Save the Earth: Drive a Ferrari - How’s this for a convenient truth? Priuses spew out 78 times as much CO2 as Ferraris!

CO2 is NOT a pollutant!

Once again, for all you "global warming" obsessed people, listen carefully:

The greatest threat to biodiversity on Earth is **NOT** our 12,500 year-long 0.43% increase in carbon dioxide. NOT EVEN CLOSE! Rather, the greatest threats to biodiversity on Earth are:

1) Habitat Destruction/Fragmentation
2) Poaching
3) Pollution

Habitat destruction!! Poaching!! Pollution!!

NOT Carbon Dioxide!!!

CARBON DIOXIDE IS NOT A POLLUTANT.

CARBON DIOXIDE IS NOT A POLLUTANT.

CARBON DIOXIDE IS NOT A POLLUTANT.

Animals DIE because of habitat destruction, poaching, and pollution.

NOT CARBON DIOXIDE.

NOT CARBON DIOXIDE.

NOT CARBON DIOXIDE.

@randy33
CO2 certainly IS a polutant when significant enough quantities are involved. For example, most of the carbon dioxide that humans produce is absorbed by the oceans. This is fact. When co2 is absorbed into sea water, it's pH is reduced. If the pH decreases too much, then coral reefs die off. See? Habitat destruction due to excessive amounts of CO2.

CO2 *is* a polutant.

Too much of anything is bad :-P

Yes, it's true. Humans only contribute 3% of the CO2 that's put into the air. The rest other 97% comes from THE EARTH itself.

Additionally, it's food for the plants and trees which they use to create oxygen. We wouldn't want to starve them, would we?

Silly to get worked up over a little co2. I'd be much more concerned over other REAL pollutants.

one of the previously unrecognized GREATEST threat of increased co2 and methane production, is indeed "from the earth." namely the vast tracts of frozen tundra in alaska and siberia.

however, it is in the process of being THAWED AND RELEASED to the atmosphere as a result of MAN'S activities which have accelerated global warming.

regardless of whether or not warming is "just" a natural phenomenon, there is NO QUESTION that mankind ia ACCELERATING THE PROCESS by burning fossil fuels.

Perhaps we should all hold our breath in silence for 2 minutes every New Year to reduce the CO2 on the Earth.

Oh, and let’s keep building more Dry Chemical Fire Extinguishers, since those chemicals are far better for our environment than a CO2 Fire Extinguisher.

This planet has far bigger problems, everything we clean runs off into Lakes and Streams and the Ocean.

How about the Energy that will be burned to rebuild all these cities being destroyed by war. Or the Thousands of Tons of Fuel one transport ship burns moving Army Tanks across the ocean.

And everyone truely believes driving a Prius or a Smart Car will make any kind of a real difference?

Let's turn the TV off already.

and how about people still driving gas guzzling dinosaur v8s trade them for fuel sipping 4-cyl cars?

How about we just kill all the people driving gas sipping 4 cyls? That would cut traffic down by about 56%, and would make the v8's more Earth friendly.

so what, are you a Pol Pot protege? judging by the vehicles i see at our state's largest university, killing all drivers of 4-cyl cars would eliminate the INTELLECTUAL ELITE. most professors and even a Regent i know personally drive 4-bangers. one of the few friends i know who owns a v8 (two even, in a p/u and a work van) makes up for it by also driving a 3-cyl metro when he doesn't NEED to use the guzzlers.

"so what, are you a Pol Pot protege? judging by the vehicles i see at our state's largest university, killing all drivers of 4-cyl cars would eliminate the INTELLECTUAL ELITE. most professors and even a Regent i know personally drive 4-bangers. one of the few friends i know who owns a v8 (two even, in a p/u and a work van) makes up for it by also driving a 3-cyl metro when he doesn't NEED to use the guzzlers."

My, what a brilliant and well thought out post. Are you saying that professors and Regents (whom, by the way, are most often elected), are actually elite? WOW! I had no idea! Simply amazing considering that anyone who spends time getting a degree can be hired as a professor.

4cyl drivers should be killed to make the world safer for those of us who drive v8's. My GTO requires lots of room, and a little gas. Gas which is being used up by talking head baffoons residing on the left.

A Prius get it best mileage at under 40mph. Pushed to the limit at 90mph it's worst than a BMW M3

The VW turbo diesels are the only vehicles sold in the US that get that kind of mileage.
But just so you know, at 90 MPH a Benz E-Class CDI will use less fuel that an Prius at the same speed (if the Prius can actually hit that speed)
That is far out of the scope of what a Prius is designed for.
Its a good city taxi/Pizza-delivery vehicle.

The point is that a much bigger Benz uses less fuel than a Prius on the highway.
And Diesel costs less than regular everywhere on the planet except in the US, where the oil companies continue their campaign to suppress sales of diesel vehicles.
In Canada, Shell, Chevron, etc. sell diesel for less than regular, and the taxes are identical ... so none of that gov't subsidy BS from you either!

BMW 5 series diesel can get 40+ at those speeds.

This makes absolutely no sense! Based on the comparison, how much total CO2 does the Maybach brand produce; there sales HAVE pretty much hit the floor and I'm thinking less than Ferrari...no more than Ferrari....waste of computer space. Raw numbers are a joke...lets talk ratios, individual comparisons based on the same exact scenario. Stop coming for Toyota...its not working.

Good point!
The VW Phaeton with the 12-cylinder engine is the ultimate, because I think they sold about 4 of them! ;)

Most Ferrari owners have a bunch of other cars to drive on daily basis and these machines are unlikely to be econoboxes.

And by the way, an interesting fact:

Source: http://www.spritmonitor.de/de/die_sparsamsten_autos.html

Numbers in brackets are the numbers of drivers who registered and contributed their real life mileage over a period of time. Mileage is in litres per 100 km since this is a German site.

All the cars behind the Prius are tiny econoboxes, not much larger than Smart.


LIST OF MOST EFFICIENT PETROL CARS

Modell (Benzin)l/100km
5,2 Toyota Prius (587)
5,3 Citroen C1 (220)
5,3 Daihatsu Cuore (215)
5,4 Fiat 126 (11)
5,5 Toyota Aygo (294)
5,5 Peugeot 107 (104)
5,7 Honda Civic Hybrid (71)
5,7 Daihatsu Trevis (18)
5,8 Smart Fortwo (1102)
5,9 Smart Roadster (353)
6,1 Suzuki Alto (16)
6,2 Toyota Yaris (234)
6,2 Renault Twingo (388)
6,3 Kia Picanto (111)
6,4 Daihatsu Sirion (90)
6,4 Honda Jazz (121)
6,4 Hyundai Atos (30)
6,4 Fiat 500 (52)
6,4 Fiat Cinquecento (72)
6,5 Kia Pride (11)
6,5 Seat Arosa (86)
6,5 Audi A2 (171)
6,6 Chevrolet Matiz (23)
6,6 Nissan Micra (276)
6,6 Daewoo Matiz (31)
6,6 Citroen AX (66)
6,6 Citroen Saxo (70)
6,6 Opel Agila (44)
6,6 Citroen 2CV (21)
6,6 Peugeot 106 (167)



Now if you correct the fuel economy regarding the different volumetric energy density of diesel and petrol (1,09x less energy in a dm3 of petrol) and place the Prius on the same list of most efficient diesel cars this time, results are as follows:

LIST OF MOST EFFICIENT DIESEL CARS

Modell (Diesel)l/100km
3,6 Audi A2 3L (38)
3,7 Volkswagen Lupo 3L (76)
4,2 Smart Fortwo (916)
4,3 Citroen C1 (29)
4,6 Citroen AX (20)
4,76 Toyota Prius (587) (diesel-energy-density equivalent)
4,8 Seat Arosa (32)
4,8 Peugeot 106 (19)
4,9 Audi A2 (175)
4,9 Citroen Saxo (17)
4,9 Citroen C2 (76)
5,0 Nissan Micra (11)
5,0 Toyota Yaris (78)
5,0 Fiat Panda (12)
5,0 Kia Picanto (12)
5,0 Dacia Logan (18)
5,0 Mini Mini Clubman (14)
5,1 Fiat 500 (23)
5,1 Volkswagen Lupo (55)
5,1 Peugeot 205 (27)
5,2 Citroen C3 (72)
5,2 Renault Clio (179)
5,2 Nissan Note (13)
5,2 Skoda Fabia (367)
5,3 Ford Fiesta (187)
5,3 Mazda 2 (21)
5,3 Volkswagen Fox (11)
5,3 Volkswagen Polo (430)
5,4 Smart Forfour (122)
5,4 Opel Corsa (309)
5,4 Renault Modus (31)

Again, only tiniest diesel econoboxes edge out the Prius in terms of fuel consumption.

"Now if you correct the fuel economy regarding the different volumetric energy density of diesel and petrol (1,09x less energy in a dm3 of petrol)"

You mean "NOW, lets fudge the numbers to make the Prius look better" ... because you have to fudge the numbers to make ANY gas vehicle (hybrid or not) look competitive compared to a diesel-powered vehicle.

Once again an agent copying only part of the article. The very next paragraph talks about how it's a joke. The evenhanded Autospies at it again.

And if you followed the link you would get the rest of the story.

-00J

So you're ok with this direct quote?:

"Agent 00J is a complete dick" pulled from the below comment.



.
.
.
.
I've never said that Agent 00J is a complete dick.

This is a stupid article and argument.

The REAL problem is that the production of a Prius, whose fuel gains come mostly from the use of light-weight (and rare) materials that are extremely toxic to produce, generates more pollution than 10 years of operation.

In reality, a Prius is worse for the environment than a Cadillac Escalade, which is made primarily of iron and steel, which is extremely economical to produce and recycle.

You don't find engineers (who are concerned about the environment ... and most of them are) driving hybrid cars, because they understand the "big picture" of pollution based on "whole product life-cycle".

The people who buy a Prius typically have a BA degree and couldn't pass Grade 11 science is their life depended on it!
I know many of them .. they just don't get it.
(and we'll see how many are on this site by how much I get de-boosted)

To get high-torque motors with minimal weight, they use a lot of cobalt and molybdenum. The batteries are based on Lithium (extremely toxic) and toxic hydroxides. There are other metals in the permanent magnets of the motors.

That's why the European equivalent of America's "Sierra Club" passed over the Prius a few years back and rated the Passat TDI as the most environmentally friendly family vehicle that you could buy.

An American environmental agency, looking a whole-life-cycle (manufacture, use, and re-cycling) rated the new VW Jetta #1 in America, again beating out the Prius.

The Prius would be good if it and its materials were created on a remote, disposable planet. But as long as they build them on the same planet that we live on, they are polluting our environment at absurd levels before they ever get to the showroom.

Anti-global warming folks have made a lot of noise about the Prius' batteries, which are purportedly sourced from Wales, and use Canadian nickel.

Even if you assume that this is true, all vehicles in today's word have complex international sources of parts. A GMC truck may have body panels from Brazil or an engine from China. Catalytic converters contain rare metals that might come from Russia or South Africa. Electronics, like your iPod, probably come from China. There is nothing unique about the Prius' supply chain.

All cars contain toxic heavy metals, plastics, and chemicals rough on the planet. While there is a lot of focus on the specific problems of CO2, all of the other toxins generated in the production of cars is also a consideration. Balancing the environmental impact of making any new car against the benefits of a "green" car, I doubt that many people come out ahead buying new, rather than using what they have and enjoy now, intelligently.

Basically I never waste my time for fanboys since they don't deserve any explanation with sources. But I'll make an exception for you.

You claim I fudged the numbers about energy density of diesel and petrol to make Prius look better. So here you have:

U.S Department of Energy, Transportation Energy data book http://cta.ornl.gov/data/appendix_b.shtml

Table B.4 Heat Content for Various Fuels
http://cta.ornl.gov/data/tedb27/Spreadsheets/TableB_04.xls

Conventional gasoline
125,000 Btu/gal(gross) = 115,400 Btu/gal(net)

Diesel motor fuel
138,700 Btu/gal (gross) = 128,700 Btu/gal (net)

You lost.

---
You claimed making a Prius makes so much harm because of various rare materials necessary to build it. In my reply to Porschefan2 (yet another fanboy) under this post:
http://www.autospies.com/news/Toyota-Kills-Diesel-Contract-And-Dashes-Plans-For-Small-Diesel-Vehicles-38955/
I provided scientific, peer reviewed sources claiming that building a car requires an incomparably low amount of energy than running it through its lifetime. It becomes logical then than any added complexity to make a Prius becomes irrelevant when gas savings through so many years of its service pay off, both financially and environmentally.

You lost for the second time.

completely pointless article. The Ferrari driver probably ends up driving 15,000 miles anyways, just spread out over several cars.

lol....Prius..how pethetic.

Not as pathetic as your spelling!

Priuses are made to save gas not the planet. Most consumers don't know that what it takes to get a Prius onto the show room floor. It's harmful to the earth in a global scale. How are the batteries made and what are they made from?

So driving a Prius may make you feel better about yourself because most go into the purchase thinking their helping the world but in reality it's just saving your fuel dollars.

Go Google it up. I think Top Gear has mentioned this before in one of their series but I forgot which episode.

Anyone can make the numbers say whatever they want... For example, I asked everyone around me.. "Did you hear that Obama was caught in a love triangle this week?" None of them said yes... so, therefore, the news would print that "100% of the people had not heard that Obama was caught in a love triangle." Now if we ask 1,000 people our pole question... and adjusting for liers, we would get about 100% that had not heard this. But if we go back a week later and ask the same questions to the same people, you would see a huge increase in "Yes" --- tell a lie often enough and people will accept it.

The global warming hype is crap. Prius is crap.

Listen anyone can make a gas guzeling car get reasonably good mileage just by their driving habits.Take a Mustang GT. It has a V8 engine that I believe is rated 18 City and 23 MPG Highway.But if you drive like a hypermiler you can get that average mileage up into the high 20's,perhaps even low 30's if you tried hard enough. My point is driving habits affect gas mileage more then anything else.I've seen people drive crazy aggressive in Prius's. Doesn't that negate the point of owning one?

so if a hypermiler gets 30 mpg out of a mustang, is that actually superior to a hypermiler getting 120 mpg out of a prius?

or "ordinary" drivers getting 45 - 55 mpg out of their prius?

your argument has as little logic as claiming a hummer is greener than a prius.

Typical Autospies lack of journalistic integrity. Misleading title, printing only part of the article, expecting readers to follow the jump to get the real truth of the story (increases hits, natch).

All to find out that people don't drive their Ferraris very much.

Idiots.

The Prius has solar panels now.
But the solar panels, like the car itself, are a marketing gimmick and serve no practical function since they don't generate enough power to run the radio, let alone something useful like the AC while the engine is off (something the PR guys said was their intended purpose)

I'll bet most Prius owners also leave their refrigerator door open to cool their condo!

No car is green. If you're that concerned about the cleaness of a car, there always public transportation.