Acceleration and maintenance

1. It's accurate. Much more isn't really necessary and the Prius is tuned more toward economy than high-end performance. I can start from a dead stop and hit the highway at 75 mph if traffic is going that fast. I bet there are ways to boost that number, and a turbo module (or whatever they're called) has been mentioned- not sure if anyone's actually gone through with it.

2. The hybrid powertrain is warranted for 8 yrs/80K unless you're in a CA emissions state, in which case it's longer. You'll see by searching the boards this is a common question and most of us owners have had no problems. Most of us actually have fewer maintenance costs than with our previous vehicles!

 

There are plenty of girls who will want to check out your Prius if you get one Seriously, these cars get a lot of attention.

That puts all the good things on the Prius side!

But in all seriousness, drive it first and be sure.

 

I'll repeat what a few others have already suggested.

Go drive one first.

There is a thread on the board regarding the viability of the Prius as a chick magnet. Apparently it's quite good in that regard. And you can always pimp it up with some flames to enhance the effect.

I've only had mine two months, but my understanding is that the maintenance will be less. And if I follow the regular maintenance I'll probably have very few problems. I expect I'll sell the car before I have to do any major repairs. note: I usually buy a new car every 10 years.

As for the 0-60. This is something I've never quite understood. Rarely, if ever, in my driving life have I ever had to go from 0-60 in the shortest amount of time as possible. So the question is really what kind of power does the Prius have. Go test drive it. It's fine. That was my concern. I wanted to make sure it wasn't sluggish. Well, in point of fact it has more pep than my Saturn SC2 Coupe stick. I moved from a manual to the Prius. The Prius is more responsive from a stop than my old car. And it climbs hills just fine. I can pass cars going up hill. And there isn't that annoying ka-chunk when it changes gears like a regular automatic has. It's smooth as silk. And while I'm not a mechanic, I think it's the torque of the electric motor that makes it really responsive from a stop, since the ICE doesn't kick in until it is efficient to do so. I used to have trouble going up the parking garages at a slow speed in the Saturn. Not the Prius. It was like it was attached to a ski lift tow rope or something. No problem at all.

Are you planning on doing a bunch of illegal street drag racing?

 

I let my "green" brother (biologist, tree hugger) test drive my '05 just after it had rolled over its 600th mile. The "don't accelerate aggressively" window is 0-600 mi.

He asked whether I measure acceleration with a stopwatch or calendar. So I invited him to check it out. It would be a first for me too. We were impressed. But, older folks like us are easily impressed. The fact that the motor cranks out 295 lb-ft of torque from 0 to 21 mph, before gradually ramping down with increased velocity, means that the initial acceleration is right smart. The Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) joins in to pick up the slack as motor torque ramps off.

I was impressed. Brother, who was not expecting much, was impressed. In the old days (60's) he built a couple of street racing cars (40 Ford, etc.), and is a CART fanatic. He had floored the pedal, from a standing start, and zoomed to 60+ before backing off. He drove for about 45 minutes. By the time he pulled back into his driveway he was going hmmmm...hmmmm...hmmmm. Translation- who knew? Like Mikey - he liked it!

Me too. 8)

 

This man knows what he's talking about! Seriously too... My Prius has attracted more chicks than any other car I've ever owned (and that list includes super nice 280ZX, mint '94 Mustang Cobra, '95 Mustang, etc.)... See thread entitled "Unbelievable Popularity..." :mrgreen:

 

The Prius accelerates well for most uses; it sometimes hesistates for a split second when sudden acceleration is needed but this is not a problem. I am very satistied with the performance and, of course, the fuel economy.

My 2002 GTI 1.8T took 8.6 seconds to reach 0-60, so there's no way a 1999 Solara is going to do it in 7 seconds. I don't miss the 8.6 vs. 10.1 seconds acceleration, nor the 22 mpgs.

 

Correction: SHE knows what SHE's talking about.

 

What did you decide? The Vette or Prius?

Whereabouts do you live in BP? I am close to you.

 

I went from a modified 2003 MINI Cooper S that could do 0-60 in well under 7 seconds, to the 05 Prius.
I DO miss the handling of the MINI, but I DO NOT miss the 0-60 times. Even though on the books the Prius is slower, it makes you drive in such a relaxed way. It has more than enough pep for me, and I never felt it needed more ooommmmph. The transition was not at all difficult for me.
M

 

Heya,

If the zero to whatever-speed number bothers you then I have to make a couple of points....

First - as stated by others - DRIVE IT. Don't let a number stop you from a great purchase.

Second - If you're looking to hot-rod the quarter-mile, then you're looking at the wrong car. Prius is NOT a sports car.

Third - And I'm sore people are tired of reading this from me, but I'll re-say it for your benefit - My last car was a 1997 Trans-Am. A VERY fast vehicle and I don't - REPEAT, I DON'T - miss the power one bit. Triple-T accelerates just fine.

Hope that helps....

Yoda

 

I need to chime into here as well. I've been watching the hybrid market for a few years but was a bit unsure, then about a year ago, I drove by a Toyota dealer and thier demo unit was out front. Naturally I had to check it out, the sales guy came out, and I was in for my first test drive. My expectations were for a typical econo-box (albiet, damn nice looking econo-box), the car was anything but sluggish! In what seemed like nothing, I'm doing 77, then had to back off sort of promptly, I was on a 55 stretch of road and approaching a state patrol station (oops). I'v taken a couple test drives since, our salsa red package 4 is due in the week of 5/31 - 6/6.

 

What do you need faster 0-60 times for? Are there roads out your way that has some minimal acceleration rate? On the high/freeways how fast do people have to accelerate to merge anyways?

The Prius has 295ft-lbs of torque from 0mph, and that's already like a mini-turbo.

The Prius is also faster than the H2 0-60. I sure don't hear people complaining, or having problems driving that slow brick around.

 

Wow, I go past you on my way home from work!

(You probably haven't noticed me because I drive in stealth mode.)

:mrgreen: