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Although I generally have no time for What Car - possibly the worst car magazine on the market - I get emails from them which I must have inadvertently signed up for and have not bothered to unsubscribe from. Having little to fill my time during the lockdown, I had a browse through a recent email which had a link to a video (I think it was produced at the end of March, so quite recent): “2020 best plug-in hybrids (and the ones to avoid)”. Needless to say, I knew from the outset that the Prius plug-in would be one to avoid! The top 10 best plug-ins were of course, with the exception of 2 Volvos and a Hyundai, all German. The list included at number 9 a Mercedes priced at £97,570 😂. What planet do these teenage scribblers live on? They rather like the Audi Q5 and managed to achieve 18 miles in EV mode - great! They were also impressed with the VW Passat which achieved 65mpg overall and a whopping 40mpg on hybrid only. Their biggest criticism of plug-ins is that when the battery goes flat on plug-ins the mpg falls off a cliff - wrong, I regularly get in excess of 80mpg when the battery is ‘flat’. When it comes to the Prius, they find it “not particularly inspiring” and take the p*ss out of the optional solar panel. They consider them expensive (not when you buy a demo as I did for no more than a standard Prius; and certainly less than £97,570!) and don’t like the noisy engine - wrong again; it’s whisper quiet and could only be considered noisy if it’s driven totally inappropriately in Power mode by some 20-something with their right foot nailed to the floor). They fail to take into account Toyotas huge advantage in having mastered the technology of hybrids over a long period, unlike e.g Mercedes who have only come to the party because they need to “greenwash” their marketing to survive and whose implementation of of hybrid drive is inept. I have a friend who for some strange reason beyond my comprehension will only buy Mercedes. He was keen to buy a C Class hybrid which start at about £45,000. Even the magazines warn that you’ll struggle to get 40 mpg overall. My friend borrowed one for a test and got nowhere near 40. On a short dog walking journey he would sometimes struggle to get 10mpg in EV mode! The deal breaker for him was the dreadful jerky transition from EV to ICE. Mercedes simply have not got the expertise or experience to implement the technology. Anyway, the qualities of the Prius PHV will just have to remain a well kept secret.

As regards Black Circles, one can choose who fits your tyres from a selection of tyre fitters - which includes branches of ATS Euromaster (which makes sense as Michelin own both Black Circles and ATS Euromaster).

Anyone thinking of acquiring one of these babies do not hesitate. Mine has now freed itself up and is smoooooth and fast. I made the painful transition of migrating from a Golf GTD and although it was initially painful i am getting used to the little foibles and love the car. I have even had admiring glances from total strangers which is a bit weird. So go for it you will not be disappointed.

I have a 2002 corolla I really want to.be have folding mirrors for it any way of possibly doing this

That gasket is impossible to put on the wrong way.

Yes, that's every fill since new in June last year over 9,300 miles (15,000 km). Until October the average stayed around 52 UK mpg, and has dropped with the colder weather. This last 6 weeks with on lockdown I've only been doing about 2-3 miles a week, so the next tankful will be horrible. I do drive carefully, but plenty of people beat my mpg figures with a particular car. As well as weather and driving style, a lot depends on local geography and traffic conditions, and especially types of journey undertaken. My last Gen 4 Prius averaged 63½ mpg, but on an ideal 250 mile round trip it could do better than 80! So if almost all my driving was that type of journey, my average would be nearly 25% better.

I think I’ll have to take the plunge - I’ll ask at my dealer too as I worked there and they might do me a deal ... I’ve looked again ... if you pay £7 extra each then that covers fitting. So about £90 each all in with £80 off if you buy 4. I won’t do anything till I can go I suppose but it’s good info. They’re the Pilot Sport 3s not the 4s but I’m sure they’ll be fine.

I prefer the skateboard

Hahaha, I am a slow driver/rider the scooter is the Prius of the scooters, most popular in the world but not fastest, I like riding it slow and watching around, exploring my town, saves me walking long distance. The Auris is fully stock, no change at all, but maybes because of the wheels looks like is lowered, perhaps is lower than standard 1.6 that usually comes with this size wheels for aerodynamic purposes. I will ask EBC to start making pads for the electric scooter too. Hahah they will laugh at me but there is a big market for that.😂🛴👍

EBC Your Auris looks quite low there, been lowered? Nice paid of wheels (scooter), is it any quicker to 60 than the Hybrid?

Nice, I recently changed all 4 brake discs, pads and wheel bearings plus new wheels and tyres. Wheel bearings and disc are Blueprint, pads are EBC Ultimax these are most suitable for hybrids because they are soft and bite very well on cold, wheels are genuine Toyota and tyres are the new model efficient grip performance by Goodyear, all done two - three weeks before lockdown, now I am only watching it sit on my drive😐, but I have another toy to play, so much fun. 👍🛴

Maybe you are overthinking it. Is it possible to fix it with a bit of copper pipe, a cheap disposable torch and some solder? I would try to easiest options first.

I wouldn't bypass the oil cooler. To state the obvious - the oil cooler is there to cool the oil and so without it the oil my get too hot.

ok here is how to fix, unplug battery, put pin in diagnostic box, should see 5 blinking check engine lights followed by a pause then 2 blinking check engine lights. this mean your knock sensor is fkn and will put the car into limp mode. to reset this unplug the battery and it should work again for a while. to permanently fix get a new knock sensor. GL lads

B mode (engine braking) should only be used on downhill stretches especially when the battery is full (as no regenerative braking available) - B mode effectively connects the petrol engine to the wheels as per the wiki link. The info is also in the manual, search for 'engine braking'. Using B mode by default will get you less mpg as some of your regen is actually spent turning over the engine! More info on B mode from Toyota guy: Prius car review on Car magazine which mentions: "Richard’s expertise begins with getting muggins here to do the most basic of things, like reading the manual. Contrary to my assumptions, the B mode for the CVT gearbox is, as the letter suggests, for engine braking rather than sending more juice back into the battery. And staying in it all day actually uses more fuel, as that mode prioritises engine braking over fuel saving. Who knew?"

Wikipedia to the resume again. What a wonderful source of knowledge Wikipedia is. I will need to read a few times to get a fuller insight of what goes on in this wonderful technology Toyota have developed and given to us in the form of fuel efficient vehicles, which are also a joy to drive.

What new brakes you got, Tony? Apparently, I have GREEN STUFF brake pads at the front, my friend noticed it when he saw less front brake dust than the rear (and they were green in colour)

People need to understand what they have actually purchased.😉

Spot the extra chrome: 🙂

Which Michelin tyres are they? I’m threatening getting the Falkens off as I’ve heard that they’re not much good. Are the Michelins better? Particularly are they quieter on rough surfaces? That’s my biggest bugbear. cheers

Nice colour! Is it Scarlet Flare? The colour I like on the Corolla. I have Island Blue on my Auris. Again looks great. James.

Mines sat at burnaston waiting to be delivered after this is all over

Generally I managing to stay busy with other things in my life, but yesterday I took the opportunity to wash the sahara sand off my car, go over it with Williams waterless car wash/polish, put rain x on, not only the windscreen, but all the windows, then tyre shine on errr…. the tyres. Took a couple of shots afterwards. If you look carefully at the rear shot you can see the refection of the wife's Auris Hybrid near the fuel cap.

mine is at 74000

The standard seems to be 400 miles per tank (35 litres) = 11.4 miles per litre.