For those who have the scan gauges or whatever they are called, I'm interested in knowing the engine rpm at about 75 or 80 mph on level terrain. If I get a 2010, I would want to take longer trips. I would be willing to trade some mpg for mph. In one thread, it was mentioned that the owner only saw the redline (5200?) at 75+ mph. A long trip at near the redline would not be fun. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
The Prius has a continuously variable transmission, so at 75 MPH (119 kmPH) the engine can be spinning as low as 1130 RPM or as much as redline (5000 RPM) in my 09. The 10 will be similar: actual weight of the car, State of Charge (SOC), and warmup mode will all change the actual RPM at any given speed on level roads. I use this simulator, A simulation of Prius's Planetary Gear which, as an example, shows you can't get to redline in a 09 until 55 MPH. even when accelerating.
[ame=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3834454834833982503]Prius e-CVT in action: A view of gas engine RPM at 65 MPH.[/ame] I recorded it in my 2006 Prius at 65 MPH. That should give you some idea. I read in a document that 2010 Prius ICE spins 300 RPM less at 70 or 75 MPH due to more torque from the larger displacement.
The Japanese sales staff manual says following data at 120km/h(74.6MPH). item 2G 3G 1 engine RPM 2 470rpm 2 180rpm 2 MPG 40.5MPG 44.7MPG Please note that higher speed always worsen your mileage at highway. Ken@Japan
I want to thank all of you who gave me the information on "rpm at 75-80." Especially, thanks for the video, Seawolf. It seems that higher speeds don't necessarily mean high rpm's; although I know the mpg would suffer. Thanks again.
For my own curiosity, what's the MAX RPM at that speed? When accelerating onto a freeway from a metered light, I've reached about 70-75mph, and it didn't "sound" like the ICE reached it's maximum speed until somewhere in that neighborhood, which either suggests the max RPM is higher than 5200rpm or the extra 200 RPM compared to the max speed of MG1 takes another 10mph to be attainable. Now here's my catch with this. If 5200rpm isn't reachable until well into 70mph, will MG2's speed be higher than it's horsepower peak? If so, how can Toyota rate the net power of the Prius HSD system at 134hp if neither sub-system will reach it's theoretical HP peak at the same speed?
