Since when is Consumer Reports so ridiculously wrong?
#11
Re: Since when is Consumer Reports so ridiculously wrong?
Looking at that Consumer Reports article on the midsize SUVs from current issue, the mileage they received was:
- an average of about 15 mpg for the non-hybrid midsize SUVs
- an average of about 22 mpg for the hybrid midsize SUVs
That's about a 50% increase in mpg for the hybrids, compared to their non-hybrid brethren. I'd say that shows the consistency of the CR tests, as well as the great fuel economy of the hybrid midsize SUVs.
So I guess I don't see any conspiracy or bias there -- they seem to drive all the vehicles equally hard.
- an average of about 15 mpg for the non-hybrid midsize SUVs
- an average of about 22 mpg for the hybrid midsize SUVs
That's about a 50% increase in mpg for the hybrids, compared to their non-hybrid brethren. I'd say that shows the consistency of the CR tests, as well as the great fuel economy of the hybrid midsize SUVs.
So I guess I don't see any conspiracy or bias there -- they seem to drive all the vehicles equally hard.
#12
Re: Since when is Consumer Reports so ridiculously wrong?
For comparison, these hybrid midsize SUVs seemed to have fared better than my beloved HCH, compared to non-hybrid vehicles in the same class. It's not apples-to-apples because I don't have the numbers for the equivalent non-hybrid Highlander and Lexus, but compared to the other similar SUVs in the article:
- the hybrid midsize SUVs get almost 50% better mileage than the non-hybrids
By comparison, the hybrid Civic versus the non-hybrid:
- the hybrid Civic gets almost 25% better mileage than the non-hybrid Civic
As I recall, the Accord hybrid fared worse in comparison (I believe almost 10% better), although the hybrid is a more powerful vehicle.
But I still like Honda's IMA better.
- the hybrid midsize SUVs get almost 50% better mileage than the non-hybrids
By comparison, the hybrid Civic versus the non-hybrid:
- the hybrid Civic gets almost 25% better mileage than the non-hybrid Civic
As I recall, the Accord hybrid fared worse in comparison (I believe almost 10% better), although the hybrid is a more powerful vehicle.
But I still like Honda's IMA better.
#13
Re: Since when is Consumer Reports so ridiculously wrong?
Re: Consumer Reports getting paid off and accepting advertising money
Consumer Reports has never accepted any paid advertising. I have gotten the magazine for many many years and can attest to this. There are no articles written by anybody other than Consumer Reports staff.
At the front of each magazine is the statement that Consumer Reports accepts no paid advertising. Unlike their competitors.
I have no particular interest in defending them, I just think it seems like paranoia to believe they have been paid off, or are under the thumb of, anti-hybrid elements.
I think they just drive like those !#$%& morons that I hate so much on the road, when they measure their MPG. Hey, CR is located in New York, what should we have expected?
Consumer Reports has never accepted any paid advertising. I have gotten the magazine for many many years and can attest to this. There are no articles written by anybody other than Consumer Reports staff.
At the front of each magazine is the statement that Consumer Reports accepts no paid advertising. Unlike their competitors.
I have no particular interest in defending them, I just think it seems like paranoia to believe they have been paid off, or are under the thumb of, anti-hybrid elements.
I think they just drive like those !#$%& morons that I hate so much on the road, when they measure their MPG. Hey, CR is located in New York, what should we have expected?
Last edited by coyote; 10-02-2005 at 11:57 AM.
#14
Re: Since when is Consumer Reports so ridiculously wrong?
Originally Posted by lakedude
Wow they are way off, no one in the database is getting that low for the Prius or the Civic.
Still if they got their way and the Prius was rated at 32 mpg it would cut down on the whining. Pretty much everybody would match or beat the new EPA rating so they would all be happier.
Still if they got their way and the Prius was rated at 32 mpg it would cut down on the whining. Pretty much everybody would match or beat the new EPA rating so they would all be happier.
Sounds good to me, then I could boast my FEH gets better MPGs than a Prius.
#15
Re: Since when is Consumer Reports so ridiculously wrong?
Hi Gillman:
___If the EPA does change their tests to a more realistic driving scenario (they have a cold weather and A/C use test already but will not publish the figures ) as they may for the 07-08 MY and beyond, “Whoooa”, you are going to see some seriously happy Hybrid owners around these parts
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net
___If the EPA does change their tests to a more realistic driving scenario (they have a cold weather and A/C use test already but will not publish the figures ) as they may for the 07-08 MY and beyond, “Whoooa”, you are going to see some seriously happy Hybrid owners around these parts
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net
#16
Re: Since when is Consumer Reports so ridiculously wrong?
When I bought my 2003 HCH, EPA was 48/47 (I kept the window sticker).
Today when I log onto Honda's Ownerlink and pull up my car's stats, EPA is 46/51.
So Honda must be using some kind of independent data, or possibly their own tests, that would modify the mileage. If they were listening to Consumer Reports, It would be much lower.
Today when I log onto Honda's Ownerlink and pull up my car's stats, EPA is 46/51.
So Honda must be using some kind of independent data, or possibly their own tests, that would modify the mileage. If they were listening to Consumer Reports, It would be much lower.
#17
Re: Since when is Consumer Reports so ridiculously wrong?
I sure wish I still had that publication, pretty sure it was CR.
The advertisement was clearly disguised as a real, unbiased review.
The advertisement was clearly disguised as a real, unbiased review.
#18
Re: Since when is Consumer Reports so ridiculously wrong?
Hi Tim:
___The 46/51 rating is for the MT. Nothing changed in terms of the HCH’s rated FE but Ownerlink has incorrectly reported you either own the MT equipped HCH or it does not differentiate between the MT and the CVT is all …
___I still for the life of me cannot figure out how CR’s received just 26 mpg in an HCH? Maybe sitting in a traffic jam for 45 minutes with MAX A/C and driving another 10 miles in 10 minutes or some other such goofy thing. Or maybe I am just too thickheaded but I don’t see how that lowly number was achieved under any circumstance other then the postulation above???
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net
___The 46/51 rating is for the MT. Nothing changed in terms of the HCH’s rated FE but Ownerlink has incorrectly reported you either own the MT equipped HCH or it does not differentiate between the MT and the CVT is all …
___I still for the life of me cannot figure out how CR’s received just 26 mpg in an HCH? Maybe sitting in a traffic jam for 45 minutes with MAX A/C and driving another 10 miles in 10 minutes or some other such goofy thing. Or maybe I am just too thickheaded but I don’t see how that lowly number was achieved under any circumstance other then the postulation above???
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net
#19
Re: Since when is Consumer Reports so ridiculously wrong?
Originally Posted by Hot_Georgia_2004
I sure wish I still had that publication, pretty sure it was CR.
The advertisement was clearly disguised as a real, unbiased review.
The advertisement was clearly disguised as a real, unbiased review.
You are probably confusing CR with "Consumers DIGEST," which is an advertiser-supported publication, and is often cited in car ads when they get a top rating.
I've been getting CR for about 25 years, and have occasionally made small donations to help fund some of their projects. I'm considering dropping them a note, and so should anyone else who subscribes, to ask for more realistic mileage testing for hybrid vehicles. Certainly pointing them to sites like Green Hybrid could help them see what folks are getting in the real world, and over many miles.
Fred
#20
Re: Since when is Consumer Reports so ridiculously wrong?
I think I was able to attain 28mpg in my hch when I tried a while ago. It was hard. I'm going to try for lower in the winter to find out how low I can get it so we have a high/low number for the hch.