Only 35mpg at 85mph!Wow,that is pitiful.Let me trade my Prius for one of those European wonder diesels. I bet the Euros have a huge choice of vehicles with 70" behind the front seats(enough for an adult human ,and one very leggy 75 lb greyhound,and one somewhat smaller mutt).Help me here,let's name all the 175" x66"wide vehicles with 70x45" behind the front seats that easily beat 35 mpg at 87mph?
Give up?I don't think the Euros have a comparably sized car that will get 35mpg at 85 mph.The Volkswagens TDIs we get here sure as heck won't-and they are dogs-12+seconds 0-60 mph.
Now , a properly sized TDI in a Prius sized car should be able to beat a Prius in a high speed, no braking hy trip MPG.However ,we don't have that properly sized TDI here,and I have my doubts that the Euros do.A 115 hp 4cyl TDI in a 3000 lb car won't accelerate as well as a Hybrid with electric motors.This is why the HH(4400 lbs) is so quick-7.4 0-60 while having just 268 hp.
On a 90 mpg Prius in 2008-that is absolute BS.It will be about as much better than the 2004 as the 2004 was better than the 2003.The Prius would have to drop 900 lbs to get a 90mpg city rating.It will probably be 4 mpg better real world.Don't wait the 2 years in the hopes of that sort of improvement.LucK,Charlie