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I was quoting that...and with new diesels they're alot more clean burning due to all the emissions cutting they're given. I was quoting what Clarkson said in general. I'll ask again to please try and not take post out of context.
I wasn't taking anything out of context. I'm struggling to see what context your post had, for one thing.
In all honesty your post didn't make a great deal of sense, but what I assumed you were talking about was the TG test between Prius and M3 where the M3 got better fuel consumption. Maybe you weren't and were talking about something completely different, but your use of the term "proper car" was completely ambiguous.
If you were referring to diesels, then as I said anyway - it's completely situation dependant. The best modern diesels can achieve a little more MPG on the highway than something like a Prius, but the gap has closed massively, and hybrids are typically better in town, not least because ones like the Prius can run on electricity only for a mile or two.
And again, modern diesels are much cleaner than they used to be, but they're still not as clean as modern hybrids. And I'm not just referring to CO2, I'm talking everything that comes out of the tailpipe.
I actually think the Prius is a really cool looking car, mostly from a functionality point of view. The thing is fantastic aerodynamically. My dream long-distance cruiser would probably be a Prius with all the hybrid bullcrap taken out and replaced by a normal-sized 4-cylinder and more fuel tanks. That thing would go for ages, get damn near the same mileage, but not be totally slow as ass.
It'd struggle. The electric motor tends to offer quite a bit of assistance. To even match the performance you'd have to use a bigger engine and you'd see drops in efficiency the bigger you went.
Put it this way - there are no regular gasoline cars that are as efficient as a Prius at the moment. That's not a coincidence - it tells you that it isn't possible without the hybrid drivetrain.