Racing a Prius against a Lexus IS-F on the nurburgring

+1

There are even states like mine with 80mph posted speed limits and the legality to pass much faster.

 

Clarkson has admited he can't be seen to like cars like the Prius that is not what he is paid for, and the comparison with the M3 was worse when you think the Prius was in front breaking the wind for the M3 and rumour has it the tyre pressures were dropped to below standard on the Prius!

 

We might as well set up a fuel economy contest where each car is driven a total of 100 meters: the m3 at 1 meter/hour for 100 hours, the Prius sits for 99 hours 59 minutes and 45 seconds, and then covers the 100 meters in a leisurely 15 seconds.

Same distance, same time -- a perfect apples to apples test.

 

It doesn't matter how the race was set up. The take home message for those who watched the show and felt the need to report its findings to me is that the M3 gets better gas mileage than the Prius does. Period. That is what they took away from the show. I know it sounds stupid but that is what I heard and read in person and on the web.

 

Yes, no test is perfect.

The TG test is as contrived against the Prius as the EPA fuel economy test loop is against the M3.

I mean, who drives an M3 that way ?

 

What way ? Do you mean 35 mph speed limits and traffic lights ? Well, outside of da cave, in these things called "cities," that is how all cars are driven.

 

2 minutes is an eon on a race track.

To put the Prius lap time in perspective,Sabine Schmitz lapped the Nurbergring in 10 minutes 23 seconds in a stock diesel powered Ford Transit Van. 10 minutes 9 seconds after shedding some excess weight from the van.

 

I watched that show. It was pretty scary to imagine being in that van! lol

 

I would make the sacrifice just to spend 10 minutes with Sabine.

 

Lets see what the Prius beat. Yay! The Prius is faster than the Karmann Colorado RS Mobile home. Lap time 11:00 mins

 

You're so bad.

 

Until a few years ago - Montana had NO speed limit (day time, rule was whatever is 'reasonable' for conditions).

M3 & Prius both loose against Boing 747's.
Carrying a full crew, plus over 460 passengers, burning (the equivilent of) 5 gallons of fuel per mile, its mpg is only .115mpg ... but calculate that out among passengers & crew, the per passenger mpg is higher than both cars (if my math is right), AND you're traveling at over 400mph. so there ... end of dumbness

 

Some cop pulled over a guy named "stanko" driving at 85mph on a two lane highway, and he took it to court. I read that highway fatalities in Montana actually went up with the speed limits, but that was over a decade ago. I've only been able to drive without a speed limit in Germany.

No Way!!!
The plane cant land on the course, so it can not compete. We are talking mpg not mpg / passesnger.

You can get the plane to beat the prius. The Plane clearly gets better mileage in a race from Germany to California. The M3 can't even get there on its own power, it needs to use a ship or a plane.

 

The 10 minutes 23 second laps on the van was completely stock and did not involve following the Viper.

300+ extra hp to gain 2 minutes on a race track is only stupid if the laws of physics are stupid.

 

I just love that fact!! Also of note, I never knew how honestly low mpgs in a Prius can go, I tried my best once, cold weather, Dublin bus strikes causing a mayhem of traffic that lasted until 11pm, with a car full of passengers and their stuff to move - worst I did that day was 38 MPG Imperial.

To be honest, 10.9 L/100km is slightly better than what my parents and sister get in a 1.4l Peugeot 1007 everyday. I saw the trip computer registering 11.4 L/100km once.

Given how second hand Gen 2s in Europe are now affordable enough to tinker around with for enthusiasts, I was hoping to see if any continentals by now have once or twice brought their Prius to the ring, or any other track. Give details on how it behaves at its limit. Does the car just slide into understeer, what happens when you lift off and can the tail get light and cause snap oversteer? Does it tank slupper and could it recover from such a slip?

I've seen enough threads that tried and failed in tuning the Prius - mainly for engine performance with cam rods and superchargers, but MG1 and the computers shut down any additional and unbalanced torque. However, the car by how it's set up seems to be begging for suspension and chassis improvements. A light car with a long wheelbase as it is shouldn't be as uncomfortable to rotate around a corner as it is stock.

Sorry for disrupting this thread from the dead.

 

It's just 15kg shy of the Gen 2 Prius with only 75 bhp on its own. Gears are very short though, so it's good for cities and hills, but that results in the fuel economy being very yeesh indeed. When I drive it, in city and town driving I can wring 29 mpg if I remember. 36 mpg in the country side. - this is converted from the car's L/100km to MPG Imperial

tbh, that was never its purpose. If you drive it for yourself, the seating position is tractor or SUV like. But as a man, the foot well is so narrow, your legs and ankles are forced together at practically at a 90 degree angle to the pedals.
The 1007 was made for one demographic. Middle-aged women in 2004 who only wear high heels and prada 24/7 with no parking skills or manners whatsoever, married to "yes dear" husbands. So fuel costs would not be the savings had in mind ! So perfect for the CRV - Lady I keep hearing so much about.

When the parents had the Prius before me, with heel holes dug into the carpet, its instantaneous response encouraged a lot of bad habits out of the missus, but together they averaged like 44 - 50 mpg imperial. It wasn't the only automatic to be driven as such. This is the reason to why Ireland mainly have slow manual cars. Cars as much as 2.0 Litres can be taxing and do not match the Prius' effortlessness in town.

 

What a fascinating comparison. I took my 1999 Lexus GS300 to Nurburgring and I managed to get round in just under 10 minutes. It's a seriously challenging track. My tyres were squealing around many of the corners! I'd love to take my Gen 4 but sadly my insurance policy specifically prohibits me taking the Gen 4 on that specific track.

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