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Schmybrid hybrids, not electric, not even good enough for Uber etc


jonny69

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[insert funny opening line here] I’m tired. I can’t think of anything funny to put here. Let’s talk about the older shitty hybrids which are coming up to 20 years old now.

 

I’ve been knocking around in my G1 Insight for a couple of years now. Basically really love the experience. Had a 13 plate Merc A class but if I’m brutally honest I preferred driving the Insight and sacked off the Merc. The Merc was faster, quieter, smoother, better stereo but it pretty much ends there. The Insight has some driving experience, which the Merc was lacking. It has that signature surge of electric torque and does most of its driving sat at 1500-2000rpm, which is just wrong for a 900-something cc engine. I love having big amounts of regen on braking - it just seems backward now when I drive something which doesn’t have it.

 

299415-D4-E25-E-4-A63-B122-61-C0-ADDE81-

 

I wouldn’t mind chopping it in for a Civic IMA at some point which has four seats and must just act like a scaled up Insight. It’s a 1.3 with a slightly bigger IMA motor. It won’t do the 100mpg+ motorway journeys but I rarely hypermile it anyway.

 

F5-FAA026-FBE4-4413-8465-1-F0-A7-A9-C495

 

A75-A7125-E266-4035-9-A67-7784353-A8504.

 

Batteries are becoming way more available now. Don’t know about the Toyotas etc, but the older Hondas appear to share battery sticks with the newer models. If you’re willing to strip your pack, which looks fairly straightforward, you can pull the sticks out a modern Insight or Civic pack and put them back in the original. And you can over-volt them and trick the ECU into delivering more current than standard.

 

Whos got what then? Must be someone here with a miserable early Prius. Don’t even know what else was around back then either.

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Well I've still got my Insight, 181/2 years old and it still has it's original batteries. It would still be worth having without any hybrid system though because it is small and slippery and aluminium. l havn't posted much about it recently because it just keeps working without any effort from me.

 

I'd like to try a Civic IMA but I expect it to be as achingly dull as it looks. They seem to be priced much higher than they were a couple of years ago. A Prius powertrain in the Insight would be ideal but I don't like anything about Priuses/Prii except their powertrain, although the very first, Japan-only Prius looks shite enough for me.

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I’m trying to think what other older hybrids are out there. G1 Priuses are properly obscure these days. The ones I do see usually don’t have a single straight panel left on them. G2s are getting on a bit and must be pretty cheap now. Amperas seem to have stepped straight into Autoshite material. Did the Japan market have others we didn’t get?

 

l havn't posted much about it recently because it just keeps working without any effort from me.

 

I'd like to try a Civic IMA but I expect it to be as achingly dull as it looks. They seem to be priced much higher than they were a couple of years ago. A Prius powertrain in the Insight would be ideal but I don't like anything about Priuses/Prii except their powertrain, although the very first, Japan-only Prius looks shite enough for me.

I know what you mean about it just works. I don’t really have anything interesting to post about mine. I changed the front brakes at about 80k miles but, apart from fluids, it doesn’t really ever need anything. Typical Japanese (well, Honda) of the time.

 

I think the Civic IMA probably is quite bland and I’ve got this deluded dream that its set up so it’s quite wafty. I think I want to try one.

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If the Insight is auto and you decide to sell give me a shout, I might be interested.

 

I've not got anything to trade atm, my old mk1 Prius is now with my sister. I've never driven an Insight, so can't compare them. I must say though the Prius was very competent at being a car, if a tad bland. It did all the car things adequately and got mid to high 50s mpg. I would have another, though wouldn't mind trying a mk2 Prius or a cvt Insight.

Tbh I can see me splurging on Lexus CT200h at some point.

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I can confirm Prius over Insight....the insights are dying out around London as phv’s because they don’t get near the Prius with mpg.

 

I own and run a 2013 Prius (gen 3). 350+ miles = £18/19 in petrol - 90% town driving.

 

Guy who rented my Prius from me was glad to be back in one as the Insight he was using as a stop gap was costing him more in fuel. The hybrid systems in the Prius and the hybrid systems in the Insights are different.

 

I was going to use a CT200h which is a Prius underneath however rear leg room was very tight for passengers so swerved that one.

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We drove my friend's wife's late mk2 Prius to Newcastle and back yesterday, he did most of the driving but I did a couple of stints. It seemed to average about 47mpg doing 70-75 on the A1, which seems OK for a petrol car with 5 large adults on board. It was pretty uncomfortable for the three people in the back, though. I was a bit perplexed to see it claiming to be charging the battery even when we were going up a hill with the instantaneous MPG readout showing <25mpg. It's very quiet at 70 unless the motor's working hard which I put down to its low drag coefficient.

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If the Insight is auto and you decide to sell give me a shout, I might be interested.

I'll be selling near the end of the year. Car is in good condition and I won't be looking for silly money. I don't know who's putting them up at ridiculous prices but they won't be selling them for that much. 

 

We drove my friend's wife's late mk2 Prius to Newcastle and back yesterday, he did most of the driving but I did a couple of stints. It seemed to average about 47mpg doing 70-75 on the A1, which seems OK for a petrol car with 5 large adults on board. It was pretty uncomfortable for the three people in the back, though. I was a bit perplexed to see it claiming to be charging the battery even when we were going up a hill with the instantaneous MPG readout showing <25mpg. It's very quiet at 70 unless the motor's working hard which I put down to its low drag coefficient.

I get almost 70mpg at that speed. I can get a tank below 60mpg, but only if I do most of my driving in Local traffic. I think the lowest I've got a tank to is 57-58mpg, but it's got to be really cold, only short journeys and only in traffic for it to go that low. Sounds insane I know, but because it's doing over 80mpg at 65mph and drifts between 90 and 130mpg at 50-55mph, as soon as the road opens up the average mpg shoots back up.

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This is under £5k and 25000 miles and a much better bet than £3.5k for a Civic IMA. No clutch and CVT transmission belt to worry about either. (Sorry SaaBnut!)

l feel sorry for the previous owner of that Civic, spilling £1800 on a new battery. It probably just needed a bit of sympathetic battery maintenance and a reset.

 

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https://www.gumtree.com/p/toyota/2015-toyota-yaris-1.5/1336144529

 

I have driven one of these Yaris hybrids and it felt like (dull) luxury compared to my Insight. The owner was getting similar fuel consumption to my Insight, 65 to 70 mpg. But I don't want anything that looks that shit.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'll be selling near the end of the year. Car is in good condition and I won't be looking for silly money. I don't know who's putting them up at ridiculous prices but they won't be selling them for that much. 

 

 

I get almost 70mpg at that speed. I can get a tank below 60mpg, but only if I do most of my driving in Local traffic. I think the lowest I've got a tank to is 57-58mpg, but it's got to be really cold, only short journeys and only in traffic for it to go that low. Sounds insane I know, but because it's doing over 80mpg at 65mph and drifts between 90 and 130mpg at 50-55mph, as soon as the road opens up the average mpg shoots back up.

 

I'd be interested as well..............

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The Prius isn't a shabby car to drive. It's a little strange at first but feels like a very competent car. I notice the earliest models are nearing the lower-end of the market price-wise. Cheapest one I found was £1475. Maybe within the next year or so we may start seeing them in the £800 / £900 mark? If so I reckon I'll be well interested.

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  • 1 month later...

INFO NEEDED PLEASE.   I have been watching this thread with interest and have recently seen an advert for a 2000 Prius 1.5 that was imported in 2008,it has done about 120,000 miles with a new battery pack at 103,000 miles,i have spoken to the current owner who has used it as a daily driver for the last couple of years without any major issues. I reckon £1200.00 would buy it.   Is it worth the gamble?

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48 minutes ago, Vantman said:

INFO NEEDED PLEASE.   I have been watching this thread with interest and have recently seen an advert for a 2000 Prius 1.5 that was imported in 2008,it has done about 120,000 miles with a new battery pack at 103,000 miles,i have spoken to the current owner who has used it as a daily driver for the last couple of years without any major issues. I reckon £1200.00 would buy it.   Is it worth the gamble?

I think that would be the saloon, mk1? 

I got a mk1 Prius 14 months ago, for about £800, which was cheap, and I found it OK. Nothing spectacular but a very adequate appliance/car. Since then it has been providing daily service for my sister, without complaint (touch wood, MOT is due soon).  Check online reviews, they're pretty much all favourable. 

Tbh though I'd prefer a mk2, prob £2.5k ish (for a non-taxied working one) but a little more power and practicality. 

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1 hour ago, Vantman said:

INFO NEEDED PLEASE.   I have been watching this thread with interest and have recently seen an advert for a 2000 Prius 1.5 that was imported in 2008,it has done about 120,000 miles with a new battery pack at 103,000 miles,i have spoken to the current owner who has used it as a daily driver for the last couple of years without any major issues. I reckon £1200.00 would buy it.   Is it worth the gamble?

Sounds good to me. Not that I know anything.

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INFO NEEDED PLEASE.   I have been watching this thread with interest and have recently seen an advert for a 2000 Prius 1.5 that was imported in 2008,it has done about 120,000 miles with a new battery pack at 103,000 miles,i have spoken to the current owner who has used it as a daily driver for the last couple of years without any major issues. I reckon £1200.00 would buy it.   Is it worth the gamble?


I would say so. Should the battery fail you can replace individual cells (ask a taxi driver, they have SO much knowledge on these things). Toyota have heavy confidence in these units, I have a 9 year old 98,000 mile Lexus RX and I just got it serviced, which included a “Hybrid Health Check” and apparently this Warranty’s the battery for 15 years/150,000 Miles.


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I'm waiting for the Honda CR-Z to fall into shite territory. 

I quite like the mk2 Prius, but I don't see nearly as many of them as I used to. Column change, full width dash, velour seats, they're ace to be in, and don't half go if you boot them like my mate's dad did. 

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