Driving dynamic on a Prius

If maximizing MPG is not your primary focus, get a VW/MB/BMW diesel instead. One BMW owner says he enjoys the challenge of getting the MPG numbers as high as he can. With electric steering rather than hydraulic, the steering (especially when done by Toyota) is not going to please you. It's a little odd. Skinny tires that are LRR are not going to give you the grip you are accustomed to. The suspension is not made for performance and as stated, the electric steering by Toyota is not great.

Read the reviews on Edmunds.com and other sites. The Insight is more "fun" to drive. You should wait for the Honda CRZ or Toyota hybrid sport coupe.

 

Hi Stklee, I have a GIII Prius IV with Solar Roof and a Harley Davidson FLHTC. When I went out this afternoon to run a few errands and go to a meeting, I chose the Prius - for the fun of it. --TK

 

I traded my C6 Corvette in for the Prius and an RX-8, so talk about big change. The Prius is just a solid daily driver, it is not fun nor interesting. The coolest thing about it is that I can get 40+mpg and I can run errands in there. If you are looking for sportier drive, get the Jetta TDI. But then if you can, just keep the NSX or you are going to hate yourself.

 

Pimping a Prius, man that's pretty sad......

 

Fun is where you find it. Personally, I'm excited every time I get into my Prius. The variety of actions and sounds that you don't get in a regular car. The desire to check into why I'm getting certain mileage on certain trips. Looking far ahead and changing things up appropriately. WOrking on a pulse-n-glide strategy for use in a backup on my daily commute home on the interstate. When do I run the battery down, knowing I'm going to have an opportunity to charge it from extra.

It's like a video game every day, twice a day. It's not a matter of hard acceleration, shifting, oversteer/understeer, watching for speed traps, etc as you might have in a sports car. (It's not necessarily slow, either. It's a thrill to be going 70 on a slight downgrade and getting unbelievable mileage doing it.)

If handling and acceleration are your bag, the Prius won't satisfy. But if you can change your game... jump on in!

EDIT: And let's be honest... the Prius has a gasoline engine that runs on a different cycle than almost every other car out there, it has not one but two motor/generators, it has a continuously-variable Power Sharing Device instead of a transmission, it has no serpentine belt, it has a key fob and a start button, it has regenerative braking, and it has a 200V battery under the back seat.

The gasoline engine can spend a significant portion of its time off. It's most noticeable when you're sitting at a light: silence except that your A/C is still running. Regenerative braking sounds substantial and cool.

What more could you want?

 

Don't forget that the Prius V has a different type of steering than all of the other Prius models. It has a brushless motor and 2.5 turns lock-to-lock. So . . . putting 17" wheels on the IV will not produce the same handling. No doubt it will enhance the stability if you go with 215 low profile tires, but with a higher-ratio steering, you may not have the feel you hoped to find.

Really -- your driving fun will have to be redefined a bit. Don't get me wrong, though, because I really enjoy driving my Prius (yes, a V), but you can't quite accelerate through corners without having first lost your speed. Of course, you don't want to do this when maximizing MPGs, either, so there is some similarity . . .


2100

 

There actually is stoplight acceleration with the electric engine plus power mode. That's not quite the point of a Prius, but it's there off the line (until larger gas engines overtake it). Out-accelerating some of the sporty car types from a stoplight confuses them. That's a little fun.

If by "fun to drive", you focus on tight, fast corners, the Prius is not for you. My old car - a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am GT, no super sports car - did better in that respect. Hills, though, are a different story. Driving back road hills around Cincinnati with the windows and sunroof open was pretty fun. And I still got 40 miles per gallon.

Some people have mentioned the video game effect. That might be fun, but it's not for me. I wanted a comfortable, safe, well built ride that is very efficient. Actually, I thought about what car I would want in 2016, or if gas becomes $5 a gallon. That was a Prius. As I noted, you can have some driving fun, but it's not designed for that.

Have you considered a BMW 335d? If you've had an Acura TL and currently have a BMW, another one is in your price range. There will be no doubt about the "fun to drive" factor.

 

It's still slow.......

 

...for a good reason.

Sports car this mid-size hybrid hatchback it is not.

Ultimately, it is the skill of the driver, not the machine, that can get the most out of a car's intended design.

 

I come from a long line of sporty cars. I have kept the Miata and a 400Hp CTS-V Cadillac for when I want to have fun, but expect the Prius to get the most use. To me the only "mods" I would consider for a Prius would be to increase it's efficiency.
For very little money you can have a used Miata as a second car. Trust me they are a "drivers" car, not a drag racer, but they are fun.

 

OP may want to consider test driving the Ford Fusion hybrid or Mercury Milan hybrid.

 

How is it sad if you customize it to make it your own? I don't agree with turning the car into a race car as it is not effecient to do so, but why not upgrade the wheels and what not if he wants to?

To the OP: Your new Prius is probably going to have more Torque than your old NSX! Just messing with you.

 

I drive in a lot of stop-and-go traffic and for me the most impressive "driving dynamic" is the smoothness of the car.

Regular cars have the following undesirable issues:
1. When stopped in traffic, you feel the engine vibration in the steering wheel, and it's often irregular as you hear the radiator fan cycling on and off to cool the engine, and the air conditioning cycling on and off to cool you.
2. In stop-and-go traffic, the automatic transmission cycles up and down, sometimes throwing a bad shift if you hit the gas at just the wrong time.
3. When you accelerate to pass someone, there is a delay as the automatic shifts down and then the engine roars when you hit the lower gear.

And with the Prius:
1. When stopped in traffic, you feel no vibration at all because the engine's not running. This is extremely relaxing. Then you realize that you're not burning any fuel and you sit back and smile at all the other drivers around you, adjust the volume on the stereo (the JBL in the Prius III and up sounds surprisingly good), and relax even more.
2. In stop-and-go traffic there's no transmission cycling up and down since the Prius gas-electric transmission does not shift gears. And the gasoline engine remains mostly off, so there's no engine vibration here either. As you accelerate on the battery and slow using the regenerative braking, you notice something that sounds a bit like a subway train pulling away at the station. You smile again as you realize that you're not wearing out your brakes when you stop; rather, you're recharging your battery.
3. Driving at speed, you touch the gas to pass and the acceleration is instant. No hard downshifts and no racing engine, just smooth and immediate power as the gasoline engine and the electric motor combine to propel you forward.

That's why I love driving my Prius.

 

Spartane, you read my mind.