Yaris Hybrid

[Maddman]

Not too sure if this is already started but Toyota announced in March that they are planning on building a Yaris Hybrid to compete with the Honda Insight.

http://www.canada.com/Cars/Toyota+working+Yaris+hybrid+fight+hybrid/1431334/story.html

[regal]

All the have to do is give it taller gearing and a 6th speed then shave about 150 lbs and this car would compete with any hybrid on car milage. Still don't understand the hybrid model with Hond Civic VX's were pulling 50 mpg in 1993. I don't want I car that I have to lug around 300 lbs of batteries, kills the performance/handling and I think is dangerous in a wreck.

[NJBob]

As long as Hybrids cost $20k plus and the Yarii cost $12k. I'll stick with the Yaris. As of yet the cost of the car will not be offset by the savings in gas. In the 80s there were at least 3 imports that got 50+ mpg with a standard gas engine and a low price. Let's see some of them again....maybe Fiat?

[nsmitchell]

All the have to do is give it taller gearing and a 6th speed then shave about 150 lbs and this car would compete with any hybrid on car milage. Still don't understand the hybrid model with Hond Civic VX's were pulling 50 mpg in 1993. I don't want I car that I have to lug around 300 lbs of batteries, kills the performance/handling and I think is dangerous in a wreck.

I had a Civic VX! It was very fun! It would do 111MPH in 3rd gear! I didn't buy it for the mileage back then. I bought it because it was a cool hatchback and was pretty darn fast too...

[scape]

All the have to do is give it taller gearing and a 6th speed then shave about 150 lbs and this car would compete with any hybrid on car milage. Still don't understand the hybrid model with Hond Civic VX's were pulling 50 mpg in 1993. I don't want I car that I have to lug around 300 lbs of batteries, kills the performance/handling and I think is dangerous in a wreck.

i agree, but a 6th gear weighs the car down a little too.
i don't understand why car companies shied away from those awesome high mpg cars in the 90's. the honda crx was one of my fav's. it's the stupid american cars need to be larger concept, if cars were smaller and lighter expensive hybrids would not even enter the picture for most consumers...

[2009Toyotoad]

Hybrids lend themselves well to a specific driving environment. Fortunately, for me not the environment I commute in.

The 92'-94 Civic VX was a great car but pricey for its day. I think once the total cost of ownership were added up the 8 valve Civic CX of that time period with dealer installed A/C and cruise would have beaten out the Civic VX. However, drivers did a bit more shifting to get all the power out of the CX 8 valve 1.5 liter engine.

[Twistoffate0817]

I cant wait to see how much mpg the hybrid version gets.

[The little red pill]

Yeah, I've always wondered why Chevy got rid of the Metro. It was a perfect entry level car that ALSO got outstanding gas mileage. It seems like car companies throw in the "hybrid" label along with an expensive battery pack to make consumers spend "more" for an "economical" car. It's kind of an oxymoron to me.
Around 2004, Chevy realized they made a mistake with getting rid of the Metro and introduced the "Aveo" which gets half the gas mileage. That makes sense! :thumbdown:

[SpaceShot]

The Chevy-Geo Metro, Tracker, and other models were joint products with Suzuki and some were even made in a joint GM/Suzuki plant in Canada.
My Olds Calais, and Suzuki Sidekick came from the same Ontario plant, just several years apart.

The Aveo appears to be a rebadged Daewoo, and I don't know why GM changed partners from Suzuki to someone else other than to save still more money.

Unfortunately GM lost interest in small car development as the general public forgot about economy for 10 or more years. For whatever reason, Toyota got Echo/Yaris development going ahead of the curve.

The only Opel product GM brings stateside is in the Saturn lineup, and that may soon go away.

It looks like Toyota is continuing down the Yaris line of development. I hope they have something like the hybrid or a next generation Yaris when my current one is exhausted in 8 years or so.

[daf62757]

Yeah, I've always wondered why Chevy got rid of the Metro. It was a perfect entry level car that ALSO got outstanding gas mileage. It seems like car companies throw in the "hybrid" label along with an expensive battery pack to make consumers spend "more" for an "economical" car. It's kind of an oxymoron to me.
Around 2004, Chevy realized they made a mistake with getting rid of the Metro and introduced the "Aveo" which gets half the gas mileage. That makes sense! :thumbdown:

Excellent observation! I recently had to rent a Aveo when I was on a business trip. Had I been 5 minutes quicker, I would have gotten a Yaris, but the last one was leaving as I walked to the parking lot of cars. The Aveo is pure junk. It gets horrible mileage and is just plain cheap.

I think GM owns a good share of Daewoo so that is why they are using the Aveo. The Daewoo version is called the Kalos and Wikipedia link to some info is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Aveo