I would like to know which type of car transmission (Manual/Automatic/Hybrid) has more fuel economy considering the driving conditions and terrains in Switzerland?

Either your personal experience or any www link to an authentic research on this topic will be very helpful to have!

Please also comment on the pros and cons of owning a Toyota Prius (which i presume is available in Hybrid) in Switzerland.

Lets get talking!

It is all there on the web already. All other things equal, an auto will always slurp more fuel due to their heavier weight and the energy absorbed by the torque converter etc.

Pros for a Toyota Prius; nada, rien, zilch, niente. They have nothing going for them in my opinion and pollute the environment as much as any other similar modern car.

Geno summed it up. Nothing more to say.

Except that the fuel economy figures from VW show the DSG (Double clutch) automatic actually give better economy that manual versions (just)...

There are other points to consider: A manual (and possibly DSG - never driven one) is more fun on twisty rural or mountain roads, an auto on the other hand makes driving in stop-and-go traffic much more relaxing.

Then there's resale value or how easy it will be to sell the car. Bigger cars (e.g. Audi A6, BMW 5 series and above) tend to be hard to sell with manuals while it's just the other way around with small cars such as the Peugeot 206 or the VW Polo. The latter might change slowly though, with DSG becoming more and more popular.

Except that a DSG is not an automatic; it is essentially a computer operated manual gearbox. AFAIK there is no torque converter in a DSG therefore it as fuel efficient as a manual gearbox.

Technically it may not be an "automatic". But as there are only two pedals in the car with DSG and the only alternative gearbox on many ranges is a manual 3-pedal and stick/gear, I would say to the lay person, it's an automatic.

It's also faster than a manual shift (the guy fails to notice the number of doors though, the 4 door is heavier and should be slower...):

As others have said, a traditional 'slush-box' auto will usually be around 10% less efficient that a manual version of the same car/engine. One of the most annoying features of them has always been, for me, the inability to lock it in a high gear and stop it changing down past a certain throttle opening. This is annoying at best and inefficient at worst, given that under most normal driving conditions the highest gear possible will nearly always be the most fuel efficient, by keeping the revs down.

VW/Audi's DSG has marked a complete revolution, and is possibly the biggest advance in car technology for several decades. Complete automatic functionality in Drive mode, no-foot clutch operation, faster gearchanges than any either traditional manual or auto boxes, and full manual control if you want it. By 'full' I mean that it will not change down under any throttle opening unless it gets below tick-over revs, although a further depression of the pedal will activate an immediate kick-down to the lowest gear possible, whether in D or M modes. And the paddle operation makes it even better.

Really, the only thing that could be better, IMO, is to get rid of the totally useless Sport mode (only ever used for the Launch Control feature in our cars) and replace it with an Economy mode, which would do what I often do and keep it in the highest gear possible. Of course, this is only really appropriate if there's enough engine power to do it, but luckily both of ours have plenty of grunt.

I've not driven the BMW version, and I don't know which other manufacturers have caught up yet, but I predict that the vast majority of new cars will be using similar technology as early as five years from now. It really is that good

Edit: Just saw that you were asking about the Pious as well. Complete waste of space, IMO. Possibly of some localised benefit to air pollution in city-only use, but for mixed and highway driving all the extra weight and manufacturing processes and materials give a much worse environmental footprint than just going for a nice fuel-efficient small-engined petrol or diesel car.

DSG has a lot of upside but adds several thou to the purchase price. Service prices for DSG are astronomical and they are more problematic than a conventional manual. VW\Audi will tear you a new one with the replacement cost should it blow up.

Yep, if you check out any VW/Audi forum, you'll see the biggest and most consistent complaint is DSG boxes.¨

My Polo's was replaced (well the 'Metatronics part whatever that is) within the 2 year warranty. Otherwise it would have been a CHF2000 job. The box selected neutral when going down hill, but still indicated 'D'. The car had to be switched off and restarted to clear this.

In straight line acceleration DSG is unbeatable, but in traffic it is often subject to the 'DSG jump'. You slow down for a roundabout, see it's clear and put your foot down. There's a split second delay and the box throws itself into a low gear so hard the car jumps. Again a 'know issue' on many VW/Audi boxes. But having 7 gears makes the best out of a small engine.

OP: sorry the hijack your thread. to answer your question on the pious Prius: forget it. The 'dust to dust' carbon footprint is higher than a normal engined car. You pay 25% more for a fast depreciating vehicle that will need new batteries in 8 years or be scrapped.

Top Gear git better gas mileage from a BMW M3 than a Prius...

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Eh? Our cars have 70000 and 40000km on them and have had no additionial service costs for the DSG (although TBF the Audi service is all free up until 110000km). And I'm not aware of them being problem-prone. Certainly not had any probs ourselves and not aware of any issues. And one of ours was the first generation of pushing 300PS through the original 6-speed version; later Audis have a new 7-speed one which is likely to be even better, I'd imagine.

Oh and the extra cost seems to be 2700chf, and I note that VWs also now use the 7-speed box. Worth every penny.

It's how you drive which will determine fuel economy...however in terms of raw numbers, a DSG equipped TDI (Turbodiesel) model will trump pretty much everything else if you drive conservatively. Most likely it will also be the most expensive version of the car you purchase.

I prefer a manual transmission and chose a Mini Cooper S over the Mini Cooper SD. If you do the math, you have to drive a lot of KMs to make up the extra cost of owning a diesel.

Skip the Prius. It's a feel-good marketing gimick of a car. It is equipped with a CVT transmission and let me tell you the rubber band effect of the acceleration is simply bizarre.

If you're buying a used car with DSG, make sure you test drive it for at least 30min. My car had a problem with the Mechatronics Unit which I didn't notice during the test drive because I only drove it for 10-15min. After 20-30min, it became impossible to start smoothly from a stop, as it would always jerk a couple of times before going. Going uphill was even harder, the jerky bouncing was pretty much impossible to control. So during the test drive, find a hill, stop on it, then try to start going up it smoothly.

Luckily the dealer that I bought it from fixed it at no cost to me. His garage and the VW garage where it was fixed split the costs 50/50 (I think it was about 2000chf to exchange the unit). He even gave me a 2-year warranty for free as a thanks for my patience. The car is a 2007 Golf with a 1st generation 6-speed DSG transmission which had 56,000km at the time.

I would personally be wary of a DSG gearbox mated to a high torque diesel. Back in blighty my company car was an Audi A3 TDI (170 BHP) with DSG and it was an absolute pig to drive in London traffic. I had the well documented jerkiness and at roundabouts I was getting spanked by 1.0 Fiestas and Polos The only time it made sense was on sweeping country roads or dual carriageways, but all other times it was a pain. The 8 speed auto on the BMW 1-series is a far more pleasant gearbox to live with, and the diffrence in fuel economy is not that great.

thanks all for such a valuable feedback!

I have always been a great fan of Toyota in any model due to less maintenance costs and better fuel economy but perhaps my experience from Dubai (drove a Corolla Automatic for 4 years) is not applicable to the Swiss terrains and for sure your personal experiences count much more than marketing messages from the Automakers.

DSG is a new thing for me and will do more research on that. Thanks for the intro.

I am actually a bit disappointed with feedback on Prius although i was looking forward to some better personal reviews also as this one from Reuters in 2007. I also noticed a lot of Taxis in Zurich are now Toyota Prius but i think it is only good for city driving.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/...33658020070728

Dubai has many North American spec. automobiles that aren't sold in Switzerland. For instance, your Corolla was a model designed for the tastes of the US market. In Switzerland, the closest model is probably the Auris. It is in fact available as a Hybrid, however unless you're doing all city driving, it will never make up the difference in price. Hybrid technology is mostly a showpiece rather than a practical option. And be prepared to spend 40000 CHF on a Prius in Switzerland. My suggestion would be to buy an Auris if you really prefer a Toyota.

Sounds to me like there may have been issues which were resolved on later models. Certainly never had any issues with either of ours, which are 6-speed 2008 and 2010 models, at least the former of which has _much_ higher torque levels than your little diesel. Smooth as a smooth thing that's been treated with extra smoothener.