On Saturday the Sporting Car Club of South Australia conducted a "Come And Try Hillclimb day. I have been meaning to enter the Prius in this event for some time and finally my rosters allowed it. I tell you I had a ball. My first run was a bit tough after just one look at the track. I went in too hard, braked too late and found the car got light on a few corners which were over crests, but I didn't do too bad posting a mid field time of 45.64 seconds with the fastest time for the day being 37.89 seconds and the slowest 56.76 My times fell through the day apart from my second run until my last run (5th) I recorded a time of 44.54 seconds against the fastest of 35.31 seconds and slowest of 53.06! I was very happy with the Prius in this environment. I hope to post a video soon, as soon as I get the file from my son's friend. Run 1 45.64 seconds Run 2 45.64 seconds Run 3 44.68 seconds Run 4 44.55 seconds Run 5 44.54 seconds The track itself is 750 metres of challenging asphalt, climbing nearly 70 metres from the start line to the finish. Track width is 3.3 metres, (one highway traffic lane)
No photos as I was a little busy driving. As soon as I get the video I'll post it on youtube and a link on here. At the end of the day, after driving to the track, an observation run and 5 speed runs up the hill I was still sitting on 5L/100km. I did the runs with over 3/4 of a tank of fuel but all loose items and spare wheel removed. I weigh about 120kg so no lightweight. Driving out and back I had 3 in the car and luggage for an overnight stay.
Motor sport is where most of the "green" technology in your car was developed and tested. And besides, I am spreading the Prius word to a wider audience, isn't that a good thing? If a Prius being hammered through the twisty stuff gets 7 litres per 100 kilometres isn't that better than a 3.5 litre BMW that gets 15 L/100km under similar driving conditions?
Just went through the timing sheet and made a note of some of the cars I returned a better best time than. Holden (GM-H) Commodore, 3.8 litre Mitsubishi Magna 2.6 litre Ford Escort 1.6 litre BMW 835 3.5 litre Holden Commodore 3.3. litre Suzuki Swift 0.993 litre Holden Torana 5 litre Peugot 205 1.6 litre Clubman 1.6 litre Times are only published on a sheet which is pinned to a notice board. I have photos of the time sheets on my phone but I can't get them off the phone onto the computer for some reason.
The way your times are closely grouped makes me think you have participated in competitive driving events before. i couldn't make two runs that close together if my only objective was to make two runs that close together.
Sounds like a really good time. Glad to hear you enjoyed your first hillclumb race. Did you recharge the battery between runs? Say goodbye to any warranty you might have left though cause I get the feeling that anything that breaks after this is going to be due to your "abuse."
Actually, could you expand on this? I guess I don't see the direct connection. Well I think the jury is still out for me. I know many threads on here come from people who traded in BMWs, etc for the Prius and are really disappointed in it... mainly because it is not a sports car. Coming from a older Camry - 4cyl, I am very happy with the performance of the Prius.
Motor sport was where the technology in your car was tested. Seat-belts were first used in racing, deformable parts of a vehicle to reduce impact energy on occupants, fuel injection, electronic engine management, variable valve timing, traction control, stability control, rollover protection, all sorts of stuff in your car was primarily developed to give a manufacturer an edge in motor-sport and was then put into production cars. I came from a 1990 Camry to the Prius, I know where you are coming from. I think you might find Australian Prius have different suspension calibration to US Prius and they handle a lot better but have harsher ride. You might note that one of the cars that was slower than my Prius was a BMW, but that would most likely be the driver not the car, but who knows. I had fun, I pushed my car as hard as I dare 5 times for under 50 seconds each time. Under 4.5 minutes in total. You likely do more harm to the environment driving to a a movie theatre than I did at Collingrove on Saturday. And if it makes it any better I had 3 in the car going out and coming back. Do you like playing golf? Very harmful to the environment all the chemicals and fertiliser that gets used on the fairways and greens. Plus the machinery that cuts the grass, stinky!!
Oh, OK, in general you mean. I was thinking specifically the Hybrid technology. I suppose there are indirect influences even there like metallurgy, etc. The suspension is ours was very soft but nice for long trips. It was a great car for what it was. I went to the driving range once and played 18 once. We had a cross wind of 15-18 mph making it a real challenge. I don't think I could ever get serious about the game though.
Well done Pat. Have you had professional driver training for "sport driving"? Usually on short courses like that it's the driver that posts the good time, not the car. Of course if you get extreme it can be the car (a 750cc powered Suzuki for example, will not get a good time on a hillclimb no matter who drives it ). But more power usually also means more weight and in the curvy bits that overcomes the power quickly. I find Pearl to be very competent in the mountains on narrow windy roads. Only a very few will catch and pass me (if I let them of course). But I grew up driving those roads.
The Gen3 ( I realize you have a 2) repair manual lists alignment specs for a "Rough Road Package". It also shows more ground clearance in the repair manual. 18mm extra front and 17mm extra rear. Too bad that isn't a choice the buyer can make.
