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Post by McF on Apr 2, 2010 9:47:57 GMT 1
Happy new car Buzzin I hope you don't get too many chances to drive it (because you will be riding your bikes ;D)
Nice vanity plates, I bet they were expensive ;D ;D
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Post by Buzzin (^_^) on Apr 2, 2010 9:50:56 GMT 1
Hmm interesting... My current and previous astra both have mechanical power steering, but I remember driving an Vauxhall Astra H when I visited Scotland. To this day that was the best drive I have had in my life Perhaps the older astra H had mechanical power steering too? Or maybe I like the electrical one (Or maybe the Scottish country side is soooo beautiful I forgot to notice this defect?) Don't get me wrong....Opel is not my favourite brand of cars (that would be renault) but it does what it says on the tin...nothing more and nothing less As for the temp, I will look at it once in a while to make sure nothing goes wrong...because I really don't want to repeat what happened before.
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Post by cyphron on Sept 6, 2010 22:48:09 GMT 1
I bought this one recently : Anyone here with a Toyota Prius ? What a car and what a driving experience ! The best car I ever owned. 136 hp, 67 mpg and a lot to discover. It really makes you think all the other cars are old fashioned and outdated. No clutches and belts to replace, no gearbox, runs in pure electric mode with no noise, regenerative braking so brake pads last for decades, a lot of electronic gadjets and a smile everytime I drive it. I will not forget my aNTy though ;D
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Post by Jaz66 on Sept 7, 2010 1:10:11 GMT 1
well cyphron i normally curse whenever i see a Prius owner... they bang on about saving the world but the cars cost a fortune to make and then when you add on the cost of scrapping the car already made ..... so its NOT a very green way of saving the world...but i may be well wrong... so i am biased but willing to change my opinion... ;D does look a beauty, love the interior lights and gadgets.... tell us a bit more about the car, please..
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Post by cyphron on Sept 7, 2010 11:50:18 GMT 1
well cyphron i normally curse whenever i see a Prius owner... they bang on about saving the world but the cars cost a fortune to make and then when you add on the cost of scrapping the car already made ..... so its NOT a very green way of saving the world...but i may be well wrong... so i am biased but willing to change my opinion... ;D does look a beauty, love the interior lights and gadgets.... tell us a bit more about the car, please.. Hi Jaz, I am aware of that feeling about Prius owners. Some of them are obsessed by saving the world and being environmentaly friendly driving the cars in such a slow way in order to save fuel ... I am not such a person, I just buy cars that suit my needs and although I try not to harm the environment that was not a reason I even considered when I decided to buy this car. No way. I did a one weekend test drive on one of these and that sufficed to make my mind. It is a roomy and confortable car which is nice to travel with the family and carry all our stuff, with a great set of equipment and safety aditions, and it is as easy to drive as any automatic gearbox car. I drive it normally, not being one of those drivers that drive slowly to save fuel. Portuguese drivers are very impatient on the roads, so if i drive too slowly I am immediately rewarded with protesting ... Even driving it fast, i can get around 50 mpg or higher, so no need to worry. It is not a slow car by no means ! People tend to think that about the Priuses. It has a combined torque of more than 500 nm and 136 hp ALWAYS available no matter what speed or RPM you're going (it has a planetary transmission called Power Split Device with no gears, it's a mechanism that connects all three engines - 1 Gasoline and 2 Electric - together with a single gear relation, and coordination of the engines and the way they combine is 100% electronically controlled), and that's a tremendous advantage to other similar powered cars. I can tell you that all the near 140 hp versions of BMW 320d, Mercedes Benz C220d and Audi A4 2.0 TDI struggle very hard to follow one of these Priuses on a hill climb, for example ;D. It's an economic car as far as fuel consumption is concerned as well as maintenance. The maintenance plan is the cheapest of all the Toyota models, at least here in portugal and the car comes with 5 year full warranty or 160.000 kms. The electric motors and components do not have maintenance and the gasoline engine has little maintenance. Its completely beltless so AC Compressor, Power Steering, Brake Pump and Water Pump are all electric, so saving more fuel since the gasoline engine does not have to spend energy for these components as in a conventional car. Since the car does not have a gearbox it has no clutch either, so this is another component that does not need replacement since it doesn't exist in the Prius. This 2010 model also has one of the smallest wind drag coefficients found on any mass produced car in the world (Cx 0.25) which helps on fuel economy too. That's why the car has that kind of 'futuristic' look, which I like. Since the car has regenerative braking, most of the stopping power comes form the electric motors, which work as generators when braking gathering energy that otherwise would be discarded as heat with the brake pad friction like in a normal car. This way it uses this recovered energy to charge the traction battery, with no need to use the brake pads. Brake pads are only used on hard or emergency braking or at very low speeds, so these last for very long time. Reports of 150.000 kms without changing brake pads are common. The traction battery is charged everytime you brake or when you depress the accelerator, gathering energy from the balance of the car. The battery is also in charge everytime the gasoline engine is working. Electric motors are always present while the car is moving, constantly helping the gasoline engine. In all situations where the car can go without the help of the gasoline engine it moves only with the help of the electric motor, making no noise at all and with ZERO fuel consumption. The only items you replace on this car on the typical service intervals are the engine oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter and cabin filter. At very long mileages you need to replace the radiator fluid as in a normal car. Of course, it uses tires like any other car too ;D There is a component that usually causes some concerns to people, which is the traction battery and the need to replace it. The car has 2 batteries, a conventional 12V one and a 200V traction battery, wich is in constant charge and discharge cycles in all day driving. The traction battery is an expensive component, and replacing it costs about 2800 €, but its a component that is expected to last all the life of the car, at least was designed to. Priuses exist since 1997 and there are very few records of failures related to the traction battery. In some countries (sweden, italy, spain) these cars are very often used as taxis because of the governement benefits related to emissions and fuel economy, being easy to find many of them with more than 600.000 kms with no major issues according their owners, so it should be a safe bet to any owner taking into account the reliability index history of this model as well as the known Toyota reputation. I've considered other models and brands too, but in the end, the concept and history behind this car, the technical arguments and innovations and the driving experience itself made the Prius won, becoming my choice for my next car.
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Post by De Graaf van Salland on Sept 7, 2010 21:39:41 GMT 1
I drive a prius now & then for work. It's bit strange a first, but after a while you get used to them and it's fine. What I find very good about them (& most Toyota's) are their brakes. Most Toyota's have incredible stopping power.
GvS
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Post by McF on Sept 9, 2010 7:35:10 GMT 1
You're clearly happy and proud with your new car cyphron.
I do think they look quite smart, and they come with some good reviews. A biking friend of mine (Yamaha FZ1 and a Honda Blackbird) drives a Lotus elise, but he also has a Prius and sings its praises often.
Hope you continue to be happy with your purchase and send us an update with more news soon.
Jazz - Prius isn't a car that registers on my "hate radar" - that's normally reserved for any BMW! Why so passionately anti prius?
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Post by cyphron on Sept 9, 2010 10:29:13 GMT 1
You're clearly happy and proud with your new car cyphron. I do think they look quite smart, and they come with some good reviews. A biking friend of mine (Yamaha FZ1 and a Honda Blackbird) drives a Lotus elise, but he also has a Prius and sings its praises often. Hope you continue to be happy with your purchase and send us an update with more news soon. Jazz - Prius isn't a car that registers on my "hate radar" - that's normally reserved for any BMW! Why so passionately anti prius? Thanks McF. You're right, I am very happy with my new car. Already did 10.000 miles (about 15.000 km) on it and still puts a smile on my face everyday.... But tell me, why are the BMWs on your 'hate List' ? Is it because the "I am better than most people, I am horny, I am good" effect they seem to cause on their drivers ? Here in Portugal BMWs are considered premium cars, they are expensive and the majority of BMW drivers seem to like some show off now and then, since they have powerfull cars which run faster on the highway than most others ... That's why some of them seem to become worried when a 2010 Prius lets them behind ... When this happens these drivers usually stick behind you until they can finally invert the scenario ... ;D But I do think BMWs are good cars. I put them at a similar level than Mercedes, maybe slighlty below. Audi's are a lower quality product but priced as a premium ... I do not like them very much... I've known too many cases of problems and issues with them. This is just my personal opinion.
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Post by McF on Sept 9, 2010 22:35:09 GMT 1
BMW's are considered "Premium Cars" in the UK too. I have owned 2 (both 3 series) and found them OK, but nothing special; I sold the second one in 99. At one time or another, I've owned, or gained many driving miles in most european makes of car. I think BMW are overpriced and certainly overrated. I've been a VAG fan for 10 years, owning 3 Passats, a Polo (for the kids) and a Golf; total miles (driven by me and my family) in these fabulous cars is likely to be in excess of 250k miles . Build quality, reliability, performance and price (to buy and maintain) are all fantastic and in my opinion, far better than any BMW
In my experience (I drive circa 30k miles (50k Km) per year and about half of that on 2 wheels) BMWs are heavily associated with bad driving, poor roadcraft and anti biker behaviour.
A lot of BMWs are owned/driven by people very concsious of their image and with an "I'm better than you" attitude. If I see a BMW (and there are lots on the roads) it's a high probability that I will see it display bad driving; if I see a car driven badly, it's high probability that it will be a BMW. It's certainly not every Beemer, and not every Beemer is driven badly, but I do see a high corelation.
One of the worst things I ever see are drivers that move their cars to block out bikers eg in heavy traffic if I filter through, some cars will move to widen the gap, but others might move to block the gap and prevent me getting through - those cars will inevitably be Beemers.
If I'm cruising at "motorway speeds", the car that closes right up behind me, sounds his horn and flashes his lights is almost always a Beemer.
If I'm overtaking traffic on a single carriageway road, the car that is most likely to move into the middle of the road, or accelerate and stop me pulling back in is most likely to be a Beemer.
I give BMWs a far wider safety margin for all of the above, and many more reasons.
Does anyone else share these observations, with Beemers or any other specific cars?
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Post by cyphron on Sept 10, 2010 0:31:06 GMT 1
I too share your observations about beemers. Thats exactly what I think.
As far as VW is concerned, unfortunately I can't share the same sympathy you have with them. I've had one in the past, a 2001 VW Bora 1.9 TDI 115hp, called Jetta in some countries. It's basically a Golf with a trunk, making it a 3 volume car. The car was ok at the beginning, the power was enough and the car was confortable and well equipped with good fuel economy. Around 100.000 kms and after the two years of warranty, it started to show poor interior quality, the rubbered plastics on the doors started to peel off in pieces making the interiors ugly and showing the poor quality they were made of. Then the front electric windows literally fell into the doors... I had to replace both window elevators, and they were expensive. Then at 143.000 kms the turbo has blown, causing the engine to suck and burn a great amount of oil. Fortunately I noticed the car loosing power and making a big cloud of smoke and stopped it before the engine burn all the oil which could cause severe damage to it. This happened while I was in vacation in Spain, and as you imagine it ruined my vacation and rewarded me with a 1200 € repair ...
The maintenance in VW dealers here in Portugal is a compete rip off. Timming belt change after 90.000 kms exceeded 1000 € too ... A simple oil and filter change always had a cost around 300 € ...
These are the kind of problems and issues you do not like to have in a car, and I didn't expected none of these in a VW, since they are also expensive cars here in Portugal.
After selling this car I bought a 2005 Toyota Corolla Diesel. To me, it is a totally different league ... Well built, excelent interior quality and assembly, cheap maintenance and top reliability. It may not be the best looking car around, but it was and still is a great car.
When I bought the Prius, my brother wanted to stick with my Corolla, so I sold it to him. It has now 200.000 kms and still not a single problem ! Gearbox is feeling as new, as well as the engine. Interiors are still very good, so I can only say good things about it.
Since I liked my corolla a lot, I decided to stick with Toyota and the Prius was a car I had in my mind for many years, so I expect the same exellent quality and reliability. Toyotas are not cheap cars here in Portugal, but they are usually good value for money.
Brands like Kia, Hiunday, Citroen, Peugeot and Skoda are cheap offers here in portugal. Toyota, Honda, Subaru, VW, BMW, Mercedes, and Audi are considered expensive.
My wife has a Honda Jazz 1.4 Liter Sport. It has also been a great car, very reliable and very roomy ! It surprised me of how much space it has inside, almost seeming a car from a superior sized segment.
My dad has a Mercedes Benz C Class Diesel, and that is clearly a superior offer as far as quality is concerned. Excelent build quality, great stability and reliability but very very expensive ... Not a car for me right now, but maybe when I get older (and richer ! ;D).
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Post by McF on Sept 10, 2010 7:58:56 GMT 1
I too share your observations about beemers. Thats exactly what I think. So it's not just me ;D the rubbered plastics on the doors started to peel off in pieces making the interiors ugly and showing the poor quality they were I have to agree we have had that problem on two cars. The finish on the internal door handle scuffing off and looking messy. I suffer an element of OCD and this irritated me to the point that I removed the trim and scrubbed off the remaining rubberised finish on the two front seat door handles. It was a painfully tedious job taking several hours (of time I do not have) but in a strange way - I found it an odd sort of meditation therapy! Finished job looks very nice and although I thought the handles might be slippery to use - they're fine. My dad has a Mercedes Benz C Class Diesel, and that is clearly a superior offer as far as quality is concerned. Excelent build quality, great stability and reliability but very very expensive ... Not a car for me right now, but maybe when I get older (and richer ! ;D). Wishing you the wealth to realise your dream while you are young enough to enjoy it.
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Post by De Graaf van Salland on Sept 10, 2010 18:51:52 GMT 1
BMW = Break My Windows ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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