Are you happy you bought a Prius???

Interesting, you didn't red light, right? The track I used to go to had it set so that a perfect reaction time was 0.500 (anything below and you've jumped the gun), but I've heard of some tracks where 0 is the perfect time. Nevertheless, from what I recall, reaction time has 0 effect on the 1/4 mile ET (and speed).

Running in the 17s is pretty typical for an econobox.

I've never paid much attention to 60 ft. times but FWIW, for reference for people who have never taken their cars drag racing, this is the best time I got on my former 02 Nissan Maxima w/automatic (was 255 hp, 246 lb-ft of torque, and car weighed 3218 lbs):

60': 2.381
1/4 ET: 14.908
1/4 MPH: 94.32

With so much power, it would spin the front tires on launch if I floored it and thus wouldn't yield the good times. I had to modulate the throttle on launch and then could floor it once I started rolling.

My Max had no traction control. It had PLENTY of power everywhere I went including on the highway, where more power is most noticeable (to me), compared to weak cars.

I can't seem to find the time slips for my 350Z but IIRC, it ran about ~0.4-0.5 sec quicker on the 1/4 mile. My Z is 287 hp, 274 lb-ft of torque (also w/an auto) and weighed 3210 lbs. One big advantage was that it's RWD. So, on launch, I've got the weight transfer to the wheels doing the propulsion instead of away from it. IIRC, flooring it vs. modulating wouldn't make a big difference.

Beating someone by 1 second on the 1/4 mile is pretty significant. To beat someone by say 2.5+ seconds is huge. The faster car is ahead in short order leaving the slower car far behind w/an increasing gap.

 

Maybe I'm being a bit optimistic here. Was the traction battery fully charged ?

 

Hell to the yeah. I love this car. I intend to drive it until the wheels fall off.

 

Ohh no. I red lit big time on that run. It takes so long for the car to actually start moving that I was anticipating the green such that I left on the first yellow. lol

Your Maxima did pretty well. The MPH is what I use to gauge its capability. 60' is a VERY important number for drag racing but most cars are not set up to harness all of their power/torque and thus cannot keep the wheels from spinning. Such was the case with your car.

This is what a 1.6 60ft. time looks like on a typical street car with slicks and a higher stall converter. My old Trans Am.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/user/F8L#p/u/7/oAsvQIymr9o]YouTube - F8L's Channel[/ame]

This is a 1.8 60ft. in my old 4x4 truck
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/user/F8L#p/u/4/y45vTmoMYWA]YouTube - F8L's Channel[/ame]

On the first few runs it was but later in the day it was lower. I was worried about trying to force charge it so I never kept charging it for long. With a full 60%+ charge I bet it would do a little better but not by a ton. I'll have to try it sometime now that I've logged 132,000 miles on the clock. Would be neat to see if I've lost any power.

 

Then an applied Physics question comes to mind: the G2 has a very respectable initial torque that should be apparent off the line and in short dashes. So why are the results mediocre ?

 

I think it has to do with the way that toque is channeled through the transaxle. I mean the 1/4mile times and the dyno sheets don't lie.

2005 Prius dyno


2010 Prius dyno

 

F8L is that oil on the first sheet because you blew the tranaxle from the gobs of torque?

 

It's not my dyno sheet. I wouldn't have been so sloppy.

 

I definitely can't answer the physics part, but even before I had a Prius, I've observed that high max torque ratings don't have any correlation to good 1/4 mile time and speeds. It's the max horsepower rating (and corresponding weight) that seems to make the big difference. By short dash, are you referring to just off the line or are you referring to the entire 1/4 mile?

Here are a couple bench racing examples (all from the same magazine, to eliminate variability due to different procedures and how hard they launch) w/1/4 mile time, speed, hp, torque ratings, and curb weight.

03 Nissan 350Z 6MT:
14.1 sec @ 101 mph, 287 bhp @ 6200 rpm, 274 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm, 3222 lbs.

04 Honda S2000 6MT:
14.1 sec @ 97 mph, 240 bhp @ 7800 rpm, 162 lb-ft @ 6500 rpm, 2840 lbs

03 Mazda RX-8 6MT:
14.9 sec @ 95 mph, 247 bhp (I believe this got downgraded to 238), 164 lb-ft, 3000 (?) lbs

04 VW Jetta TDI 5AT:
18.1 sec @ 74 mph, 100 bhp @ 4000 rpm, 177 lb-ft @ 1800 rpm, 3148 lbs.

07 Nissan Versa 6MT: - just to show the it's not the automatic of the Jetta TDI that's at fault
17.0 @ 81 mph, 120 bhp @ 6000 rpm, 125 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm, 2742 lbs.

Supporting data at:
Nissan 350Z - Great Steering - Car and Driver
http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezf...lication/0453985b88ee7c6392f455ea4932f13e.pdf
Honda S2000 - Specs - Car and Driver
Mazda RX-8 - Specs - Car and Driver
2004 Volkswagen Jetta TDI - Specs - Car and Driver
http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezf...lication/946c3a41d9e1f7cfd1681fe6baaeb539.pdf and http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezf...lication/4165e8fd25dc5c1a2b3ec0048b09ccd9.pdf from http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...fit_and_five_more_hatchbacks-comparison_tests

 

Very similar situation; 80 mile RT daily commute. Wife also has Accord ( our 32 MPG 'gas hog'). Idling engines at stop lights now seem very crude. The '97 Miata will now come out only on really nice days.

The folks that made fun of my purchase last September seem to be strangely quiet lately.(I live in the "Land of the F-150")

 

I had the tyres chirping off the start line when I hill climbed my Gen II! Have look/listen YouTube - Prius02.wmv

 

I often find people touting torque as the be all end all, but I can produce 1000 lbs foot torque simply on a bicycle if it's geared appropriately. Horsepower is the true measurement of an engine's ability to work and that's why you find a much higher correlation between horsepower & weight and 1/4 mile times. The S2000 vs VW TDI is a classic example.

 

Hehe, true. Were those people laughing at the fact it actually chirped?

 

I'm thrilled with our new Prius, couldn't be happier with our purchase. I didn't need the car but my wife had been wanting it for a while so we pulled the trigger with a great deal.

 

Bought the '05 new for over 25K . Car has had 5 sets of tires , many alignments , rear axle shimmed , new struts in the 6 yrs. an 105K miles . The A/C went out at 37K @ $820.00 , went out yesterday again @$900.00 . Paint has peeled off the spoiler , door handles , front an rear body panels have faded so they don't match the blue of the main body . Now there's a tick in the engine that started . Car has been maintained by the book . Averages 43-45 mpg . Wife loves it , to me it's a PITA way over priced an not worth the money an headache .

 

I'm sorry to hear that, John. I've driven my 2005 for 140,000 miles and have had no issues with the car and the paint is in great condition despite being parked outside all its life. I do have a ton of rock chips on the front end but that is to be expected.