Motorsport, is it OK for a Prius owner?

Having a Prius doesn't change the sports you are allowed to enjoy. You can rationalized the expenditure of resources by the extra economy of your Prius. Humans have never been known to be overly logical or consistent.

Tom

 

I'd say go for it. I know people who race Yugos and Kias in SCCA Slo races, so a Prius woldn't be something too far off, you just have to make sure that the Prius' technology is allowed per the rule books of the racing organization you might want to join. I don't think it would be a very competitive car, but most people race for fun, not for profit.

 

For these sort of events, Prius drivers sometimes use a forced charging method to bring the traction battery to full green. Leave the transmission lever in D, hold the brake down with your left foot, and press the gas with the right. The battery will charge until it reaches its limit. Make sure you don't slip and jump forward into anything.

Tom

 

Hey, I know! Why don't you and your son race your bicycles instead? :blink:

 

Driving from the valley to San Diego I go over The Grapevine. Californians know it as "no fun at all" and "a mean thing to do to your car". Basically on the valley side it starts at about 600ft and climbs to about 4000ft at a 6% rade sometimes. It's taken it's toll on vehicles, especially in the summer when it hits 100+F. I've made the trip about 8 timmes since Nov 1. !st trip I was worried and wasn't "in it" like I should have been. I got the 1 pink bar in the battery on the way up.

Then I got "smart". Now I do about 80 all the way over either "in it to win it" or on cruise control which works pretty well. The battery doesn't get below 3 bars and I get to pass everyone

The Grapevine ends on the other side at Six Flags in LA with another 6% grade where the battery get whatever charge it needs. But by the time you get to the long downhill you're alreay at 75-80% full. You could be all green by the time you hit bottom if you wanted.

 

Motorsports are fun. Racing inpsired technology has helped vehicles become safer and more efficient.

 

Article 3917, section 43 of the Toyota Car Code states: "No Prius owner shall engage in or watch contact sports or automotive racing. Prius owners shall attend the opera in their leisure time."

A couple of years ago, at the alternative fuel fair in Lacey, WA, Frank Hudon showed us a totally burned-out electric motor from a Prius. It was fried by the method described above.

Beware that sending a lot of current through an electric motor while holding it stationary can fry it.

 

There might be excessive CO2 emissions....

 

Which one?

 

I would say go for it, having your 15 year old learn how to properly control (and respect) a vehicle at the limits will make him a more competent and safer driver on the road. That alone is worth the effort and should offset any environmental guilt

 

I feel like, over here, there's sometimes a certain [ahem] I hate to say it, but vulgarity, which some fans of motorsport seem eager to exhibit; that maybe doesn't make it any more accessible for me, but it's just my perception. I was just a bit too young to go to races during the 60's and early 70's, so I don't know how it was then, but I have this fantasy, perhaps, of it being a bit more chivalrous than now.

Like, as the manufacturer's logos got bigger on the cars, racing (not motorsport, but racing...heck, even THAT term has changed, hasn't it?) lost a bit of class, along with a few of the customs seemingly drawn from the equestrian days.

Yeh, now that I think of it, I am old fashioned, I guess; I still use the 'r' word!

 

Pat,
1) of course!
2) not unless you are doing it to provide comic relief.

Ozzies! Sheesh!

 

Although not yet a "done deal", I may actually enter a Prius in Maine's "Shoe, Shine, and Drag" event this summer. I have been asked to obtain vendor information from a local dealer about being a sponsor. My wife thinks I should race a Prius but I'm not sure if that would be the best way to impress the spectators or not... This is the largest single day automotive event in Maine and to win I would have to go over ten rounds as "everybody" who thinks they are the next Don Garlits enters the race...

 

How about...minimotorsports(?)

1/32 slot racing is, I think, what it's called...

Anyway, here's a way to race one's own electric car; in the old days the pros even used to use batteries to power their club tracks...wouldn't a PV array be a natural?


Okay, I'll admit, everything else about it is an environmental nightmare. 'Specially the MDF used for the routed track surface.

I built this racing slot car; it's one of 25 entrants into the '2008 Slot.it Summer Series' featured on slotcarillustrated's website (thank you to Terry and everyone who's been so helpful). It's the first time I've done anything like this!

I've always enjoyed maps and miniatures and that sort of thing, and since we got onto the subject of motorsport...or should I say, [ahem] racing...'n all...

Fun stuff, but (like 1:1 racing) can be very time consuming.