So you reckon your new car's green?

[tazzieman]

http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/motoring/top-selling-cars-guzzle-59-per-cent-more-fuel-than-thought-australian-automobile-association/news-story/86f60194822d245307e8b1ebd2ebd66b

Well that's no surprise , but quote this at the smarmy treehugger of your choice 

The testing found some of the worst vehicles for misleading claims were “eco-friendly” plug-in hybrid cars that favour lab test conditions but use up to four times more fuel in the real world.

[Pauly]

I thought i was watching "Back to the Future 5"

Wouldn't you not get the same results by filling up the tank, resetting the trip meter. Drive the car until near enough empty. and doing simple math like :
F = Fuel used
K = KM driven
X = L/100
( F / K ) * 100 = X

[Jimmy]

"However, the AAA did not “name and shame” car brands in the $500,000 study conducted over the past 18 months because, it says, it would not be fair against models it did not test."

 

What ???? and in the meantime VW almost goes bankrupt for being singled out !!!!

[Coastr]

Hybrid performance depends on the driving type.  In stop go traffic they do well.   If you are driving along a country road or highway at 100kmh you might as well get a few hundred kg of batteries and put them in the boot of a conventional car.

it shouldn't be a surprise that they are set up to excel at the standard tests, but don't do as well in other modes.

 

[Raven]

The standardized tests are BS and not really relevant to real world driving ................One example the 7th gear in a new 911 ,,,,purely there for fuel economy ,,,but the gear is so tall your only going to use it on a motorway or Autobarn ....a friend with a 991 C2 manual tells me he never uses the 7th gear ,,,our freeways are to slow and the traffic never flows well enough to allow him to put in that gear and cruise with  it ...It may work in Europe or the U.S but certainly not in Sydney 

[Redracn]

Hybrid performance depends on the driving type.  In stop go traffic they do well.   If you are driving along a country road or highway at 100kmh you might as well get a few hundred kg of batteries and put them in the boot of a conventional car.

it shouldn't be a surprise that they are set up to excel at the standard tests, but don't do as well in other modes.

 

The standard tests have a substantial amount of simulated country driving. But Hybrids can start with a charged battery and end with a flat one. Pretty stupid really. 

[Coastr]

The standard tests have a substantial amount of simulated country driving. But Hybrids can start with a charged battery and end with a flat one. Pretty stupid really. 

I wonder if they simulate hills or just variable speed with corners?

The big loss in efficiency in hilly country is that you have to go WOT on the way up, but have to ride brakes on the way down to stay in the speed limit.  Hybrids would have an advantage if they can regen all the way down.

The standardized tests are BS and not really relevant to real world driving ................One example the 7th gear in a new 911 ,,,,purely there for fuel economy ,,,but the gear is so tall your only going to use it on a motorway or Autobarn ....a friend with a 991 C2 manual tells me he never uses the 7th gear ,,,our freeways are to slow and the traffic never flows well enough to allow him to put in that gear and cruise with  it ...It may work in Europe or the U.S but certainly not in Sydney 

Does that really work though?  I admit to not understanding the exact nature, but I would have thought fuel consumption at that speed was down to air / rolling resistance more than which gear the car was in?  Happy to be corrected.