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Originally Posted by Chilly
This is incorrect. Both hybrid Lexus models and the Highland hybrid have considerable more power than the Prius and yet all these vehicles carry the same SULEV rating. The amount of pollution you put into the air is not just dependent upon your MPG. It has a lot to do with how much of the fuel is burned during combustion. The idea is to burn up all the fuel that is put into the combustion engine. Any fuel that is left unburnt is what contributes the most to your tail pipe emmisions. Therefore, comparing car A to car B simply by MPG is not a fair comparison for emmisions if car B is more effecient at burning all the fuel in the combustion chamber.
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I'm still not quite convinced what you said about MPG is not related to emissions. From what i understand, MPG in ICE gasoline cars does tell how much emissions it burns out. Lets say we punch the throttle in the prius, camry V6 and the Lexus and have them accelerate to 60MPH, I bet the emissions spewing out of the V6 Camry and the Lexus wont be too far apart.
I know this government testing method is about 30 years old and i dont really go by that: they promised me 60MPG but i'm getting 50MPG, and i'm not the only one complaining, it's all over the news no one thinks that's a credible source of info that's why they are changing that soon to include more realistic driving habits and environmental factors like hills and weather. I know during these tests they make these cars run too slow that the hybrid motor kicks in and propells the car forward, thus, producing ZERO emissions, i bet that's where the SULEV stamp comes in. Okay, that being said, i know there are many situations where that happens in the city. But, during acceleration, we all know that the combustion engine will kick in. A big car like the lexus will be burning more fuel to propel the car forward because of it's weight and the fact it's got a 3.5L V6 engine it produces more HP per RPM thus burning more gas. ALso, in ACTUAL highways, (where the gov't testing method doesnt even cover in it's tests), the ICE will be the one propelling the car forward and sustaining the car's speed at 60 - 80MPH. With the exceptions of going downhill where the ICE can shut off to coast, I bet that emissions of the lexus and a camry v6 in this driving environment wont be too far apart either.
Perhaps a better comparison would be, the lexus produces the same emissions as a regular V6 (in this case, a CAMRY V6/AVALON) when the car is running on ICE, eg Accelerating, maintaining highway speeds, but it has a really nice feature of turning that off during deceleration, stop lights, and slow movement on level roads (and lets not forget reverse). At least that's how i see it. So i believe that's where this car can be described as having Lowered Emissions with the added benefit of having more HP from the Electric engine which stored wasted power such as braking or coasting. I stated that a 4 Cyl. with a hybrid motor geared towards lowering emissions is still a better way to reduce emissions. If i travel 50 miles in a Prius or HCH, and you travel 50 Miles in a V6 Hybrid. Lets say i get 50MPG and the V6 gets 25MPG. Therefore, in the end I have consumed 1Gal and you consumed 2. Where did all of that fuel go? it burned in the gas chambers and the byproduct gases are spewed out as emissions, so who spewed out 2x more? I can say in the end that a prius or HCH driver can be happier to say they "reduce emissions" rather than a v6 hybrid owner, need more proof, who gets to drive in the car pool lanes in some states because we spew out lesser emissions per person even if there is just ONE person in the vehicle?
BTW no pun intended, it's just my 2 cents.
have a nice day
gj