80 mph maximum speed is a crock--try 109 mph and that isn't maximum

So, buddy, tell us about yourself...

 

Hmmm ok then...

 

I don't remember hearing a claim of 80 mph top speed. Any such myth should have been dispelled when Al Gore's son was busted south of Los Angeles for DUI, speeding over 100 mpg, and drug possession, about July 4, 2007.

I do remember the Jay Leno sound bite shortly thereafter -- 'Who knew a Prius could go over 100 mph?".

 

I guess you newbies weren't around when the Prius world-record top speed was set in 2008. Top Speed: 130.79 mph
. . . . that'll oughta be enough to cause your driver's seat upholstery to get pulled up in the pucker of your shorts.
All you have to do is drop the suspension ... run low drag, low CD tires/wheels ... get a push start up to speed so you got your battery up in the green, vigorously trying to spin power off - and you're on your way!
After that - find a long straight away like the Bonneville salt flats:

Considering how low the HP is on the Gen II's ICE - as well as the HP provided by the MG - that is one impressive accomplishment. Then there's the altitude. Bonneville salt flats sit at over 4K feet altitude. With at least 3% HP lost per 1,000' of altitude, it make you wish they'd do it at see level ... maybe around the salton sea, California. So the Prius could have gove even faster under better conditions.

And yet on the other end, there's efficiency . . . with it's EPA of 50+mpg ... and it has been hyper-mile'd above 80 mpg. Gotta love it.
.

 

But how many less HP does it need to push it through the less dense air at 4K feet altitude.

John (Britprius)

 

It's not just thinner air that makes a difference for necessary speed increase vs power. Temperature is another variable. We are friends with an electrition who regularly services ski lift equipment at 6000 feet. The plane is often heavily loaded with equipment and once summer temperatures get up above 80 degrees he won't try a takeoff - because he can't safely clear the surrounding mountain peaks. On those warm days he always returns very very early. I never realized cold air created more lift for flying.

Sent ? thingie

 

I have flown in and out of an airport at 11,000 feet (Cusco, Peru) in a 737. Air density is enough less that it is obvious that the plane is landing at and taking off at higher speeds because of lift differences. At the time, about 5 years ago, they only flew scheduled flights in and out of Cusco in the morning because the reduced lift and power from altitude was enough of a problem that the increased temperatures later in the day really hurt. IIRC, the extra speed required vs sea level was about 25%.

 

Considering a stock gen III prius can run about 115-120 mph top speed. I dont find 130 to be very impressive. With all the work it looked like that guy put into his prius i was expecting no less than 140+

 

Well .... pull your governor off ... strap on some moon hubcaps and give it a try. Be sure to let us know how it works out for you.

Oh BTW . . . Gen III top speed? It's not 115-120mph.

Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But like we were talking ... cool air? altitude? down hill? moon hubcaps? blower? turbo? You can always add your own fudge factors. The fastest street legal super cars (doing over 260 mph) have to increase HP by 200, just to get a few more MPH in order to beat their own records. The faster you go, the more air you have to push out of your way. One person said that at high speeds like that, even for a street legal car with low drag CD - it's like trying to drive through fruit cake. It really gets fantastic when autos with significantly low HP are able to get above 100 mph. That's the skill.

Sent ? thingie

 

I have personally gone 115 mph on flat ground in my gen III, top speed is not 112

 

Your little quote says PiP anyway

 

Here is a video of a prius exceeding 112 on the autobahn, although i cannot prove whether it is stock or not they do mention at one point in the video that the car is a rental.

The speed is display in kph but if you do the conversion it comes out to 120 mph ^_^ therefor my statement of a stock prius going 115-120 top speed is in fact accurate.

Hope this helps!

 

How did you determine your speed, wind speed and direction and how did you determine you were on flat ground?

 

Go on...

 

I didnt haha i guess there could of been other variables as far as flat ground goes though achieved the same speed in both directions on the same stretch of road. Once during daylight and once at night. Wind speed isnt something i have the tools to measure though sorry!!

 

If you were using your speedometer, 115 mph on the US speedometer is probably close to 112mph. The Euro speedometers are more optimistic, so the indicated 194 kmh was probably about 180 kmh = 112 mph. IIRC, one Euro PC member verified that his speedometer read 194 kmh at an actual 180 kmh.

Edit: I just noticed we are in the Gen II forum and you have a Gen III. The speeds I gave were for a Gen III

 

For someone asking about wind speed and direction and whether or not the ground was flat i find it interesting that you are guestimating with the speedometer. The car had only 800 miles on it at the time i did this so im hoping its not that far off. However if i do try this again (its dangerous to attempt) i will use a GPS in conjunction with my speedometer to compare.

 

How did the euro guy measure his speed? GPS? Im curious as to why my speedometer wouldnt be accurate, its kind of disappointing lol

Edit: i dont know very much about cars if you havent noticed lol, i just put my foot down and thats what i got i guess i should just stick to hyper-miling instead of racing lol!

 

I got mine to 98 and it was still accelerating when my girlfriend got nervous.