just got back from trip to Arizona City, AZ. Started out last week from Salmon, Id to Ely Nevada to Arizona city. Only put 17 gals in going down which equates to about 58mpg? aprox. 1200miles one way. Driving a 2013 Prius w/ 17" Michelin Primacy MXM4 tires. I really love this car. On the way back we stopped over in Ely Nevada to see all the cars entered into the OPEN ROAD CHALLENGE. Was talking to a driver with an Mazda RX7 and he mentioned a Toyota Prius won the 100mph division. YEP here is the link Silver State Classic Challenge September 2011 Final Results a 2010 Prius on a public highway going 110mph. And who says Prius is a slow car!! I might add the driver I talked with mentioned the Prius had Buick rims so high speed tires could be installed. Got me to dreaming up a Prius w/ a tube frame and a high hp V6 or V8 in the back seat area. 220-230mph? Some guy yesterday in a Lambogorini in the 1 mile shoot out went 220mph. A Prius could do better?
The only people that say the Prius is slow, are those that haven't driven one. Why would you want a huge engine in the Prius? You rarely get to use the 100mph+ capabilities as it is now. Just because you can go 200mph, doesn't mean you get to.
Buick's have a 5x117 bolt pattern, prii have a 5x100 bolt pattern, the alloy wheels Toyota puts on a prius are capable of high speed, and will accept tires capable of high speeds, the grass in the neighbors yard isn't greener, and there's no place like home
Reason for big engine in Prius was a concept idea that IF I had gobs of money it would be cool to get the speed record which is 217 mph during the 2012 SILVER STATE CLASSIC event. Where else can you go 200mph+ on a public highway legally? Besides the aero of the Prius is very good.
To attain those speeds you would pretty much have to ditch everything that is Prius except the shell of the car. It would look cool though.
220 mph in a Prius would take well north of 900 hp with a run of a few miles unless you significantly reduced the air resistance.
