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Friday, February 01, 2013

A BMW ActiveHybrid 7 Is Nothing Like The Toyota Prius 

A 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 is really a hybrid that will never remind you of a Prius in any shape or form. When you visualize hybrids, you bring to mind fuel efficiency but this BMW hybrid is basically not that fuel efficient. Although the 2011 ActiveHybrid 7 will certainly save on fuel compared to its other 7-series siblings, its ride in stop and go traffic is iffy and the power steering gets turned off in idle stop. It will do a good job of combining raw car power with the fuel efficiency of hybrid technology but there are numerous quirks that get in the way.

The extra energy that is supplied by a hybrid system is normally used by most automakers to have a smaller gasoline engine, but not BMW. Although the common hybrid uses the energy generated by the electric motor to reduce fuel consumption, BMW uses it to make the car move faster. The 2011 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 has a dual turbo direct-injection 4.4-liter V-8 engine which is the same as the basic BMW 750i The only real difference is the inclusion of an electric motor than obtains its power from a 120-volt lithium ion battery pack. This makes the fuel economy of the ActiveHybrid 7 superior to the 750i, and with a lot more horsepower also.

Many hybrids are able to switch to all-electric mode but the ActiveHybrid 7 does not do that. It is just like the Integrated Motor Assist System of the Honda when the engine will shut down at stops and will add boost during acceleration. Being a driver, you would not assume the ActiveHybrid 7 is a hybrid unless you see a blue area on the fuel gauge indicating that electricity is being regenerated. If the car stops at a traffic light, you'll know that it is a hybrid, by the engine going noiseless and the tach needle drops to zero. In spite of the proportions of the engine, the automobile starts up very smoothly when you take the foot off the brake pedal.

When you are parked at a traffic light that is really prolonged, that is when the idle stop system is useful, but not quite as well in stop-and-go traffic. It is nice to have the engine shut off as you sit there stopped, but it becomes a nuisance when it shuts down for 5 seconds at a time, and this takes some getting used to. The power of your car may also take some getting used to because it is likely to lunge forward even with a slight tap on the accelerator. It may sound green calling this vehicle a hybrid, but the added horsepower and not fuel efficiency is what this hybrid system has done.

Gasoline efficiency is pretty relative when comparing it to other hybrids where it is more efficient than other BMW 7 series models but it get 20 miles per gallon. Although that is ideal for a luxury sport vehicle that is not all that much for a hybrid.

There is much more that is critical to your knowledge about Riverside BMW repair, and that is what we are about to serve up to you, immediately. It is incredibly simple to overlook the most valuable information because it is spread out all over the web. It is so easy to find information that is lacking in important finer points, we will say, but we do have the full story.

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