Home / Hybrid vehicles /

Prius vs BMW M3 vs MPG at Top Gear: Who Wins?

priusvsm3 300x165 Prius vs BMW M3 vs MPG at Top Gear: Who Wins?I really didn’t like what the Top Gear guys did the last time to a Prius, but this time I think they have a point (partially). They’re going to race a Toyota Prius (1.5L)versus a BMW M3 (4L). Of course the BMW will win the competition… but wait… not the speed competition. The BMW will get 19mpg and the Prius only 17mpg. Why is that? Does it prove that the Prius is more a gas-guzzler than the BMW?  No.

The following phenomena happened: the BMW, with its 4L engine, did the rounds with its engine at low rpm, because it can do much more with it, and the Prius over-revved its small engine, consuming much more than its specifications.



The Top Gear hosts say it all depends on the way you drive, and I agree with that, but the competition they just did here doesn’t prove that if you take your Prius to a calm city walk its consumption will be more or equal to a BMW’s, in whatever manner you would drive that BMW. Even if you keep it to the engine’s stall limit, a minimum value of consumption would still be much higher than the Prius has. My father does that with his 2.0L Ford, and he keeps getting values of 23MPG in a relatively small town (not a lot of red lights).

On the other hand, there is more pollution in making the Prius than a Hummer can do in a lifetime by burning gasoline. I agree with that. Toyota would have to find a more economical and ecological solution for their Prius to be really green from head to toe.

Go ahead and watch the video!



You may also like to read about:




By Ovidiu
on September 11th, 2008 		Get E-mail Updates Subscribe by RSS

bmw m3, competition, consumption, hybrid car, prius, top gear

This entry was posted on September 11, 2008, 7:00 pm and is filed under Hybrid vehicles, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. #1 by prius optimist on December 14, 2008 - 6:07 am

    Hummer versus Prius:
    “Dust to Dust” Report Misleads the Media and Public with Bad Science

    http://www.pacinst.org/topics/integrity_of_science/case_studies/hummer_versus_prius.html

    Quote

  2. #2 by Bob Wilson on December 27, 2008 - 9:37 pm

    The video “test” of course was total nonsense. A formula 1 driver drove the Prius between maximum acceleration and maximum brake. This forces the engine into maximum power mode where the engine efficiency falls off and maximum braking exceeds the regenerative braking capability. In the meanwhile, Clarkson simply followed without braking or accelerating except to keep at a similar AVERAGE speed. The 19 MPG reported is just under the 20 MPG mileage rating of that BMW.

    The Top Gear web site claims the Prius and the BMW 318 diesel have the same mileage in the “extra urban” cycle. This makes sense as the current extra urban cycle is the highway mileage test. But Top Gear is comparing a manual transmission BMW 318 versus an automatic Prius, not the automatic transmission BMW 318. In that test, the Prius wipes out the BMW 318 in both the extra urban and the urban tests.

    But there is one quote in this report that is unsupported,”On the other hand, there is more pollution in making the Prius than a Hummer can do in a lifetime by burning gasoline. I agree with that.” Please provide the backup documentation and let’s do some ‘fact checking.’

    I have no problem if there are facts supporting this claim. After all, a dirty Prius should be just the thing for Clarkson.

    Bob Wilson
    625k Inc.

    Quote
(will not be published)