At the end of Sunday's top gear 'race' to Blackpool, the hampster pointed out that the economy of the VW Polo Blue motion was way better than a prius & about 7k cheaper, I'm glad he pointed this out because I was starting to think it was only me that wasn't impressed with the economy of the Prius.

My brother in law has a prius he only does fairly short journeys and gets around 42 mpg, well I average around 55 mpg in the 1.9 tdi octy.

Did anyone else pick up on the hamsters comments?

Hybrid cars only gain in stop start city driving where the batteries can be charged by regenerative braking and then used to crawl the car along up to 20ish mph.

Out on the open road they are a bag of sh!te - small engine, auto gearbox, extra weight of batteries and electric motors to drag along.

As very few cars spend their entire lives crawling around cities, hybrids will never beat a small light diesel for mpg.

He didn't mention that it uses wee to filter the exhaust though - surprising as I'd have thought there'd be some mileage in that (pardon the pun)...or am I wrong?

Wee to filter the exhaust? might be the DPF.

I was surprised that Jag didnt run out of fuel sooner.

Anyone remember the Audi A8 TDI run from London to Edinburgh and back on one tank he did. I thought He would pick that car.

This episode was a lot better than last weeks.

All cars returned great fuel economy though.

The polo doesn't use the additive

The polo doesn't use the additive

Ah right. Figures.

The Polo Bluemotion is very highly geared as are all the "eco" cars in the VW range. I was driving a Leon Ecomotive a few weeks ago and you couldn't get it out of third in urban driving. Things change on the open road however and I was getting 60+ mpg:)

What additive?

I know newer lorries have a blue additive injected to keep emissions down. It is made from pig urine and is in a seperate tank next to the fuel tank. Mr bro is a class 2 driver and has to deliver big tanks of it every so often.

What additive?

In simple terms, it relates to the DPF. Some DPF systems (PSA for example) use an additive whilst the VAG systems don't and that additive is Urea.

That's about the limit of my understanding.

I think you are talking abut the Urea additive that is injected into the exhaust on Mercedes Blu-Tec cars in the U.S to meet the Californian regs. Don't think the Polo has this.

In simple terms, it relates to the DPF. Some DPF systems (PSA for example) use an additive whilst the VAG systems don't and that additive is Urea.

That's about the limit of my understanding.

The Mk1 Superb 2.0TDI uses the additive type system. :P

Edited 24 November, 200817 yr by Tom_vRS

The Mk1 Superb 2.0TDI uses the additive type system.

lol

DPF related additives are for adding the missing catalyst to burn the soot of for regeneration, if the vehicle can't raise the dpf temp it's self.

Pee Pee (aka Adblue) is another form of emmission control seperate to the DPF function.

Yep was a good point Hammond raised there, great factual info for the unknowing public.

Yep was a good point Hammond raised there, great factual info for the unknowing public.

Was it not 5th Gear who tested the bluemotion and found they couldn't match the figures in normal day to day driving so you in fact better off saving your money and buying the standard low spec version of the 1.4tdi polo. :confused:

So the moral would be don't bother buying an Eco version of anything

Could have been, can't remember. But yes the point being buy a small diesel engine if your after economy.

Top Gear Magazine did a drive from London to.. erm.. Brussels (possibly) a while back, putting a Prius up against a BMW 530d. The Prius was allowed to take a city route and leave all ancillaries off to maximise mileage, the BMW was driven as if it was just a normal journey, aircon, stereo, the works. Even though both routes were exactly the same length, the 530d utterly whupped the Prius for economy.

the 100ps 1.9TDI isnt that bad on fuel either lol

Wee to filter the exhaust? might be the DPF.

I was surprised that Jag didnt run out of fuel sooner.

Anyone remember the Audi A8 TDI run from London to Edinburgh and back on one tank he did. I thought He would pick that car.

This episode was a lot better than last weeks.

All cars returned great fuel economy though.

That was a 4.0TDi V8 the 3.0TDi would be even better on fuel!

Have you seen the carbon footprint and other ****e that goes into the Prius batteries? The area around one factory was used by NASA to simulate Mars as it was so barron.

The Mk1 Superb 2.0TDI uses the additive type system. :P

Bet it would pee you off if the tank ever leaked.

The whole Prius and hybrid thing is just a huge marketing exercise and it has worked! The Americans have lapped it up.

just watched it, I cant believe that little polo. It just goes to show you that Diesel is still the better method for economy driving

And hey, they got Clarkson to admit that a diesel was actually an impressive and pleasant car to drive!