useless fact

[blackbob]

• A 1908 Ford Model T had higher fuel efficiency than a 2007 Toyota Prius, though it only had a top speed of 45 MPH.

[Sooty]

And a lot more enviormentally friendly to manufacture.
http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/print_item.asp?NewsID=188
Old hat I know but when will the tree huggers wake up and smell the coffee?

[rollazuki]

Oh god, here we go.......From what I can see, the T ford did sub 20 to the gallon,wioth its flat head side valve engine(one of the least efficient internal combustion designs), made no power, carried little load, went slow, and chucked hydrocarbons out by the gazillion.

Oh yea, it didnt have abs, aircon,cd,stereo, or comfortable seats or suspension.

Then, it didnt have full doors so no need for most of those eh.

It was however pretty recyclable, which is a good point, but then you wouldnt expect one to do 200,000 miles wouild you........

Oh yeah, cant see it being set to work on unleaded, so plenty of carcinogens as well............




If you are gonna try to take the mickey out of something, start the job from an educated start point......

Not being rude, we wouldnt be where we are today without the model T ford,    BUT,      we wont get to where we are in 80 years time without things like the Prius.

If you want other Prius banter, join in. I work for Toyota, I love the car, and the Toyota/Lexus  hybrid technology IS world leading. Research it, learn how its Atkins cycle engine/planetary gerabox/hybrid battery/power convertor  all works, and you may be surpsised.


Happy Holidays.



Rolla  

[daggie]

I agree Rolla, but...................................................























its not the pritteist of cars :lol:

[Silvery Thing]

I agree Rolla, but...................................................























its not the pritteist of cars :lol:

Neither is the model T :? As for the Prius I think we should look deeper than the skin.... this car is leading the way to where we have to go, given time we are most likely all going to be driving cars with similar technology.

[Tommo]

The problem i have with the prius is that it does like 60mpg, which isnt outstanding in all honesty, i had a pug 205 TD that would do 55mpg all day long. but its better than most cars of the same sort of size etc. BUT i cant see all the batteries being very environmentally friendly to despose of.

Thesy say that 80% of a modern cars carbon footprint is from its manufacture, so i would assume that the prius's complex systems cause much more carbon emissions during production and this probably far outweighs the savings on exhaust emmissions.

Also, how long d'ya rekkon a prius will last? It is certainly not infinitly rebuildable like a land rover. once its gubbins have worn out its in the bin. might be as little as 5 years or less. (not to mention when the latest green car comes out and the prius goes out of fashion)

so what about completely electric cars??? well where does most of that leccy come from? power stations fueled by fossil fuels. so you are just passing the buck. Unless you charge it up from a solar panel then its far from carbon neutral. and the same problems aply with most of it ending up in land fill in 3 years time.

Hydrogen cars? well at the moment we still have to get hydrogen from water using masive amounts of electricity, until a further breakthrough there these are no good either.

seen as we are a 4x4 forum what about them? well, not sure if the defender is still assembled by men with spanners, but that is a bonus. Anything LPG is to my knowlege carbon neutral as far as im aware, becasue excess LPG is just burned off into the atmosphere anyway so if you put some in your car then it makes no difference to the over all pollution.

So if you can find a car thats about to be scrapped, and runs on LPG you are on to a winner. you are helping saving the environment by saving that car from land fill. keeping it going prevents a new car having to be built to replace it.

The government seems to encourage us all to scrap our 'old vehicles that have poor emissions' and buy a brand new car that is 5mpg more economical. very misguided.

[Boggert]

I like the new VW Polo Blue Motion...

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new_cars/forthcoming/polo_bluemotion

To be fair I am not a fan of the Prius, It looks as ugly as sin and they seem to be owned as a lame status symbol, by people who think they are saving the planet, when in reality the Polo is probably better. Plus the people I know who own them also have a garage full of Jags. :roll:

[Silvery Thing]

BUT i cant see all the batteries being very environmentally friendly to despose of.

ALL batteries can be disposed of regardless of their construction

Also, how long d'ya rekkon a prius will last? It is certainly not infinitly rebuildable like a land rover. once its gubbins have worn out its in the bin. might be as little as 5 years or less. (not to mention when the latest green car comes out and the prius goes out of fashion)

Take a look at your local Toyota dealer and then tell me that the Prius lasts less than 5 years

so what about completely electric cars??? well where does most of that leccy come from? power stations fueled by fossil fuels. so you are just passing the buck. Unless you charge it up from a solar panel then its far from carbon neutral. and the same problems aply with most of it ending up in land fill in 3 years time.

We have to go nuclear for our future power needs, sadly we have no option for mass power production

Anything LPG is to my knowlege carbon neutral as far as im aware, becasue excess LPG is just burned off into the atmosphere anyway so if you put some in your car then it makes no difference to the over all pollution.

So if you can find a car thats about to be scrapped, and runs on LPG you are on to a winner. you are helping saving the environment by saving that car from land fill. keeping it going prevents a new car having to be built to replace it.

Are you really suggesting the LPG is carbon neutral :shock: Good grief man it is a petroleum gas and far from carbon neutral :?

I like the new VW Polo Blue Motion...

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new_cars/forthcoming/polo_bluemotion

To be fair I am not a fan of the Prius, It looks as ugly as sin and they seem to be owned as a lame status symbol, by people who think they are saving the planet, when in reality the Polo is probably better. Plus the people I know who own them also have a garage full of Jags. :roll:

Yes the Polo is a good car and how can you say that the Prius is "ugly as sin". With respect you drive a Terrano so you should not say such a thing :roll:

Before you all jump on me.... NO I do not own a Prius :D

[Bulli]

the reality with the Prius is its driven by smug pratts who are more concerned with their image than anything else.

The model T did 25 to the gallon so not quite sure where you get your facts from. There is an article which points out it is more efficent than the ford explorer. The explorer must weigh 2.5 tonnes and is full 4wd and can carry 5 passengers and all their gear in comfort

if you believe it does 60 then you are being daft! they dont do more than 50, which makes it about the same level of economy as my diesel focus...oh and my focus is much better to drive and doesnt have a great big battery that damages the environment.

I do think this technology has something to offer and will make big improvements later its still not better than some of the current conventional motors.

Ian i know you love em but they are uglier than shreks butt!

[Silvery Thing]

the reality with the Prius is its driven by smug pratts who are more concerned with their image than anything else.

You make an extremely wide sweeping and somewhat offensive statement there.... I say such as you obviously do not know every Prius owner or their reasons for buying such a car :roll:

I suggest that you get your brain cell into gear before typing such trash :x

[Boggert]

Yes the Polo is a good car and how can you say that the Prius is "ugly as sin". With respect you drive a Terrano so you should not say such a thing :roll:

Before you all jump on me.... NO I do not own a Prius :D

LOL  :(biggrin):  to be fair you right, the old nissan is not the best looking car in the world, however I like it better than the Prius. The Prius reminds me of the old Citroens and I couldn't stand them.
Now I'm not saying its a bad car, never have, just its not my cup of tea and there are plenty of other green cars around that are cheaper, and in reality do more MPG with the added bonus of £0 tax.
Now you may think I'm a polluting monster, but I'm not I am all for saving the planet which is why I’m going to build a house that is totally carbon neutral from Power supply to heating system and water supply.

I still think the only reason the Prius did so well was it became a status symbol for some people who wanted to be seen doing the right thing, when in reality they didn't give a hoot. Also its a Toyota helped.  

[Silvery Thing]

Boggert.... you make a good point with the Citroen reference. I guess it can be likened to the older models and maybe even the DS which has become a classic :)

As for your house build project.... I do wish you well with it :D

[Bulli]

the reality with the Prius is its driven by smug pratts who are more concerned with their image than anything else.

You make an extremely wide sweeping and somewhat offensive statement there.... I say such as you obviously do not know every Prius owner or their reasons for buying such a car :roll:

I suggest that you get your brain cell into gear before typing such trash :x

its called an OPINION. as for you, well try getting one. Ifv they bought it for the increased fuel economy then they are even dafter....as to recover the increased initial outlay(assuing you believe the disproved 60mpg figure) would take over 3 years when compared to a modern like sized diesel. Then they will trade it for another new one using even more of the worlds resources and creating even more pollution. Unlike my 16 year old Discovery.....

 I dont really want to get inito a slanging match but maybe i just might.

All batteries can be disposed of...err how?? sorry do the magical pixies come rounds and sprinkle sunshire on the noxious highly poisonous chemicals...err i dont think so.

Nuclear power is not the only solution and has many draw backs.

Ever heard of hydrogen fuel cells??  All buses in Iceland run on Hydrogen and only produce water as a biproduct. This is ultimately the way forward.

Brain cell engaged . :roll:

[mike142sl]

I’m going to build a house that is totally carbon neutral from Power supply to heating system and water supply.

I suspect that doesn't exist, there will undoubtedly be some part of the process, or element of the construction that will be far from TOTALLY CN. Even if we found it then the minute you moved in - game over  :)

[blackbob]

was hoping for more useless facts not a prius debate

[Drift]

was hoping for more useless facts not a prius debate

 :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

Did you know penguins have mini desalination units in their heads to excrete salt from the water they drink  :D

[Kaneda]

Useless fact number 774 - The Toyota Prius is not very bullet proof, as demonstrated by Top Gear :)

..and another useless fact : According to findings women are evolving much faster than men, so much so they reckon in a few generations they will be able to conceive without males. Worrying!!!

[davidlandy]

I know of acouple of people with priuses - and they do nowhere near the 50-60mpg as claimed.  

The thing is nothing is for nothing - to use an engine to generate electricity to drive  a motor could be wasteful, why bother , it must be far simpler to just connect the drive wheels to the engine direct rather than via a electric motor and batteries.

I see it all as a gimmick, and some people get drawn into the hype of it.

rather than buy a prius , buy a diesel - the eco ones will do 60mpg + with no strings attached.

[Kaneda]

considering the load capacity and weight of the thing why not just buy a bicycle? Or, shudder, a Smart Car.

[Boggert]

I’m going to build a house that is totally carbon neutral from Power supply to heating system and water supply.

I suspect that doesn't exist, there will undoubtedly be some part of the process, or element of the construction that will be far from TOTALLY CN. Even if we found it then the minute you moved in - game over  :)

Yep, ok Guys you know what I'm trying to say... If it helps as CN as you can get..

We are building a log cabin, we have own water suppy, electricity us by wind and solar when we can. heating by a Corn powered boiler, and yes we grow the corn. :lol:

So I guess its as good as you can get at the moment. :roll:  :roll:

Anyone has any better ideas, post then here...  :roll:

So back to the Puris... buy a VW Polo Blue Motion does 74 MPG. :lol:

[Bulli]

I’m going to build a house that is totally carbon neutral from Power supply to heating system and water supply.

I suspect that doesn't exist, there will undoubtedly be some part of the process, or element of the construction that will be far from TOTALLY CN. Even if we found it then the minute you moved in - game over  :)

Yep, ok Guys you know what I'm trying to say... If it helps as CN as you can get..

We are building a log cabin, we have own water suppy, electricity us by wind and solar when we can. heating by a Corn powered boiler, and yes we grow the corn. :lol:

So I guess its as good as you can get at the moment. :roll:  :roll:

Anyone has any better ideas, post then here...  :roll:

So back to the Puris... buy a VW Polo Blue Motion does 74 MPG. :lol:

nice one Boggert. Sounds like a great way to go, with as little impact as possible.

The best thing we could do is to move to more efficient servers, Pc's, lights and televisions. Thats would make a hell of a difference to the environment. The blue motion will do much less harm to the environment as well as returning better fiel economy....so thats a win win. oh and its 12k rather than 17........

[Gav_T]

I read that the batteries for them daft cars were partly made in Canada, shipped over to wales, worked on a bit there, sent back to Canada for more work, then back to wales, then on to japan. (it was something like that and i cant be arsed to look again!)

Thing is they worked out that the car would have to be doing mega miles a year or kept for teens of years to balance out the damage done by all the shipping.

Cars should have (infact everything!) a overall co2 rating ie how much was made to build the car aswell as how much it puts out per km.

Gav.

P.S i drive a 3.9 v8 and it rocks  :twisted:  :twisted:

[Kaneda]

buy the box set of The Good Life , they were doing the green thing years ago , and it was deemed entertainment  :roll:

Just a reminder http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/goodlife/

[crazymac]

A reminder of the link that "Sooty" posted

http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/print_item.asp?NewsID=188

read it, then tell me that battery power is the way to go!! Read it, then tell me that the Prius in environmentally friendly!!!!

here's a quote "the Prius is partly driven by a battery which contains nickel. The nickel is mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the ‘dead zone’ around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles."

I've seen this place, its dead!!! no trees, grass, animals!! NOTHING!

I'm afraid the the Toyota PIUS is a heap and anyone that buys them do so because they get sucked into the "it runs on batteries so its carbon neutral" rubbish

Take the life cycle of this car, and compare it to most other cars on the market and its SHOCKING!!!! it should never have been built!

As someone has said already, the carbon miles the batteries do before finding their way into the vehicles is horrendous, then there is the manufactureing of the cars, then the actual lifespan of the vehicle, THEN THERE IS THE RECYCLEING OF THE BATTERIES THAT HAVE KILLED A PART OF THE PLANET ALREADY, THAT NEED TO BE SENT BACK TO THIS FACTORY TO BE RECYCLED.  

How can that possibly be better than something like a discovery, that will live for a lot more then 16 years, and when it does die, it gets recycled by enthusiasts to keep others on the road!!

Sorry about the rant, but this "green" balls really gets to me. I'm all for reducing the carbon I produce, but I refuse to step back to the dark ages to do it!! and I really do not see WHY we must be taxed more, for what is in the main a natural phenomenon!!

[Disco Matt]

What gets me is the fact that the powers that be seem to be pushing "Recycle" over "Reuse" despite the fact that recycling uses more energy and resources. One example: Soft drink bottles. In Germany these are heavier-duty than ours as they're returned, sterilised, and refilled rather than recycled.

Then again, I guess pushing the concept of Reuse would do horrible damage to the economy, as people would stop buying new stuff...

[Silvery Thing]

its called an OPINION. as for you, well try getting one. Ifv they bought it for the increased fuel economy then they are even dafter....as to recover the increased initial outlay(assuing you believe the disproved 60mpg figure) would take over 3 years when compared to a modern like sized diesel. Then they will trade it for another new one using even more of the worlds resources and creating even more pollution. Unlike my 16 year old Discovery.....

 I dont really want to get inito a slanging match but maybe i just might.

All batteries can be disposed of...err how?? sorry do the magical pixies come rounds and sprinkle sunshire on the noxious highly poisonous chemicals...err i dont think so.

Nuclear power is not the only solution and has many draw backs.

Ever heard of hydrogen fuel cells??  All buses in Iceland run on Hydrogen and only produce water as a biproduct. This is ultimately the way forward.

Brain cell engaged . :roll:

Yes you are indeed entitled to an opinion but to express it you should do so from a position of knowledge. I suggest you should not refer to all Prius owners as "pratts" unless you knew they are just that :?

Maybe a lot of Prius owners intend to keep their cars for 3+ years, after all you have an old car :)

All batteries can indeed be disposed of and that DOES include all the chemicals.... try doing a Google search if you are unsure :roll:

I accept that nuclear is not the only solution but is the only form of mass production of electricity for the forseeable future until the USS Enterprise brings their power source down to earth

I have indeed heard of hydrogen cells and in fact worked on a recent BP project for hydogen as a fuel for public transport.... sadly at this time hydrogen is not a viable alternative

I am pleased you got your cell engaged as I wondered if the clutch might slip :roll:

I've got my steel helmet and flak jacket on now :twisted:  :lol:

[Silvery Thing]

What gets me is the fact that the powers that be seem to be pushing "Recycle" over "Reuse" despite the fact that recycling uses more energy and resources. One example: Soft drink bottles. In Germany these are heavier-duty than ours as they're returned, sterilised, and refilled rather than recycled.

Then again, I guess pushing the concept of Reuse would do horrible damage to the economy, as people would stop buying new stuff...

It is staggering to think that we do not reuse much more.... we lost this method way back when plastics became fashionable. Many of us, I am sure, can recall taking drinks bottles back to the local off-license in order to get the megre refunds available :D

[Hobnailkelly]

Sounds like a green handbag fight to me :lol:  :lol:  :lol:


As for me, I'll just keep running round in my 22 year old Range Rover powered by a re-used Diahatsu engine fed by old chip-shop oil which otherwise would be poured down the drain. When it needs a part I can re-use other old Rangie bits for most stuff apart from brakes etc.  

Does this make me greener-than-thou?

And I think the Pious is ugly as well ...

[Silvery Thing]

Sounds like a green handbag fight to me :lol:  :lol:  :lol:


As for me, I'll just keep running round in my 22 year old Range Rover powered by a re-used Diahatsu engine fed by old chip-shop oil which otherwise would be poured down the drain. When it needs a part I can re-use other old Rangie bits for most stuff apart from brakes etc.  

Does this make me greener-than-thou?

And I think the Pious is ugly as well ...

Maybe it does make you greener but chip shop oil is, thankfully, rarely thrown down any drains :roll:

As for the P(r)i(o)us being ugly.... I guess the world can easily be divided on that one, but I can only finish by saying that old Range Rovers, especially very old ones, are ugly as sin :twisted:

[Kaneda]

you'll never see a Pious in the Louvre :)

Why are "green" cars so ugly, it's certainly not for aerodynamics.

We use a milk man, we re-use that way. I'm stunned that other glass bottles are smashed in the bottle banks :(

This isn't a thread about being green though, it's about useless facts :)

Here's one ; Every day, over five billion gallons of water are flushed down toilets in the United States.

Here's a few others :

Most toilets flush in E flat.

The appliance that uses the most use of water in the home is the toilet.

Three years of a person's life is spent on the toilet.

Women take three times longer than men when using the toilet.

Barbie's parents names are George and Margaret.

Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell.