Alright I have owned my Prius for approximately 2 months and already turned 6000 miles on it. I've never been one to do this sort of thing but I was waiting for 5 minutes today just to make a left out of a gas station so I floored it and this became the first time I have squeeled the tires from a dead stop in my Prius, (who really wants too burn the tires and waste gas). I actually didn't think that it was possible in the Prius given the lower horsepower plus the traction control. No point to my post really other then to say that I am starting to find that the Prius is actually a lot faster car then I originally thought.
Yeah! an electric engine might not have horse power but it provides a lot of tourque from the get go! If you didn't have tracktion control you would spin your tires all the time! This is one of the cool things about electric engines! They have a very cool power band compared to the limited power band of a ICE. But as you said! You wasted "tons" of gas doing it!
Far too many people look at the HP of the Prius and pass it off as a gutless wonder that saves fuel. Torque is where it's at for every day driving. 300lbs of torque gets the Prius off the line quickly, and it will walk most of the common vehicles on the road.
My Dear Hubby keeps wondering (out loud) what the actually "horse power" is. I have floored the car to get across an intersection, and "smoked the tires"... it handles like a dream, a heckuva lot more get up and GIT than the Malibu had (2001, before the Malibu became a "sedan")... So, what is the estimated HP equivalent?
What's the 0-30mph timing of a "light on fuel and cargo" Prius? How does it compare to a Camry 2.4 or Altima 2.5 timings, Civic or Corolla timings? I'll think of your post and race a vette as soon as I find one
110 ponies (76 gas, 67 electric, minus losses) 0-60 MPH in 10 seconds and I've found it to really scoot 40 MPH to 70, as well as 50 to 85...in a passing situation. It moves ya...forward!
Considering I could only pull a best of a 2.6 second 0-60 foot time in my Prius I would'nt expect to beat many cars stoplight to stoplight or even through an intersection. True you may get the jump on them because they are not paying attention but most cars will be able to beat that time. My 4x4 ext.cab truck did a 2.4 60' time bone stock. My 2000 C5 Corvette did it in 2.0 stock and 1.91 with sticky tires. The car is peppy but it is not so hot when you actually start measuring its performance.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rae Vynn @ May 31 2007, 12:37 PM) [snapback]452617[/snapback]</div> 2.0 liter 145 HP.
Hey the Prius is a slippery car also. In a pissy mood I did a high speed low mpg run from LA to Fresno just to see how low a MPG I could get in the Prius. I think I average in the 80's for the entire trip, 220+ miles, with some sustained speeds in the 105-107 range and I still got 32.7 MPG average. See the story here. I still feel that there is power left at top speed and I would like to disable the governor just to see what the Prii could do. I never really got the feeling that the Prius was all wound out or straining at that speed. I can't wait to do a trip across Nevada. Wildkow
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(morpheusx @ May 30 2007, 11:08 PM) [snapback]452540[/snapback]</div> I'm not sure you wasted gas with your quick, hard acceleration. If you accelerate hard you get 8mpg for a shorter time compared to accelerating for a longer time at 14mpg to get to the same speed. The goal should be to get to cruising speed where the mpg is optimized in the shortest time. If I'm alone on a residential street I'll try accelerating and driving on just the battery but the ICE is usually warming anyway.
That 295 ft-lb is also through a 4.11 reduction ratio, so you're getting on the order of 1200 ft-lb at the punkin. With a tire radius of about a foot, MG2 alone is giving close to half a g's worth of oomph to the car, and then you add in the engine. . And you wonder why the NEDRA people are always breaking axles... . _H*
When I first got mine I had some punk try to beat me where 2 lanes become one past a red light. I was just out of work and not in a good mood. I won. My 2 passengers cheered and were surprised at the zip the car had. Most of the time I don't drive like that but I could if I had to move fast for some reason. This car really does moderate my attitude most of the time.
I've squealed the tires on the Prius occasionally when pulling out hard into traffic. Can't seem to manage it in Escuincle (the Xebra) a.k.a. the MNT.
I just got my 2006 back from my Toyota dealer, I took it in for an oil change and have them check on the rattle in the dash. They called me and said they had an accident in my car. The mechanic did not put the car in park and it moved forward into a host and damaged the drivers door and mirror. So I was without my Prius for about 10 days. The dealer gave me a 2007 4 cyl. Camry to drive. I took it on a trip and when passing I swear my Prius has better passing speed. I have to say the dealer paid for everything including the oil change and air and oil filter and the gas for the Camry.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Heavy @ May 31 2007, 09:37 PM) [snapback]453056[/snapback]</div> I don't know how much damage was done to your car but the fact that it was damaged in an accident goes on the record and can easily be found with a title search. Therefore, when it comes time for you to sell this car the accident will come into play when you and the buyer are bargaining on the price. My suggestion is that you get diminution in value from the dealer as anyone should that has had an accident in which they were not at fault. Unless of course you like giving your money away. Good luck, I have done the exact same thing that the mechanic did on several occasions when I was in a hurry and came close to hitting other cars. Wildkow
Now, *that's* a sad-nice person scenario. What dealership, and for that matter what *tech*, who obviously has no effing idea what he's doing with a Prius? Did this chumpus even go to the hybrid training, however token it may be?! This is the guy who's going to be changing your oil with the system still powered up. . _H*
