Silk wrote:
I had an Auris Hybrid hire car for a month while I was waiting for my new car and was quite surprised. I particularly liked the way it pulled from a standing start - fantastic for getting into gaps in traffic. If I only drove in the city, it would be the only choice for me. The CVT auto is absolutely brilliant.
Yes, one of the most entertaining things was the CVT and the feeling no interuption from 0mph to the speed limit. Pulling away from lights where someone would try to outpace (it's only a Prius), a more powerful car would be surprised by the initial acceleration of the electric drive assisting the little engine and often they would fluff the first gear change - the fact that the Prius kept accelerating meant they'd try harder - start to catch up then fluff the second change (car bouncing it's nose) ... annoyed they'd then fluff the next change too 
- then I reach the speed limit and let them accelerate past a camera 
.Silk wrote:Where hybrids lose out is on the motorway, as they can easily be beaten by a modern diesel when it comes to economy. I found the economy stayed about the same regardless of whether I was in heavy traffic or the open road.
In my opinion, there's no such thing as a boring car - only a boring driver.
Indeed, which is why I changed to a Skoda Superb - but then for all the 'this isn't green' knocks of cars like the Prius, they did make normal all sorts of technology which has now found its way into modern diesel and petrol cars (like regenerative braking - which IMO has a lot more to give).