http://www.caranddriver.com/article....ticle_id=10260

Really a good read. Plus, he reports on a test drive of an rx400h in MY NECK OF THE WOODS, Flagstaff to Phoenix, and how the engine cut off at 80 MPH on the downhill run.

 

Brilliant comeback at the end for the 'payback' arguement:

"If you want to save money on your next car, here's my advice: Skip the onboard nav option. You'll never save enough in maps and 50-cent phone calls to get your initial cost back."

We've got an ally over there at C&D!

 

Hi Lars-ss:

___Nice article and by a very well respected member of the car mag consortium.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes

 

It's nice to see a "neutral" party actually get swept up in what makes driving a hybrid fun. Whether or not the FE lives up to expectations, hybrids are still more fun to drive because of things like this. Driving every day is like playing a game. A very entertaining game where the winner is always your wallet and your planet.

Also, it's nice to see a magazine that typically glorifies throaty power and sleek options tip their hat to hyrbids.

What am I talking about, the RX400h has throaty power and sleek options.

 

The last sentence on payback really was quite clever. Too clever, perhaps ?

His message was wonderful: Hybrids are really good, pleasurable cars in their own right; even before one considers the environmental benefits.

I could not agree more.

 

Heh, I liked. I'm amazed that we'd get anything that unbiased from them.

 

They've always written pretty positive articles about hybrids. Even way back to when the Insight was first released and the press got a shot at them about 6 years ago, they wrote about how captivating it was to drive the car for maximum efficiency. They pointed out (rightly so) that the Insight wasn't very practical owing it's 2-seat configuration and small-ish hatch area due to the space taken up by the battery pack and associated stuff, but they still enjoyed it.

Over the years they've written a number of articles covering the merits of hybrids and even ran an article about a year ago comparing the Civic Hybrid and Prius against the Echo (for a high FE gas-only car) and the Jetta TDI. The Echo finished last, followed by the Jetta. The Prius and Civic took second and first place overall both for their fuel economy delivered and the actual driving pleasure that can be derived from a hybrid.

C/D is the only magazine I maintain a subscription with. I'll buy a few of the others off the rack maybe once or twice a year if I hear about a great issue they've put out, but C/D is the only one that's consistently good enough for me to want to have a subscription with. They are primarily an enthusiast magazine, but it's not like it's Import Tuner or Fast Fords magazine. To a certain degree, it takes an enthusiast to fully appreciate what hybrids have to offer.

 

That is a good read! It was nice how he started off debunking the asinine assumption that hybrids have to pay themselves off in fuel savings. His description of how he had fun staying in electric and coasting at 80mph are pretty good too! Maybe they will get some people thinking about how much these things might be worth to them.