Slow Acceleration?

If you're going to test drive the c against conventional ICE cars, my suggestion is to start with the Prius first.

If you want to compare it against other hybrids, test it last.

 

The OP has a valid concern and got spooked by his friends comments ...

I can think of a nasty little merge onto freeway here - Decoto Rd. onto 880 North, short ramp, flat, at least a good view ...

one time doing that merge, an extremely rude SUV driver, like Nissan Xterra of something was just owning the slow lane, and hauling, maybe 65 to 70 MPH ... he wasn't going to yield or change lanes, although plenty of room to do so. Was nighttime too. I saw him early on, but was a little late getting up to speed. Couple years ago in the 2009, but remember I was PO's about being mostly cut-off or made to do an awkward maneuver. This is where some like to have extra ooomph ... to get out of an awkward situation.

 

My Fiesta is supposed to be faster than my Prius but I think the Prius feels quicker because it's so much smoother.

The Fiesta has a 6 speed dual clutch auto and if you punch it the tranny will double shift down and you end up with a turbo-laggy kind of feeling before it will accel.

The Prius just keeps pulling and pulling.

The funny part is my wife always comments on how the Fiesta feels faster (she drives the Prius every day) and I say the Prius is (Fiesta driver).

 

i honestly think the OP's friend is retarded.. he's comparing apples to oranges...

of course acceleration is going to be slower in the Prius C than those other car's he listed... he might as well have said that his Ford Focus was slower than the Porsche that smoked him on the highway the other day..

the Prius pulls hard enough for what you need it to.. that's all there is to it.
now if you want it to pull harder... that's a whole different situation.

 

Correct, it has all the acceleration an adult could need, just not all the acceleration a boy could want.

 

Well said! What it lacks in high power it makes up in light weight driving fun on a good chassis and steering.

 

Learned to drive on Plymouth and Ford V8s. Had a couple of slant 6s and a '69 Cuda with 318. :rockon:

When I started driving 4 bangers I had to relearn how to drive on freeways and such.

Hawaii drivers will relate - University Avenue on-ramp going Kokohead - about zero room to accelerate - I do okay with the 4 bangers with AT. Just gotta time it right.

2001 Prizm (RIP) AT 1.8 was okay if you get a slight running start. Current ride is 1997 Prizm AT 1.6 with, Edmunds claims, 100 hp (which is a "riotous bit of optimism").

The Prius C I test drove did not seem any slower than either of my latest 4 bangers. Maybe the friend was not used to CVT - which is a whole different discussion.

YMMV

Edited to add: OT but to get some perspective - Back in our college days, early '70s, we dormed but one of the guys would borrow his brother's cars to take us home on the weekends. One was a 1967 or 68 GTO kinda of a fastback - dark green. There was something wrong with the idle - we'd do about 60+ mph and accelerating, fully loaded with 4 -5 guys and laundry, with the driver not even touching the gas pedal. Speeding onto the freeway on curved on-ramps we'd scream for the driver to slow down - he'd point to his foot and show us he wasn't even touching the gas.

The other car was a red 1966 Toyota Corolla AT. Fully loaded, pedal smashed against the floor we topped out at about 50 mph. Acceleration? What acceleration? A running start was measured in hundreds of yards. Luckily - the freeway was a lot less crowded back then. When we told our friend to speed up - this time he'd point to his foot to show us he was practically standing on the gas pedal.

 

Not gonna punch it until I pass 1K miles.

 

To each his own I say. Trying to make some kind of statement of distinction based on age is a little strange IMO. Personal driving style is just that, personal, and has nothing to do with age. As far as the C goes, of course it's not designed for speed and power. But IIRC, the OP said only that his friend was looking for a small car, not the best mileage he could get. It sounds like the only reason he even tried the C was at the recommendation of the OP. He drove it and came to the conclusion that it was not to his liking in the acceleration dept. No harm in that.

ron

 

Pay no attention to the glib authoritarian types. ;-)

 

Mind you, I never claimed the difference between a boy and an adult had anything to do with age.

 

You need to test drive a hybrid if you haven't. I've driven the C numerous times before I purchased the regular liftback Prius, and while in eco mode, both seemed really comparable despite people saying the C is much slower.

Truth is if you're looking into getting any hybrid, you're not going to expect quick off the line acceleration. I used to have a lead foot with my Sentra, but since picking up a Prius, my driving habits have changed a lot. I'm talking about driving under the posted speed limit (when it's safe)--just to acheive 60 mpg. That's ultimately the price you pay (hybrid or no hybrid) to save fuel.

But if you're not necessarily looking for a hybrid, then I think the non-hybrids are for you. Probably get them for $5k less maybe?

 

Apologies. I kinda read everyone else's post and paid less attention to your original question. Well, I test drove a C on the freeway 3 times. It feels just like my lift back, which I really have to gun it to catch up from low speeds. In other words, it's kinda slow. However it's more than manageable as you adjust your driving techniques (which I'm learning is necessary for hybrids).

 

Who cares what "we" think, it's what YOU think. Go test drive one.

 

Keep in mind that the years that I had the Geo and put it on the track it was lightened by 140 lbs to run quicker than the 19.99 NHRA limit that is imposed by a lot of tracks. When it was taken to the track at the stock wt it only ran 20.5s....and if it had an automatic it would have been about 3 seconds slower! The car was bought for its great mpgs and I used it as a delivery truck for the rims/tires that I sold and delivered. The max that I could fit in the White Gnat was 2 275x40x17 tires on 17x10.5 rims and 6...YES, SIX 245x45x17 tires on 17x9 rims. I put two beside me where the passenger seat used to be, one in the hatch, 3 pancake style behind me and the last 2 standing up in the rear removed seat area beside the pancaked ones. When I carried that extra 400 lbs in the car my gas mileage dropped by 4 at 55-60. Every 100 lbs was 1 mpg on that car. It was sold last Aug since the 95 Neon I bought to use in drag racing was getting 46 mpg and the wife refused to ride in the Geo. The Neon also has 4 doors and AC....AND the United Manual Transmission Racers series changed the slow end cut off to 17.99 seconds....i call it the Taylor rule. The guy that bought the Geo replaced a F150 truck with it. He would drive 240-280 miles a day doing estimates. A couple of months later he called me up to let me know that he was saving about $150 every three days due to the mpg difference. Now he is saving even more.

 

I got the car for the MPG as well. I always said I was just a few years ahead of the game then, but since I was still "young" I went the opposite direction for awhile and the MPG of the cars went down then they started going back up again. I actually went to college and packed everything into the Metro, or Red Rocket as I called it , and still had spare room when I came back home. It managed 45ish MPG doing 70 MPH coming home.

 

Well, I don't have a Prius c, I have a Prius v, but I believe they all have the same drive train as the standard Prius Gen 3 car, so I will shoot my opinion.

The acceleration (Even in the heavier, more drag coefficient Prius v) is slower than my old Nissan Sentra GXE (1996), but I have to believe part of it is due to the following facts:

Mazda 3 - Base Version, Manual 5 speed, so Automatic may be geared.
Nissan Versa - Base version, Manual 5 speed, the CVT may be geared.
Honda Fit - Base Version, Manual 5 speed, states 5 gear Automatic.

See the theme here, from just 3 I just looked at, there are gearing versions, so the Automatic version may support gearing, which may help on the acceleration, after all, you are shifting at certain RPMs. The Prius' CVT is balancing between Gas and Electric for power and economy, which will result in a different reaction versus a single system with gears.

A wiki explanation is here: [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission]Continuously variable transmission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Given that cars like the Volt, where it is suppose to be 'purely electric', it may only have a single source for driving it, versus the Toyota which is trying to use two different sources at the same time. (Mind you, I am not 100% familiar with the Volt, so this may be an incorrect assumption) But for the Gas based cars, you only have one single source of 'power' providing to the car, which will allow switching 'gears' to get better acceleration versus playing 'load balancing' and working it out.

From an actual driving perspective, on my part, I have had little problem accelerating on the highway. My only real problem is the people IN FRONT of me who will 'go slow' and not accelerate enough until later on, where I am stuck trying to re-accelerate. If you are initially trying from on-ramp to merge pushing your car, there is no problem, it is more of a problem when you variate your acceleration due to a person in front of you, forcing you to get your car to figure out how to get at the speed you want.

 

wordZ