Got my Prius a few days ago. When merging into 35mph road from a stop sign, I always feel that the Prius accelerates about half as much as our other cars. With the big SUV rolling in at 45 mph, I usually wait for maybe a fifth of a mile gap. For the 2003 Accord, I slightly depress the accelerator; for the 1990 Mazda 626 5-spd, I basically floor the accelerator once the clutch engages. And for the Prius, I am depressing the pedal about the same amount as the 2003 Accord. How much do you depress the acclerator when merging? It is still within the 601 mile break in period and calls for "gentle acceleration". I wonder what that means. Thanks.
I'd just drive it as necessary...when you can be more gentle that's fine and will save gas, but the 'break in period' is probably a bit of a falacy for the Prius.
I've only had my car a few weeks, but it does to me feel slower to respond to the accelerator peddle. I still think there is a delay between pressing the peddle and the car moving off. What I can't work is if this is an illusion, i.e. because the engine (when it's on) does not change in pitch (rev up) there is no que that you can hear to know that car has responded. I would follow the break-in advice. If you are not accelerating hard then I think that your less likely to need to brake hard, not an expert but I would guess that it's more important to break-in the brakes gently - obviously with either acceleration or braking don't put yourself at risk.
If you need to just push it to the floor when merging. Unless your battery is really low the gas does not rev too high. One thing about the Prius is that the accelerator response is very linear. Push it down just a bit and you get a consistent very small amount of acceleration. I have not driven an Accord myself but most of the "normal" cars I've had to drive I notice are considerably more jumpy than the Prius; push down a little bit from a stop and you get a jump of acceleration that quickly gets you up to about 15MPH before the response becomes more linear. I much perfer the response of the Prius, espeically for driving at low speeds around a parking lot.
Just like most normal cars, Honda has most of the throttle action of the Accord at the start of the stroke. This makes a car feel much more powerful than it really is. Tom
If the engine is off, you do have to wait a split second for it to ignite and then rev up but it shouldn't be any longer than a regular car with drive-by-wire.
I want to add something with this statement: if the split second startup makes a difference to your driving, then you need to rethink how or where you drive. A good driver should never put themselves into a situation where the timing is that tight. Granted, emergencies can happen, but don't make a habit of it. Tom
Think about this a bit. Would you want your brakes to have any type of delay when applied? Of course not. I don't see much difference. I want to stop and go when I choose.
If a small delay in your brakes causes a safety issue, you are following too close. I stand by my original argument. Obviously we all want these systems to respond as fast as possible. What I'm driving at is that it is silly and irresponsible to deliberately push things to the limit. I'm not implying that you drive in this irresponsible manner, but a lot of drivers do. I assume you are smarter than that, since you have demonstrated the good sense to purchase a Prius. Tom
Thanks, all very interesting observations. I have never thought about this, but this seems to be true. The first bit of touch on accelerator is more responsive on regular cars (yes, Accord is more obvious than Camry IMHO), and gives the illusion of being more powerful. I do have at least a second's delay when shifting gear on Mazda, so the Prius cannot be any slower. I had quite a bit of doubt on this, but I always comfort myself that tens of thousands Californians have bought Prius and loved it, with the many in LA's freeways, where so many cars are so powerful that I felt like standstill in an Avalon at the on-ramps ... so finally bought it. As for braking, I feel the Prius is quite adequate, without any delay. The knowledge of knowing that I am recovering the motion energy instead of grinding braking linings into dusts is so satisfying... only second to when sitting in stuck traffic with engine completely shut off.
After you're past the break-in interval, floor the gas all you like :_> But do keep in mind that the anti-slip will engage and stop power to the drive wheels whenever they break loose from the driving surface.
I would term the go-pedal response as "slow bottom", i.e. if you want oomph it's all out at the other end of pedal travel. As opposed to your typical pig-dog throttle setup that's usually way too twitchy and really hard to feather in many cars. . The by-the-book number is about 10 seconds for 0 - 60, and most people have found that to be true. . I will agree, and deliver my standard rant, that if you really find yourself thinking you have to accelerate your way out of trouble, you are doing something wrong. Braking, yes, punch it, no. Think carefully about that and spend a couple of days driving around and looking differently at the situations around you before you try to respond. . _H*
