Wagoner gives Kalamazoo Newspaper details on 1.4L turbo

[AMcA]

Originally Posted by tholland

That is what I've been thinking. This engine with BAS+ would be much simpler and cheaper than the Prius HSD while returning similar combined mileage... maybe even slightly higher highway mileage. GM could undercut the Prius with such a car and introduce the Volt not as a Prius fighter but as a superior offering as well it should.

Let's not forget: the Pruis is a moving target, and it's slated to take a big jump to its thrid generation very soon. Soon, as in, before the Cruze hits the US market. Toyota's pouring huge engineering resources into the Prius, as they're determined to keep their lead in hybrid technology. I think it's fair to expect the new one be notably better than the current one.


That said, however, my other half rented a Prius recently. He got a whole 33 mpg in a week of mixed city and hwy driving. City driving was 27ish. Totally not impressed. (And the driving experience - dreadful.) I think a great deal of the Prius mileage phenomenon comes simply from drivers who drive more carefully so they can brag to their friends about how thrifty their Priuses are. And there may be (quite) a bit of "you shoulda seen the one that got away" in there, too.