[Subota Boy]

Well I was sold on the 1.2 manual until I tried the hybrid for comparison/curiosity purposes. Performance seemed about the same. Relaxed driving in urban conditions? No contest really - hybrid. Although I found the brakes more sensitive in the hybrid.

Could those with experience of Toyota Hybrids suggest why I should lean more towards this, or what to look out for. I am totally new to the idea of this, but was strangely taken with the driving experience.

Many thanks
Keith

 

[Reima_C-HR]

I have had several Toyotas with manual shift gear before (Carina and Avensis of different models) and been very suspicious of automatic gears.
But when I test drived the Auris Hybrid a year ago I was hooked. It was so easy to drive and smooth and the feeling was why use any manual shifting..., and when test driving the C-HR, I fell totally in "love". The hybrid is much economical to drive than with petrol engine in urban roads, on highways it's quite the same. Hybrid is a little expensive but you don't get any second thoughts after.

Cheers Reima

 

[david63]

Could those with experience of Toyota Hybrids suggest why I should lean more towards this

Having driven a Prius for the last four years there is no way that I would ever go back to either a manual transmission or a non "battery" car. I would consider an all electric car but currently I do not believe that they have the range nor is the charging infrastructure adequate (although this is improving)

I average mid 60's mpg (on some journeys 75+) and no road tax (if you buy before 1st April 2017)

A lot depends on the type of driving that you do - if you do a loy of motorway driving then a hybrid becomes less attractive in that it does not always have the power you need when joining a motorway and your fuel consumption will drop considerably - but if most of your driving is around towns then they are perfect - just take a look at how many Prius are used as taxis.

 

[freakybeanz]

A lot depends on the type of driving that you do - if you do a loy of motorway driving then a hybrid becomes less attractive in that it does not always have the power you need when joining a motorway and your fuel consumption will drop considerably - but if most of your driving is around towns then they are perfect - just take a look at how many Prius are used as taxis.

That depends on the motorway!
I'm stuck on the M25 most evenings between J13-16 which is just stop and start.

I'm buying a hybrid because I'm sick and tired of having clutch foot by the time I get home.

 

[Subota Boy]

Thanks for your thoughts Folks!

 

[Subota Boy]

Today we extensively tested a hybrid and manual, back to back on same roads. Fortunately the dealer was closed apart from sales, so customers were almost non-existent, and we could play to our heart's content.

We both felt that the extra weight of the hybrid suited the car. The manual felt lighter and a little more skittish over a bumpy b road route. we also liked the consistent amount of acceleration provided by the hybrid. The manual was much more affected by the revs and gearing and whether the turbo was on song. The electric motor provided the same degree of acceleration when you floored it, no matter what the speed.

And in traffic - no contest.

The hybrid is an extra £2500 yes, but felt like the engineers tuned the suspension and dynamics for the heavier car.

I never thought it, but we are going to go for a hybrid, for March delivery!!

 

[david63]

for March delivery

Make it a condition that you have it "on the road" before the end of March otherwise it will start costing you £140 a year in car tax.

 

[Rob]

Today we extensively tested a hybrid and manual, back to back on same roads. Fortunately the dealer was closed apart from sales, so customers were almost non-existent, and we could play to our heart's content.

We both felt that the extra weight of the hybrid suited the car. The manual felt lighter and a little more skittish over a bumpy b road route. we also liked the consistent amount of acceleration provided by the hybrid. The manual was much more affected by the revs and gearing and whether the turbo was on song. The electric motor provided the same degree of acceleration when you floored it, no matter what the speed.

And in traffic - no contest.

The hybrid is an extra £2500 yes, but felt like the engineers tuned the suspension and dynamics for the heavier car.

I never thought it, but we are going to go for a hybrid, for March delivery!!

Sounds good, I take it you will be getting black then? :lol:

 

[Subota Boy]

for March delivery

Make it a condition that you have it "on the road" before the end of March otherwise it will start costing you £140 a year in car tax.

Thanks for that!!

 

[Subota Boy]

Today we extensively tested a hybrid and manual, back to back on same roads. Fortunately the dealer was closed apart from sales, so customers were almost non-existent, and we could play to our heart's content.

We both felt that the extra weight of the hybrid suited the car. The manual felt lighter and a little more skittish over a bumpy b road route. we also liked the consistent amount of acceleration provided by the hybrid. The manual was much more affected by the revs and gearing and whether the turbo was on song. The electric motor provided the same degree of acceleration when you floored it, no matter what the speed.

And in traffic - no contest.

The hybrid is an extra £2500 yes, but felt like the engineers tuned the suspension and dynamics for the heavier car.

I never thought it, but we are going to go for a hybrid, for March delivery!!

Sounds good, I take it you will be getting black then? :lol:

How would you guess that?

 

[Toyota_Fan]

I was the first to test drive that Hybrid at the same dealership , I liked the Dynamic in that colour but as being by the coast here did not like the idea of a non metalic black roof but also one bird poo on black and thats ruined unless remove instantly apart from if you order metalic black then the roof is also metalic, went for Excel then atleast the car is colour coded and in Metal stream realise you dont get LED headlights etc, dealer and myself were puzzled that they made Dynamic LED headlights etc but not in the interior ie driver/ passenger lighting etc.

 

[Subota Boy]

Ordered hybrid!!

 

[giannisvrch]

Hi from Greece, nice to be here!
What about battery autonomy? It's my first time thinking of hybrid. I heard about 2 or 3 kilometres of battery use.
And then what? Wheels supply with power or there is a need of petrol engine to start up and feed?

Thank you!
Giannis

 

[lee789]

Doesn't work like that. You would have to drive really carefully or slowly to get 2 to 3 kms on electric only, and what normally happens is the car will switch between battery only, engine or both together. Once the battery reaches a low state of charge the engine will start, and it will quickly recharge the batteries again. The regenerative braking also helps to do this. If you want to drive on electric only for longer distances it may be worth waiting for a CHR Plug In, which will probably appear in about 12 months time. As an example, if you were to drive 10 kms in town or city, and 5 kms of that journey were at low speeds in heavy traffic, you would probably manage those 5 kms almost exclusively on battery power, and the rest on engine & battery. The system works well, but nowhere nearly as well as it does on a Prius, which was built specifically as a hybrid. The CHR was merely designed and adapted to use the Prius platform, and consequently doesn't do such an efficient job. It is, however, much better looking.

 

[giannisvrch]

Thanks for that answer! Very helpfull. To be honest i was interested in petrol engine. In Greece, Hybrid is not too famous. Althought, local Toyota had only the hybrid car available last week. So I did my test drive with that version and i really like it. I think that hybrid is... hybrid. Even with this recharging system, you can reach low cost milage. I'm trying to make my little survey these days about service costs and after that I'm a step closer to hybrid.

 

[lee789]

Apparently here in the UK very few Petrol CHR's have been sold. In fact Toyota told me this morning that the AWD Petrol has already been withdrawn due to lack of sales. The petrol engine works well with a manual gearbox, but not so good with the CVT transmission. As there is virtually no difference in performance between the petrol and the hybrid, and because the hybrid is far more economical, it makes sense. Resale values are likely to be considerably higher too.

 

[Toyota_Fan]

wow AWD C-hr has been withdrawn due to low interest thats quite worrying :S Bet if the 2.0 was available it would be popular.

 

[giannisvrch]

The future is clear i think about chr hybrid success. They told me also that services are also lower in cost due to this type of transmision, without classic gearbox and its needs in pressure plate, clutch disk etc.

 

[lee789]

Well I'm not surprised there were so few orders for the AWD Petrol. Charging the same price as for the hybrid was just taking the mick. Hybrids always cost more to produce, so how Toyota thought they could charge the same for a 1.2 turbo as a 1.8 hybrid is beyond me. Even the FWD 1.2 is only £1300 cheaper than the hybrid, so I doubt there will be many orders for that one either. I reckon there should be at least a £3-4k price difference to make even considering the petrol worthwhile.

 

[pt542]

Sounds like some great feedback for the Hybrid model! I wish we were getting it in Australia but we're limited to the 1.2L turbo, manual or CVT in the base grade and CVT AWD only in the higher grade... :|