Another Whatcar waffle...

[Tristar500]

** Rant warning **

Once upon a time I used to take the word of Whatcar as gospel. However, in recent years I think this publication's credibility has gone right down the swanny.

Under the headline: Real-world economy – frugal four-wheel-drives, now what in your opinion is going to: a) be tested in the first place and b) win this accolade?

Well read this and have a look....I mean laugh.....

http://links.em.whatcar.com/ctt?kn=...5NjE4OTUxMTgS1&b=0&j=NDIwODQ2NDMwS0&mt=1&rt=0

It's a joke that the Outlander PHEV is nowhere to be seen and let's face it walk off with this accolade probably doubling the real world mpg that they chirp on about. Now let me think, who spends the most in advertising with Whatcar? Oh that's right the 7 manufacturers featured in this useless article!

Rant over. :roll:

 

[maby]

I agree that the Outlander should be included in the list, but if you use it as a general purpose car of its size and class, it will not do much better than the other options described in that article.

 

[jaapv]

Uh? What is new here? Do we using start EU-prescribed test-run figures as a basis for real world results?

I defy anybody to name any car, not SUVs only, that would give a different result in this "test"

Maybe we should be fortunate that they did not include the Outlander PHEV in this list. It is just as easy to return 25 MpG in a "real world" situation as 1000 MpG. Guess which figure they would have used... :roll:

 

[Paule23]

I got that link in an email yesterday too and clicked through eagerly to see hot the PHeV rated. Imagine my surprise to see a BmW 320 but no Outlander PHEV!!!

Have I made the wrong decision?

As per the previous post it would have been really interesting to see how What Car assessed the PHeV, it's frugality really depends on how you drive it and the sort of journeys, cruelly stats on here run from 340 mpg down to 40 ish. Their test is likely to have been on a single, long mixed road journey, which might not be ideal for the PHEV, but would still have been great to see how it compares. Maybe next time.....

 

[Regulo]

Stopped reading all car mags ages ago. They all have their own agendas to "push", whether it's cars the public can't afford, or cars the pubic don't want. And I agree, they seem to be biased against any car that simply does what it says on the tin i.e. performs to an acceptable standard under public road conditions. If you believe the manufacturers claims on ANYTHING, you're naive in the extreme. Take it all with a large pinch of salt, and a dollop of scepticism!

PS: 2000 miles on the clock, still finding excuses to drive it - that tells you what I think of it, whether it gives 25 or 1000 mpg!

 

[maby]

I got that link in an email yesterday too and clicked through eagerly to see hot the PHeV rated. Imagine my surprise to see a BmW 320 but no Outlander PHEV!!!

Have I made the wrong decision?

As per the previous post it would have been really interesting to see how What Car assessed the PHeV, it's frugality really depends on how you drive it and the sort of journeys, cruelly stats on here run from 340 mpg down to 40 ish. Their test is likely to have been on a single, long mixed road journey, which might not be ideal for the PHEV, but would still have been great to see how it compares. Maybe next time.....

It really does depend entirely on how you use the car - and more so than it does for most other cars. If your pattern of usage is almost exclusively short journeys, then you can run almost 100% electric. This can produce apparent consumption approaching 1000mpg - though unless you have a roof full of solar panels, this will actually be an equivalent of closer to 200mpg. If you use it in genuinely mixed-mode driving as a large, relatively high-end car, loading it close to its capacity and driving reasonably long distances at reasonably high speeds, you will get an effective fuel consumption closer to 50mpg.

I'm seeing around 50mpg after about 1300 miles of mixed driving and taking into account electricity as well as petrol. It seems to be a reasonable figure to me - bearing in mind that the Outlander is bigger and a more capable off-roader than most of those reviewed in that article. I would not have bought it if I had to use it like a milk float to get consumption figures that I considered acceptable.

P.S. Ignore any claims of performance better than about 200mpg unless the owner has sufficient solar or wind generation capacity of their own to not need to buy electricity. If you calculate on a realistic basis, taking into account electricity consumed on the best tariffs available, the best you can achieve is in the region of 200mpg.

 

[jaapv]

Well, it depends on the price one pays for electricity. There are many ways to reduce that cost. Solar panels, as you say, quite a few PHEV owners have covered their roof with them, as they are heavily subsidized. One can buy a share in a wind turbine and get free electricity. For me there is no financial incentive, really, as I managed to finagle an industrial tariff of 7 Eurocent/KWh, reduced to half on average by my windmill share....
I don't know about the UK or Australia, though.

 

[Tristar500]

Yes I agree with all that has gone before. At the end of the day the only real world driving that anyone is interested in is their own real world. Personally I am seeing figures well in excess of 100 mpg not because of the way I drive but because of the way I use the car, indeed any car, on a day to day basis. Most days involve short trips with opportunities to plug the car in with the odd longer journey thrown in. Coming from a 1.6TDCi Mondeo Estate (which I really liked) getting an average of 42 mpg to the PHEV which saves me money each month without any real compromise on space and having 4WD as well is a bonus.