to come.
8th Jan 2007, 21:22
In California cars are smog tested every two years and there are severe penalities for tampering with the catalytic converter. Also, some states are considering implementing "smog traps" where a cop can detect whether your car is polluting or not.
9th Jan 2007, 06:08
'Handling, comfort, safety, these are all clearly superior in the Prius.'
'Handling'...You are joking, the Prius must be one of the worst handling cars available at present. The understeer is unbelievable.
9th Jan 2007, 11:45
Absolutely not true. Took a friend's Prius up a variety of winding hills around here and it did fine. It's no Porsche, but it is competent and certainly in league with mass stream sedans like the camry, accord, etc. - cars that its owners would probably buy if the Prius did not exist.
It's just not that the handling is exciting, unlike the amazing Honda Fit I took on the same hills.
10th Jan 2007, 11:34
I think the biggest problem is that Hersey is making a new chocolate flavored candy while Fanta is bringing down number of flavors from 68 to 65.
11th Jan 2007, 12:59
How would you like to pay $ 2,020.00 to replace catalytic converter on the Prius? Yes, I did have that Toyota "feeling", but 5,000.00 miles over the warranty expiration of 8 years/ 80,000 miles, whichever is first; I am still in shock! Do the research... turns out there is no discount after market cats, and on the prius the cat is complex and is made with various components.
Toyota replaced my dad's engine in his truck back in '89 for free, but apparently they don't care about there customers anymore. Devin at Toyota's Customer Experience Dept. at corporate office advised me this morning there is nothing they can do even it means losing a customer and having told 10 of my co-workers at work. I'm going back to American made or Korean. A lot of Prius Owners are starting to hit 80,000 miles and you will see and hear them say Toyota sucks!!!
11th Jan 2007, 13:52
There have been a number of New York Prius taxis that have reached 100K, 150K without this issue.
Yours is not indicative of all Prius cars.
25th Mar 2009, 17:33
I'd be willing to bet that a Prius has significantly lower emissions than a car made in the early 90s. But even if we ignore that, your statement is misleading. If the Metro driver shuts off his engine at stop lights, he is causing several, if not dozens, of cars to idle their engines longer. Furthermore, the time between starting up the engine and the car moving forward certainly uses at least some gas and produces some emissions. While the Prius also has to start up its gasoline engine, it is already moving down the road while it's doing this, so at the very least the lag of cars behind it will not be the same.
This is unrelated to the quoted portion above, but I have seen a lot of uninformed responses from people claiming that the batteries in hybrids do more harm than good to the environment. I even remember one person claiming that the batteries in hybrids are about as harmful as nuclear waste, which is absolutely false. If you do some simple research, though, you'll find that Toyota has been recycling nickel metal hydride batteries since 1998, when they made an electric RAV4. NiMH batteries are used on Toyota and Honda hybrids and probably used on all hybrids from major manufacturers.
25th Aug 2005, 15:21
It is also a FEDERAL CRIME to tamper with the emissions system of any vehicle. Plus the catalytic converter does not reduce mileage unless it is plugged due to a misfiring engine and a lack of proper maintenance.