C-Max, Prius and Prius V Comparisons

[fusionTX]

Just got thru this long thread. Well worth reading. In the middle of it you see some live comparisons between the three cars, all driven at the same time.

 

The comparisons start probably in the middle of the thread.

 

Spoiler, the C-Max underperforms its EPA ratings and also falls below the two Prius models.

 

Not what I wanted to read having ordered a Fusin Hybrid.

 

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45723

[acdii]

Ford has a long uphill battle against Prius, no other car company can beat it, toyota did a great job on that drive system and chassis, but too bad its an ugly uncomfortable pedestrian car. The Fusion though has potential to do better than the Cmax at highway speeds due to it having a lower coefficient of drag. I'm certain a properly running Fusion can do as well as the Prius, hoping some day mine will be properly running to find out. If I can squeeze 50MPG highway out of a 10, I should be able to do more on the 13. I did 75 in a Prius from PA to IL, once I hit IL though, it dropped down due to the city idiots who cant drive. Total MPG on that trip came out to 65 MPG. I have had tanks of 43+ on my 2010 Fusion Hybrid though, mixed city/highway. Pretty good considering its rated 39 combined.

[Tucker]

Just got thru this long thread. Well worth reading. In the middle of it you see some live comparisons between the three cars, all driven at the same time.

 

The comparisons start probably in the middle of the thread.

 

Spoiler, the C-Max underperforms its EPA ratings and also falls below the two Prius models.

 

Not what I wanted to read having ordered a Fusin Hybrid.

 

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45723

 

 

wow that is disappointing, I still love the C-max over the Prius.

[hybridbear]

The Prius also has way less horsepower than the Fusion/C-Max, more than 80 less if I remember correctly. That makes a difference in gas mileage.

 

Toyota says the next Prius will get 75 MPG combined, I'm eager to see what they do to achieve that, and how gutless the next Prius is.

 

As far as Prius MPGs, check out Top Gear Series 11 Episode 1 where they managed to make a Prius get worse gas mileage than a BMW M3. Pretty hilarious

[acdii]

Oh that is so easy to do, just flip the trans to B mode and drive like you stole it. No EV at that point.

[hybridbear]

Here's something else interesting...yesterday I went and test drove a new Prius to compare its cold start short trip gas mileage with the Fusion. And the Fusion did better than the Prius.

 

After work I drove less than a mile to the Toyota dealer across the freeway and test drove a new Prius. I made sure that the salesman didn't prep the car by heating it and running the engine because I wanted to see its cold weather efficiency.

 

I drove the Prius on a 9.0 mile city route with max speeds around 45 MPH. This maximizes the Prius' ability to run in EV mode as the Prius was going into EV mode at 45 MPH. This also maximizes the Fusion's EV mode capabilities. I accelerated the Prius at the same rate I accelerate the Fusion. Usually in the Fusion I have a 100% "Acceleration" coach bar, or very close to 100%. In the Prius this meant that using the ECO mode was out of the question, and I only used POWER mode for one start, the rest of the drive was in standard Prius mode. There were a handful of red lights and stop signs along this route, lots of opportunities for regenerative braking.

 

When we returned to the dealership the Prius' trip computer (which I reset upon starting the car) read 42.9 MPG for that city drive. My brake score would have been 100% if the Prius had such a display...There wasn't one hard stop in the trip.

 

Once I got back to the dealer I took the Fusion on the same route. The Fusion started with a cold engine because it had been sitting all day at work and only driven a half mile to the dealer now more than half an hour ago. I drove the Fusion on the same route with the same red lights and stop signs. At the end I had 43.7 MPG!! Better than the Prius!! I attached a pic of my trip summary. In the Fusion I had a 100% brake score for this drive. I was shocked that the Prius got only 42.9 and that the Fusion did better. I did not expect that.

 

A couple notes...the Prius definitely had better heat. The heat seemed to come faster and the engine stayed warmer longer so that the HVAC demands didn't seem to ever cause the engine to run when it wasn't needed, however I cannot verify that because the Prius does not allow you to see the coolant temp. In the Fusion it took longer to get heat and there were times in the drive where the engine was only running to make heat. Also, the power difference between the Prius and Fusion was VERY noticeable. I have no doubt that had I driven the Prius more slowly I would have gotten better mileage than the Fusion. But driving the Fusion gently is like flooring the Prius.

 

So, in the end, I'm very glad we didn't buy a Prius, and glad we got the Fusion. I can only imagine that come summer I'll be getting 50-55 MPG like I did in California.

 

[acdii]

yeah, me thinks Prius owners will become envious of our coolass cars that get near the same MPG(hopefully). There are a few Pri owners who have test driven the Cmax and gave it high regards, but are still leary of owning an american car. The test drive reports also keep them away.

[lolder]

The Prius has a coolant heat exchanger in the exhaust for faster warm-ups. Ford should have this. The last generation Prius had a "Thermos" container that stored warm engine coolant a long time. The Prius is a lighter, smaller engine to warm up also.

[neod192]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="lolder" data-cid="42252" data-time="1360460235"><p>

The Prius has a coolant heat exchanger in the exhaust for faster warm-ups. Ford should have this. The last generation Prius had a "Thermos" container that stored warm engine coolant a long time. The Prius is a lighter, smaller engine to warm up also.</p></blockquote>

The Fusion also runs the coolant along the exhaust pipe for faster warm-up.

[shaggy314]

The Fusion also runs the coolant along the exhaust pipe for faster warm-up.

 

That's a little scary as 95% of the time you'd not want that... as it would turn into a exhaust pipe cooler. Right?