Highest speed driven in Prius

Top speed of an unmodified Prius is between 104-107. Modified, a Prius went 130.794 at Bonneville.

 

The prius is a full hybrid. The gas engine can not run without the electric motor. It's not simply a booster. they work together.

with cruise control set at 100mph you will get approximatly 25mpg. it's not very hard to reach this speed. The car rides very smooth at this speed. Make sure your tires are calibrated for a high speed alignment.

 

is it legal to drive that fast? In some parts of Germany, yes!

I don't know about California...

 

I believe I did 80-85mph a few times. Ride is OK. However, remember that it is not a high-speed car in a sense that suspension and chassis are not designed for high-speed maneurs like BMW or Porsche. But neither is Civic anyway Stock tires are not good on wet pavement, so either get better ones or don't try 70+ in the rain.

 

:huh: 100 mph isn't even safe in a Civic.

 

He didn't say people didn't do it, he just said it wasn't safe.

 

I did 107 mph once. Prius reached this top speed (electronically limited) going up a slight uphill. It was gaining about 1 mph per sec near the limit. When I got to the downhill section, it remained at 107mph. No shaking... smooth and stable... just more wind noise.

As for your second part of the question... when the power is only coming from the ICE (not from battery but may use the 50kW motor thru generator) going up hill and gaining speed, Prius gets about 35 MPG. It depends on how fast you want to accelerate also. I tested out because my previous car (00' Celica - compact 2,450 lbs) gets 34 MPG on highway. I wanted to know how efficient Prius ICE and benchmarked against Celica. Prius did better going up hill AND WHILE gaining speed!! Oh, the best part is the downhill section where Prius can save more gas. Note, Prius is 440 lbs heavier than Celica.

Overall, here is my MPG average:

Spring / Summer with OEM rim/tire: 52 MPG
Summer / Fall with 17" low profile tire: 48 MPG
Winter with OEM rim/tire: 49.9 MPG (winter gas formula also)

Dennis

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Jan 30 2007, 10:30 PM) [snapback]383105[/snapback]</div>

The weird thing is when folks do 90+ then wonder why they're not getting their epa rated mileage. "HEY, I'm only getting 35mph!! what's up with that?!" But in a mongo Silverado ... you can do 90 ... not get the epa's stated MPG ... but that's no big deal & completely understandable. :huh: oh well.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LazyBear @ Jan 30 2007, 10:46 PM) [snapback]383149[/snapback]</div>

Quite the opposite!

The typical 4 door Civic has a more nimble and buttoned down suspension than the Prius and even the gen 2 Civic Hybrid accomplishes a better handling rating in slalom tests. This can be easily corroborated by several online reviews.
However, of all the Civics, the Hybrid is the worse handling because of its low rolling resistance tires and slightly higher mass. The suspension geometry and tuning remains the same for all 4 door civics. It is definitely more aggressive for the 3 door units which can achieve even higher stats.
Anyhow, many folks have hit almost 120mph with it while remaining relatively stable and remaining less susceptible to the effects of cross winds at higher speeds than what we experience with our Priuses.



Cheers;

MSantos

 

I've never driven a recent generation Civic at triple-digit speeds, but I'd suspect that it has less lift and a tighter suspension than the Prius and would probably be a bit more stable.

The Prius seems to me to respond well to a smooth driving style; this I've found is especially true at higher speeds. It'll get up to the maximum 104-or-so without too much fuss. That said, I'd be a bit wary...if someone cuts in front of me, or for some other reason I'm forced to do an evasive maneuver, I have this sneaking feeling that it could get away from me if I was to overcorrect even a little bit (although the VSC might compensate for my error?).

It sort of reminds me of some racing cars from the 50's and 60's, which had super low drag, at the expense of not enough downforce. Don't know what the coefficient of lift is for the Prius, but the Cd is exceptionally low, and the top part of the car does vaguely have the profile of a wing...

 

Los Angeles to Las Vegas
12 mile slight down hill grade
Speedometer reading 118 MPH!!!!
and 34 miles per gallon!
Sweet
You could actually feel the engine de-power at 118, meaing some computer control tripped stopping the car from going faster!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Jan 31 2007, 11:59 AM) [snapback]383443[/snapback]</div>

Tell me... at that speed, where you wishing you had put nitrogen in your tires? Or was air alright?

PS: let me know when you are thinking of selling the car - so I can avoid buying it...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate @ Jan 31 2007, 02:59 PM) [snapback]383443[/snapback]</div>

Wow! First time I am hearing someone went above the limit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(usbseawolf2000 @ Jan 31 2007, 01:14 PM) [snapback]383491[/snapback]</div>

I am just reporting what the speedo read, no idea if that is the "actual" speed, but definetly above the "limit".
The car ran great and felt stable with regular air and the stock tires, didn't want to try any manuvering at that speed though!

and I'll probably be keeping the car because it is now (Feb 2) two years old and has 91,000 miles on it. It'll probably be around 250,000 before I consider getting another car, so I'll always keep this one as an extra until it completely dies.

 

Stock rims and tire? Well at least revolution per mile?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(usbseawolf2000 @ Feb 1 2007, 04:30 PM) [snapback]384179[/snapback]</div>

Yep, with the stock rims and tires.

I have noticed that when I pass those radar stations on the side of the highway the speedometer has a 3 mile per hour at or above 70 miles per hour.

The most consistent test I have is multiple passes cruising at 73 mph (speedo) with a radr showing of 70 mph. This has been consistent with the stock tires and the new tires I have. The new ones are 195's I forget if they are 65's or 60's.