Talk me in to a Prius

Funny, I too have a Cummins Ram, except I have a dually. Mine's been dyno'd at only about 300hp and 675 tq but my mods are very slight. I have a manual tranny as well. I drive my Prius 99% of the time now and only really drive my truck when pulling the toy hauler to the dunes.

 

Look around and buy the one you like the most. Pretty simple. I'm willing to bet 99% of the posters on this site did the same.

 

I've owned VWs for years, but none of them a GTI. I can relate to the "expense" of owning one. I can't tell you which one to buy -- you have to make that decision. I can tell you that as little as one year ago I wouldn't have considered a PRIUS -- guess I thought that it was ugly, slow, expensive to own, etc. Not to mention that I had never owned anything foreign except VWs. I talked to everyone I knew that owned one (didn't know about Prius-chat then) and then set out to test drive one (wasn't easy to find one). It isn't a performance car - I have another car for that. It doesn't haul 4x8 sheets of whatever -- I have a truck for that. It isn't a convertible -- I have the VW for that.

What it is -- an economical, reliable and (yes) fun to drive car. More room in the back seat than anything VW makes -- but that only matters if you're riding in the back seat.

My advice is to drive both of them.... and give yourself at least a week or two to weigh the pros and cons of both. I have no regrets over the decision I made.

 

It's your money, buy what you want, I know I did.

 

He mistook you for a Troll poster - you did choose a handle that isn't exactly charming.

 

A troll poster is someone who trolls through the forum and makes a nasty posting, just to see if he can get a reaction from the group. We get a lot of that.

Tom

 

Someone that deliberately posts inflammatory messages just to try to get a reaction.

 

Nothing to speak of for the engine side but there are several suspension items available from just swapping out the standard Prius parts with Touring Prius parts to strut tower bars and chassis stiffeners to complete aftermarket strut/spring combos. In theory you could get more performance out of the electric motor since is it rated for 285 ft/lbs of torque from 0 to around 2200 RPM but that would require some major tweaking of the hybrid system and most likely different batteries.

 

I can't speak to the mods for the PRIUS, but I think you'll find it is a lot zippier than you might think. Make sure you post the outcome of your test drives.

 

Interesting question. Actually they have 'detuned' the Prius by adding a very sensitive Traction Control system because there too much torque at start up.

Most vehicles have to build up rpm's in order to get Max Torque, 2500 to 5500 rpm is typical. The Prius gets Max Torque of 295 lb-ft @ rpm #1, that is at dead standstill. That's too much for the tires.

TC dampens the Max Torque output so that Prius' don't look like NHRA funny cars at stop signs. Seems funny but it's true. It's a function of being driven by electric motors.

 

I doubt the Prius is for you. Handling and performance are not the segment the Prius is targeting. It isn't optimized for those two things. What it does is give great mileage for a midsize car interior with some compromise in other areas. (Hey, it is never going to match my former sports car in handling or acceleration. But my wife didn't care for the manual, or RWD, and we couldn't fit the kids in it if we still had it.) Acceleration is good, but is not comparable to the V6's and such. Handling with stock low rolling resistance tires is not great, but ABS and stability control make up for this.

You've given us no idea of your height and girth or passenger/cargo requirements. My guess is that a mid size sedan is probably not what you are really after, but it is just a guess.

The VW might be a better fit for you as might any number of smaller manual transmission vehicles. It depends on what you plan to do with the vehicle, how you want to drive it, and what economic choices that narrows down to. Diesel is pricey and looks to remain that way for years so I'm not inclined to consider it.

Drive the Prius and others and determine what your are comfortable with. When I test drove it I primarily did so to see if it: 1. Could Get out of its own way (I don't let grass grow under me) 2. Could still get decent mileage while I was driving it less than optimally (briskly accelerating and braking.) 3. Handled interstate merges and traffic comfortably. 4. Fit my family and stuff inside comfortably for trips. It surprised me by passing all the criteria. Plus, I was curious about the engineering that went into it, so engineer geek factor was in its favor after I concluded it wasn't more of a fad/craze than a current solution to a problem.

 

For me its a no brainer as well, my wife drives a VW Beetle (hers is the 1.8t petrol engine) and it is truly a pleasurable car to drive. It handles amazingly and overall feels like pretty close to a high end sports car.

But there is a major downside every 3 or 4 months it seems that I have to shell out lots of money for maintenance and repairs. This car barely now has 100,000 miles on it now and its a constant headache Here is a list of parts from the VW parts bin that I have had fail on me that I can remember
2 Mass Air Flow Meters ($200 each)
Ignition Coils ($160 for the set of 4)
Transmission ($3000)
Both O2 sensors (front $50 rear $90)
Internal Cam Timing adjuster tensioner ($500)
Failed Water Pump ($700 also reflects the cost of changing the timing belt at same time)
***Note Timing belt needs changed every 60,000 miles on a VW even the TDI regardless of it saying 105,000 miles in the book. And always make them do the waterpump and all the t-belt tensioners and pulleys.
Passenger electric window spool and pulley ($60 for kit)
A few of the specialized Rubber Vacuum Hoses have needed replaced. ($100)
I've had to pull the throttle body off twice to clean out the carbon deposits ($10 can of throttle body cleaner + New Gasket Would cost you some big $$$ at dealer)
Cold Coolant Temp Sensor ($50)

This is on top of the normal regular maintenance. And prices above reflect the cost of me to do it myself aside from the Transmission and the waterpump replacement. And this is what I can remember from the top of my head.

My Prius has only needed the regular maintenance so far (oil changes) with 40,000 + miles and counting.

If you need further proof go to a forum like VWvortex.com and just look at all the posts that are labeled like HELP!!! MY JETTA (Beetle, Passat,etc..) _______ <-- fill in blank with problem

 

I think your idea of trying both out is smart. I wish you luck on finding a Prius to test drive... but maybe the dealer will have an employee with one!

I have re-thought my answer a bit about which one is for you, since you seem pretty open at this point. Some people say the Prius isn't sporty because it doesn't accelerate quickly and it doesn't do corners as well as some like. I think it all comes down to what you're used to. The Prius may take over 10 seconds to get from 0-60, but that rarely happens that I get to do that, and so does my 01 Blazer. It doesn't corner as well as a Vette, but then again neither does my Blazer! I loved the sticker my old Cherokee had on the driver's visor... this vehicle doesn't as corner as well as a sportscar, but it will take you places a sportscar can't go! All of that is to echo the sentiments expressed by other posters- we think the Prius is a great car, but we know it's not for everyone at every point in life.

The Prius can go fast... if you remember Al Gore's son's getting caught doing 100mph!

 

Just to clarify, the electric motor is capable of that much torque on the bench, but the controller never lets it make that much in the car. It would suck the battery dry in no time, which you'd have to burn gas to replace, not to mention that sizing all the driveline components to handle that torque would add cost and eat into efficiency. It still does give the car a surprising low end kick, making it feel faster than its 0-60 time would hint. Much like a tdi in that regard.

For an example of what electric motors can do, check out White Zombie. This guy has dropped what are in essence two highly tweaked fork lift motors, some heavy duty electronics, and a bunch of batteries into an old Datsun 1200. The result is a street legal car now running in the mid 11s. Killacycle is another fun one.
Welcome to Plasma Boy Racing, home of White Zombie, the world's quickest street legal electric door slammer in the 1/4 mile drag.
KillaCycle - World’s Quickest Electric Motorcycle

Rob

 

I would not want to talk you into buying a Prius. Too many people get talked into buying a car for reasons that are not in their best interest. You need to define your needs, requirements and/or desires. No one else can define them for you. I'll guesstimate that 80%, and it's only a guess based on the old 80/20 rule, that 80% of decision making in purchasing a car is emotional. That's why the "impending event close" works so well for car salespeople. Anyway I digress. You say you are looking for economy but enconomy tends to be a relative subject. There are many vehicles out there more economical than the Prius at todays pricing. The Prius currently gets the best gas mileage of any of the mid-sized cars, I believe that's is mostly uncontested. But that does not by itself make it the most economical for you. You need to better define your requirements to determine if a particular car is better or worse for your situation. I, we here at Pc will be more than happy to try and answer your questions and tell you what we like about the Prius, as you have already seen. However, I highly suggest that you don't let any of us try and sell you a Prius. Determine your requirements first. Find a car that meets them. And I am sure that you will be very happy with your purchase. If it's a Prius that meets your requirements, I am almost positive you will love your Prius. Buy something someone tries to sell you and well that helps the used car market. Sorry for the long dialog, but whether it's a car, a computer, a home, life insurance, whatever, be sure to do your due diligence first. Don't let the salesperson, or friend or enthusist define your requirements for you, or you well almost always be disappointed when you wake up. And BTW, defining your requirements gets the emotional part down to at least 50/50 anyway. We're on the wait list. Our daughter had to replace a wrecked car. Wanted a Prius. Couldn't wait. Fould a fantastic deal on a used, I'm sorry, pre-owned, Corolla. Low mileage full warranty the works. Not mid-size I know but then we really don't need a mid-size either. Empty nested years ago. Will problaby never beat her deal economically, but the emotion say we want a Prius. Well I hope you don't feel that your time was totally wasted read this post. It's just something that I have to remind myself of, at least on major purchases. Make sure it's what you want and not just what someone else has temporally convinced you that you want. Happy hunting!