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What mods can you do to a prius?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by RobsF-350, Nov 25, 2009.

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  1. dalton2

    dalton2 New Member

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    since rob left
    tuning, in my truck any way, you buy a computer chip that plugs in the back of the PCM and it intercepts signals from the engine and changes them for optimal power and/or fuel milage, it dose this by adjusting fuel injection timing, and amount of fuel being dumped in the cylender each time, air fuel ratio dosnt mater on a diesel so more fuel more power, to much fuel = black smoke.
    chips also have ajustable power levels mine has: stock, high idle, economy,+80 hp,+120hp,+140hp

    a custom tune is a better tune programed specificly for your truck and supporting mods, me, rob and most people on ps.org run custom tunes
     
    #21 dalton2, Nov 25, 2009
  2. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    Wow- a chip can give you +140 hp??? That's more than my car even has by 6 hp!
     
    #22 bighouse, Nov 25, 2009
  3. Zythryn

    Zythryn Senior Member

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    Well, it is sort of like the planned Volt.
    While the Volt will operate solely with the electric motor for the first 40 miles, a converted plug-in Prius still operates using both electric motor and ICE.

    One of the more common of these mods is Hymotion's (A123 Nanosystem's) battery pack. The give you between 11-125mpg for the travel distance between about 5-35 miles.
    After 35 miles or so, the mileage drops back down to the standard 48-51mpg.
    Depending upon how warm the car is when it starts, the first 3-5 miles the ICE tends to run in order to warm up the car.
     
    #23 Zythryn, Nov 25, 2009
  4. dalton2

    dalton2 New Member

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    thats on a older 7.3 like mine
    the new 6.4's can see as much as an extra 310 horse
     
    #24 dalton2, Nov 25, 2009
  5. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    How do they determine the increased hp- is it calculated or tested?
     
    #25 bighouse, Nov 25, 2009
  6. dalton2

    dalton2 New Member

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    wow 125 mpg its like driving a scooter with the comforts of a car!
    dose it jack up your house electric bill much to plug it in?
    probly not much more than my block heater costs to run. lol
     
    #26 dalton2, Nov 25, 2009
  7. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Hmm... it depends. We have to think a bit differently with hybrids (at least with the tuning I've seen so far).

    It's more about adding value to the handling bit as well as weight reduction as opposed to keeping the same weight and adding power (e.g. CAI, ECU chip, exhaust, etc etc).

    So far, the most popular "performance" mod is a complete suspension upgrade. This is because the Gen 2 Prius isn't exactly the best handling car. People have found more pleasure in their daily drive with a TRD Sportivo suspension upgrade. Along with that, the next popular would be rims and tires.

    Now the Prius uses the same engine as stock Toyotas (the old one used a Yaris 1.5 litre engine and the new one uses the Corolla/Matrix 1.8 litre engine). I know there are plenty of aftermarket parts for the 1.5 litre (think Yaris RS or Vitz RS Turbo in japan). The 1.8 litre is new so it may take a while for parts to be developed.

    Exhaust mods are doable but I'm not sure how much hp they add compared to a standard Yaris or Corolla. I could think once you do an engine swap (i.e. trade the Prius Atkinson cycle engine for the equivalent Otto cycle engine), you could add the same mods that you can to the regular cars. You probbaly need to double check on the elec. motor to make sure it can handle the extra power.

    Hope that helps!

    You need to try the GS450h. Until the X6 ActiveHybrid, it is the fastest hybrid around (0-60 is 5ish secs IIRC). I think it's just because the Prius is tuned for economy instead of a balance between economy and power like regular run-of-the-mill compact/midsize cars. I know Toyota did a Prius GT and what they did was take out the 1.5 litre Atkinson cycle engine (this was the 2nd Gen Prius) and put in the same 1.5 litre engine from a Yaris (Otto cycle). They also took out the backseats and installed a rollcage. Net hp rose from 110hp to 147hp and 0-60 dropped from 10.5 sec to about 8.7 secs. The suspension has also been upgraded

    2004 Toyota Prius GT Concept - Images, Specifications and Information


    PWR Mode is a button and is a new "feature" for the 3rd Gen. Basically what it does is that it remaps the first 50% of accelerator pedal travel so that you get more power, faster than you normally would in the default mode or ECO mode. If you floor it, it's the same in any mode (cause presumably you want to get the hell out of there and so it summons max power regardless of mode).


    It does make the Prius more lively. I found the accelerator pedal to become kinda like an on/off switch for power if I depress the pedal like I normally would. This allows me to get out of a corner faster because the engine will rev up faster and I can get onto the brakes faster because I'm not pressing the pedal all the way down.

    It's not sports car for sure but it gives the Prius a more fun personality than what we've all come to know over the past 10 years.
     
    #27 Tideland Prius, Nov 25, 2009
  8. dalton2

    dalton2 New Member

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    dyno tested, those numbers are with supporting mods(intake, exhaust, ect)
    those are avg #'s btw, accual power increases differ from truck to truck.
     
    #28 dalton2, Nov 25, 2009
  9. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    Most Prius owners are more likely to mod the engine for high MPG than high horsepower, you will find many threads on engine block heaters here on Priuschat, as the Computers tune for emmisions when the ICE is cold, then more for MPG once it warms up.

    PriusChat Forums - Search Results

    Somewhat less ethically, there are mods here on how to fool the computers into just thinking the ICE is warmed up, so it tunes for mileage.
     
    #29 JimboPalmer, Nov 25, 2009
  10. dalton2

    dalton2 New Member

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    dumb question but how dose the heater, a/c work on a prius, it cant run off the ICE? dose it run off the electric motor? or are they electric and run independenly?
     
    #30 dalton2, Nov 25, 2009
  11. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    There's some good tech in how the ice, motor, traction battery and brakes all work together. For instance the air conditioner does not use power from the ice to run- so you can run the ac without any noticeable loss of power when driving.
     
    #31 bighouse, Nov 25, 2009
  12. Rokeby

    Rokeby Member

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    #32 Rokeby, Nov 25, 2009
  13. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Not really dumb. I get this question all the time. The original Honda Insight mechanically linked the ICE and the A/C. The problem was that when the engine cut out so did the A/C. The same went with the heat.

    The Prius uses electric A/C and heat.
    "What's that you say?"
    It's true. In the same way that a window-mounted A/C unit doesn't need an internal combustion engine to operate neither does the Prius A/C. It's electric. After all, there's a big honkin' battery in the back! So what happens is that running the A/C actually has a bigger impact on the charge of the battery than on the operation of the ICE. On nice days, I can sit in traffic with the ICE off for a very long time. On hot days, the A/C will drain my battery and force the ICE to kick on to recharge it. This drops my mileage to that of an average idling vehicle (such as a monster truck, for example :) ). For this reason, some die-hard hypermilers will drive with the windows cracked before they will turn on the A/C.
     
    #33 TonyPSchaefer, Nov 26, 2009
  14. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    Great link. I enjoyed the article.
     
    #34 bighouse, Nov 26, 2009
  15. bighouse

    bighouse Active Member

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    And, I think we probably have more in common than either of us care to admit!
     
    #35 bighouse, Nov 26, 2009
  16. RobsF-350

    RobsF-350 Powerstroker!!

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    I have the 6.0L engine so I don't use the chip that attaches to the PCM. I use a flash device that extracts my computer program code or what we call the strategy and give it to someone who has the software needed to modify the program. They the. Send it back via email and we load the "tune" to the flash device and then load it to the PCM via the OBD II port.


    they have test trucks that they tune and run them on a dyno which gives a rear wheel HP average and torque average. They spend a lot of time testing before they offer any tuning to the public. My truck currently runs 367 hp and 677 lb. Ft. of torque.
     
    #36 RobsF-350, Nov 26, 2009
  17. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Tony described the A/C usage quite well. It's an electrically run compressor (so no belt) so it runs off the HV battery.

    As for heat, it requires the engine so if you sit at a light with the heater running, it will keep the engine running depending on how cold it is outside, how warm you set the temperature inside and how warm the engine is. If you've been driving for 30 mins with, say 70 or 72 set inside and it's 32 outside, the engine will probably shut off at a traffic light and still provide you with (residual) heat. Of course if you stop for long enough, you'll cool the engine down past a certain operating temperature threshold and the engine will turn on to continue providing the level of heat you requested.
     
    #37 Tideland Prius, Nov 26, 2009
  18. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    The two electric motors (actually motor/generators because they work both ways) run on and supply variable voltage from ~200 to 500V AC. The regen energy is converted to DC to charge the HV battery. There is a DC to DC converter that converts HV DC (~200V) to 12V DC to keep the small 12V battery charged and to run the accessories. There is no alternator.

    The AC also runs variable voltage from its own section of the inverter. It uses a variable speed scroll compressor. Heat works like a regular ICE (internal combustion engine) car, but has electric heat strips to supplement engine heat when needed.
     
    #38 dogfriend, Nov 26, 2009
  19. vpr1019

    vpr1019 New Member

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    Wow I've learned a lot on this thread.
     
    #39 vpr1019, Nov 26, 2009
  20. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Here is how dyno testing and tuning usually goes down. With GM trucks you can tune the computer with a laptop and the appropirate program on the spot. With some vehicles you purchase a piggyback processor and simply plug it into your OBD diagnostic port (or similar system). Unfortunately the typical plug in modules usually require you to send the device out for tuning which can make things difficult when you are trying to tune for maximum performance without risking blowing up the engine.

    One of our friends from PerformanceTrucks.net dyno testing his 6.0L turbocharged gasoline engine.


    Then you take it racing. (this was well before he made 1000hp though)


    It's a whole nother culture man. Trust me, it can be quite interesting. ;) playing with a friend in a tunnel.....

     
    #40 F8L, Nov 26, 2009
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