curious....your top speed?

I still get asked about the "top legal speed" of 35mph that apparently the Prius has....

That crack makes me chuckle....

 

I think it was started because most common "electric vehicles" are golf carts and other non-suited for actual road use. But here they are allowed on the roads, but only city roads, not state highways or interstates and are limited to a top speed of 35mph. Then the cheaper electric vehicles (like the Zap) have top speeds because they are underpowered. When people hear hybrid and electric they think these are comparable, and it isn't. This might be where the "good city car" but not allowed on the highways comes from too. Generally these are the same people that think the battery needs to be replaced every year for $3000.

 

59MPH...i might have dreamed this up after i fell asleep reading the thick owners manual but i think somewhere it says not to drive faster than 100kmh/60mph for the first 500 miles? Are there any other break in procedures after the first 500?

 

And we wonder why Prius drivers get the stereotype of being smug.

 

Have you seen this Southpark Episode?
Smug Alert (Season 10, Episode 2) - Full Episode Player - South Park Studios

 

I don't understand why "smug" is a bad thing. Just like "elite" is not a bad thing. I wouldn't say informing the lame masses is smugness, it is just information. Knowledge needs to stop being something to attack.

 

So given the following:

• Max speed: 120 mph
  • 20 MPG @120 mph
  • 60 MPG @60 mph
• Usable fuel: 11 gallons, 1 gallon reserve
• Fuel and bathroom stop (#2):
  • solo male, 10 minutes
  • with lady passenger, 20 minutes
  • with dogs, 40 minutes

What is the fastest speed to cross long distances?

@120 mph -> 220 miles, 110 minutes​

@60 mph -> 660 miles, 660 minutes​

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Column 5	Column 6	Column 7
0	[th]120 mph+10 min[th]120 mph+20 min[th]120 mph+40 min[th]60 mph+10 min[th]60 mph+20 min[th]60 mph+40 min[tr][td]220 mi/130 min	102 mph [td]220 mi/140 min	94 mph[td]220 mi/180 min	73 mph[td]660 mi/680 min	58 mph[td]660 mi/680 min	58 mph[td]660 mi/700 mi	57 mph[/tr]

This model assumes a #2 at each stop but in reality, your mileage may vary.

Now if you know the frequency of bathroom breaks and their duration, you can calculate the optimum speed so each break coincides with a bathroom break. Any slower and you'll have to take extra breaks slowing down your block time. Any faster and you'll not have enough fuel to reach the next bathroom break. Of course this assume regular biological processes.

We'll leave this as an exercise for undergraduates ... or send it to Click' and Clack.

Bob Wilson

 

Thinking you are better than other people because you have said knowledge is what I'm attacking.

 

Ok, so puzzle me this, if everyone has to take a pit-stop every four hours:

• What is the optimum, maximum speed for a solo male driver?
• What is the optimum, maximum speed for a male and female pair driving?
• What is the optimum, maximum speed if they bring the dogs?

Use a linear relationship between MPG and speed between 60 and 120 mph.

Bob Wilson

 

I`ve run the rental 3rd gen near 3 digit speeds up I-75 in Michigan last summer with no handling problems.

Mike

 

So let's assume everyone needs a break every four hours. It doesn't matter how long the break is, the goal is to make end-of-fuel and bathroom break coincide. So if we had the fuel consumption in gallons/hour and an 11 gallon tank, we need to burn:

Column 1

0

[tr][th]d_mph[/th][th]mph[/th][th]MPG[/th][th]miles[/th][th]hrs[/th][/tr][tr][td]0[/td][td]60[/td][td]60.0[/td][td]660.0[/td][td]11.00[/tr][tr][td]1[/td][td]61[/td][td]59.3[/td][td]652.7[/td][td]10.70[/tr][tr][td]2[/td][td]62[/td][td]58.7[/td][td]645.3[/td][td]10.41[/tr][tr][td]3[/td][td]63[/td][td]58.0[/td][td]638.0[/td][td]10.13[/tr][tr][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/tr][tr][td]35[/td][td]95[/td][td]36.7[/td][td]403.3[/td][td]4.25[/tr][tr][td]36[/td][td]96[/td][td]36.0[/td][td]396.0[/td][td]4.13[/tr][tr][td]37[/td][td]97[/td][td]35.3[/td][td]388.7[/td][td]4.01[/tr][tr][td]38[/td][td]98[/td][td]34.7[/td][td]381.3[/td][td]3.89[/tr][tr][td]39[/td][td]99[/td][td]34.0[/td][td]374.0[/td][td]3.78[/tr][tr][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/tr][tr][td]58[/td][td]118[/td][td]21.3[/td][td]234.7[/td][td]1.99[/tr][tr][td]59[/td][td]119[/td][td]20.7[/td][td]227.3[/td][td]1.91[/tr][tr][td]60[/td][td]120[/td][td]20.0[/td][td]220.0[/td][td]1.83[/td]

[/b][/B][/b][/b][/b]

 

When I told my mother I bought I Pri, she asked me how do you drive on the highway to work? I asked her, what do you mean? I drive to work like I normally do. She answers, there's no power in that car and that people will run me over on the highway.

Couple weeks later I go visit her and I showed her what kind of power the Pri had in PWR mode. She then proceeded to tell me to slow down and not waste so much gas!

Edit: Top speed I got in a 3rd Gen rental was 90mph very smooth!

 

I just re-read "153 km/h in a 110 zone" by Julian Edgar and it reminded me of this thread.

A nice read on a slow day.

Bob Wilson

 

I ran more than 90MPH probably 95 when a Dodge P/U truck was tailgating me at 70Mph. Handled well with 17inch tires and barely heard the engine scream. Once I hit 90mph I just let the car roll and pressed on the gas lightly.

 

I got to 88 MPH once...but then the flux capacitor kicked in and I lost track.... ;-)

 

At 100 MPH, the MPG meter had 4 bars (~20mpg)! In ECO mode at 104 degrees outside too. Still power to go faster, but road began to turn. Handled as good as most cars, very stable and smooth.

 

I think I managed 82mph. But of course that was going against the grain of fuel efficiency.

On a related issue, I once did 94 on a Sienna minivan! The van can take it no sweat. No vibrations, no rattling, no straining no nothing. Smooth. I know I could have pushed it another 10mph to a steady 100+ but I was not so sure about my tires if they were in tip-top shape at that time.

 

I did 176 MPH in my MB AMG on the Autobahn. In the prius 85 MPH........