"Why doesn't anyone make a modestly petrol engined car, of (say) 80bhp with an in-parallel electric motor which provides transient (say) 50bhp power boost for just (say) 10-20 seconds at a time? On most journeys, a bit of sliproad acceleration or spooling up for an overtake is the only time one gets anywhere near full throttle"

They do its called a Toyota Prius and a more boring and complicated car you will have a long to find.

Having had one for all of two weeks it had to go before I lost my sanity.

"Daresay you're not short of a few bob, much like our leader and mods..;), so why did you get it, and why did you get rid of it, i'd be most interested if you would please".

We are all entitled to make mistakes it looked a good deal at the time but it turned out otherwise in my opinion the cars are a complete waste of money hindsight is a wonderfull thing.

Overcomplicated controls for all functions especially the sat nav and heater ,underpowered although I rarely go over 120kmh ,poor bland trim,very similar in build to a 1972 Datsun 180,not very economical beaten easily by 1.6hdi engine on all fronts,extremely complicated drive system and dangerous nobody can hear the car when on battery,handling is a joke even to an old get like me,As I said we are all allowed to make mistakes and this was my crowning glory. Don't let me put you off try one but make sure you test drive it in all conditions I have a friend with a new lexus hybrid thats not quite as bad as the prius but it only achieves around 28mpg .

Thanks Collos, like Madf i found the car simple to drive, simply shove it gear and drive as if a normal torque converter auto, i'm used to foot operated parking brakes anyway.

Toyota's satnav is a joke, a bad one, the Hilux we had it came as standard fitment, instruction book for satnav was as thick as that for the rest of the vehicle, though once eventually programmed did work very well.

Handling, presume you mean grip?. I'm not convinced by these eco tyres, for the slight loss of economy involved i'd rather put something on with a bit of bite.

Again thanks for coming back.