Which car?

[UtwigMU]

Chevrolet Malibu?

[Jammrock]

Lexus CT 200h or Prius 2 T Spirit

[Brian Ellis]

Jammrock gets the virtual beer. Santé! It is a CT200h! Bravo!

[Jammrock]

Woo hoo!

[Virtually drinks virtual beer]

Take me drunk I'm home ossifer!

[Brian Ellis]

I'm pleasantly surprised. I did a shopping run this afternoon to the nearest big supermarket, 24 km distant. The road is mostly good but fairly winding through 3 old villages, crossing a range of small hills about 100 m up and a couple of km of 65 km/h dual carriageway. We are ~200 m above the altitude of the shop, so, going there, I guestimate we go down 150 m, up 100 m and down again another 150 m.

With the Honda Civic Hybrid, in hot weather with the A/C at a comfortable level, I would get 3.8-4.1 l/100 km going there but the round trip would climb to 5.8-6.1 l/100 km (in winter, you can knock off ~0.5 l/100 km for the round trip).

With the Lexus CT200h, on its first metered 48 km round trip, under similar conditions, I obtained 3.3 l/100 km going and 4.4 l/100 km for the round trip. I guess the speed and the time were ~ the same. OK, I had it in 'ECO' mode where you would need to press down hard for the petrol engine to pull the skin off a rice pudding and to have the electric A/C on optimum.. Even so, I was a little staggered by the difference as the Lexus is ~ 100 kg heavier, higher off the ground and has an 1800 cc engine, against 1400 cc for the HCH.

I suppose it can be explained by 6 years extra development plus an ultra-efficient Atkinson cycle petrol engine.

[cjolley]

Nice ride Brian.
Looks to be about $32k here which, if it still qualifies for hybrid rebates, would be a really good deal.
Our main complaints on our Civic H were that every time they did a firmware update our mileage went down
These were supposedly to make the battery last longer, but we were on our second warranty replacement anyway.
That and the ride and noise seemed to be getting worse for some reason.

Anyway, sounds like an inspired choice.

[Brian Ellis]

Chuck

The basic price here is €30k but, because of the recession, the importer had extra stock that he needed to get rid of, so I got a very good price (less than the list price of the cheapest Prius!). It is full of what are extras in most countries, such as cruise control with radar, rear view TV, proximity detectors, auto wipers and headlights etc.

As I said, the primary reason for getting rid of the HCH was the lw seating position. If I swung my legs out with my feet on the ground, my knees were at an acute angle, making it very difficult to stand up. With the Lexus, my feet don't even reach the ground, so I can slide out in an almost upright position: much less painful!'

Another factor was the HCH battery, which I was being fobbed off as being OK, with less than 1 year of guarantee left. Most of the time, it was only half-charged. If I had a full charge, it would discharge at the slightest rise. The importer said this was normal with the latest software, which gave catastrophic consumption for urban driving. Often the motor wouldn't cut at lights and acceleration from thhem was without electrical assistance. I didn't want to get involved in legal proceedings to get a new battery and neither did I want to pay for one myself. Highway consumption was still OK, though.

I'm happy with the Lexus, so far; very comfortable and full of gadgets. Had a struggle pairing my cellphone with the Bluetooth and still haven't transferred the address book! Have put in essential numbers manually and saying "dial home" is very comfortable!

[Elie]

You must be a very short guy Brian...LOL That Lexus also looks low to the ground!

Congrats on your purchase, love the choice!!

[Brian Ellis]

I'm short now, but I wasn't. I used to be 1 m 83, which was above average in my youth. Today, I'm 1 m 74. The difference is due to two compression fractures of vertebrae and cortisone-related osteoporosis of the spine, hence my disability (spinal stenosis pinching nerves).

The ground clearance of the HCH was abysmally low (climbing a kerb was hairy, often scraping the sump/transmission) and the vertical adjustment of the driver's seat was limited. In the Lexus, which has a 'normal' ground clearance and a higher floor level (I guesstimate ~80 mm difference), has a much higher vertical seat adjustment because the bonnet is much higher to accommodate the Toyota-style hybrid system. I have therefore cranked the seat up to max height and my head is still clear of the ceiling, thanks to my shortened torso. I guess the difference in highest seat squab to ground must be between 15 and 20 cm. This was the main reason for my choice.

This morning, I did a round to the village and back for the first time, just over 1 km each way and 50 m difference in altitude and obtained 5.6 l/100 km from cold with aircon on. With the HCH, the same trip would have consumed more than twice, typically 12-13 l/100 km because there would be no electrical assist for the hill at low speed (typically 40 km/h as the road is narrow with poor visibility).

I haven't yet metered it on the highway, where I anticipate a considerably higher consumption than the HCH which gives max electrical assist at speeds >80 km/h.

[UtwigMU]

If you're a Lexus fan, you can watch movies Outrage and Outrage Beyond, where the top Yakuza bosses drive them.

[Brian Ellis]

But not the cheapo CT200h! The prices in this country range from <€30k to €190k (heavy taxes on CO2 emissions!).