Has anyone topped out their gen III? Is there a top speed limiter? If so, can it be defeated? If I defeat it, should I hook up a tachometer, and what would "red-line" be for the gasoline engine and / or the electric motor? Could it / they be damaged, by for example, keeping it floored down a long, steep hill? What about hooking up a nitrous kit, to kinda augment the "power mode"?
You want to connect a nitrous tank to your gas pedal?!? Can't you just wear a heavier shoe? All power mode does is increase the resistance on the pedal, nothing more.
I want to think one member has had her Prius to 120MPH (if I did the math right) or so on the Autobahn, she reported a speed limiter, but that was a Euro spec so?
The car should be speed limited at a minimum to the tire rating (mine came with Yokohama Avid S33's 195 65R15. S rated speed to 112MPH. I would highly doubt Toyota would allow its car to go faster than the tire rating (in fact, I'd bet on that one )
The top speed for the Gen2 Prius is 108mph, the top speed on the Gen3 is 115. Fact. And just found out the German Prius Gen III tops out at 194kph (120mph)
How soon we forget: Remember Al Gore III and his Gen2? Here is part of an LA Times online article on the subject: The State - Like a volt from the blue: A Prius can speed - Gore's alleged 100-mph jaunt alters perceptions of 'wimpy' hybrid cars.
OK -- so anybody know how to exorcise that pesky, nagging governor? ( Not Arnold, the one lurking somewhere in the Gen III )
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-fuel-economy/69255-in-name-science.html Right at 120 MPH, but realize speedometers are not lab instruments, there is some speedometer error.
The SCTA recorded a top speed of 134.339 at Bonneville for a modified Gen II Prius in 2004 (it was basically running an Echo engine - same as the Prius but without Atkins cycle - and some reprogramming to eliminate the governor). Here's the article: Got Hybrid? - Sport - Auto Reviews - Car and Driver
The top speed of the Prius 2010 is 181.536km/h (or about 112.8 mph) as reported by italian car magazine "Quattroruote" in their September issue, with a very detail test of the car. I will report my max speed once I get over the 2000km mark and get a chance (and the guts, hoping not to destroy the engine) to top speed it on the Autobahn.
Wow. You took a Prius, with some luggage, and 4 passengers and went 108 mph? Are you trying for a Darwin award? Or did you simply hate all 4 passengers and wanted to kill them? If you are going to drive recklessly, do it on a closed road with only you in the car. Some people...
This makes sense - the tires are rated to a max speed of 112MPH. Toyota would be crazy to allow the car to go faster than the safety rating on its tires.
Apparently Toyota feels that the car is safe to drive at 108 mph, otherwise they would have put a speed limiter on the car. Whether it is "reckless" to drive a particular car at 108 mph is determined by many factors including (but not limited to): weather, road conditions, traffic conditions, automobile capability, and driver capability. Keith
