Making a Prius Fast?

Alas, the power mode doesn't make the car faster when flooring it. I have driven a Gen III. I know first hand, and as confirmed by others on this forum, and it is obvious, flooring it in Power and Eco and normal mode is exactly the same. the switch does affect some things, but flooring it response isn't one of them.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...pwr-mode-really-just-accelerator-mapping.html

 

The ICE and EMs are designed to work in tandem - the ECU limits the RPM so it can synch them - if the RPMs are modified for a different ICE or/and different EMs to get higher sustained output the ECU would have to be reprogrammed to synch them -- a major engineering task. Reprogramming the ECU for a different ICE Atkinson cycle would probably more difficult than swapping in a bigger EM and battery, e.g. you replace Toyota M2 with with a Chevy Volt electric motor and replaced the NiMH with a Enginer LiIon Battery Pack.

To speed up acceleration in the beginning from a dead stop, a lower curb weight can help: Gasoline is about 6 pounds per gallon so just by running on the last 4 gallons (2 bars on the fuel gauge OR swapping to a smaller gas tank) you can shave off about 42 pounds. Remove the floor mats, cargo shelf, cargo covers, spare tire assembly and you shave off about another 40 pounds. If you remove the rear seats and the front passenger seat you'll probably shave off another 150 pounds. Switching from steel wheel rims and plastic wheel covers to very light aluminum alloyed wheels will probably shave off another 10 pounds. A carbon fiber hood might shave off another 10 pounds if it is available. Since the radio is also used for bluetooth/ cellphone connectivity I do not advise removing it. For all this trouble - you'll get only an increment improvement because you'll probably will not be able to shave off no more than about 250 pounds ( less than 10% weight reduction).

For better initial road traction for acceleration from a dead stop, the Prius' LLR tires should be replaced with performance tires.

To help acceleration when speeds are greater than 40 mph it helps if wind resistance is less. The most drastic but most significant way to reduce wind resistance is to shave off frontal surface. The downside is that it is major body work and your Prius wont look like a Prius afterwards. The second most drastic but significant way to reduce wind resistance is to give the Prius a tail to remove all rear end wind turbulance ( your Prius will look like a tadpole on wheels) - not only will it reduced drag but you'll get about a 5 mpg boost just by doing it. The downside is that you don't have a useable trunk/hatch door afterwards. Note that fishtail mod would have to be crushable part of the bumper to be street legal. Minor mods for incremental aerodynamic improvements are rear wheel curtains, replacing the radio antenna with a sharkfin antenna, aerodynamic wheel hub covers, lower ground airdams ( the downside is that these can be easily damaged by uneven bad road surfaces). Many legal jurisdictions now require the side mirrors on both sides so I recommend against removing them. The prius aerodynamics is pretty slippery to begin with so any high end acceleration advantage will be minor.

 

That's technically correct, but why would anybody need to floor it? Even when I'm in a hurry and in a power mode, I didn't have to floor it. Rather, the responsiveness of the power mode made the car quick enough off the line without having to floor it. It's nothing like the underpowered cars I've driven in the past.

Flooring it isn't conductive to good fuel economy anyway.

 

Agree...in power mode the throttle response is more than enough for everyday driving.

 

It's very different on my 2010 Prius. When in PWR mode it's much quicker then when in ECO mode even when floored. If I ever need to get up to speed quickly I will use the PWR mode. Go try it on a gen III, I promise you that you will love it.

 

If feels faster because you're modulating the pedal before flooring it, but should be the same if you slam on the gas (which isn't practical in everyday driving anyway).

 

This is patently untrue. We know that to be the case from the technical documentation, and our discussions with the Prius Chief Engineer when the Gen III was introduced in Detroit.

It may feel faster to you, but it's just perception.

Tom

 

I'm with the guys on here that are looking for just a bit more even from the 2010+ prius. If it weren't for the hump going down the middle of the Volt (b/c of the battery) that killed the middle seat I would be leaning towards that car (43% safer to put your child in the middle rear bench). First it fits my short trip needs and it drives JUST right from a daily driver performance standpoint. I know merging on to the parkway on Long Island where people are driving 75 mph on the right lane is ridiculous in the Gen 2 and just acceptable on the Gen 3. I'm the type to give myself a huge runway before speeding into an opening and I just can't make enough runway space on the Gen II to get in comfortably without forcing people behind me to slow down (even with ample space) simply b/c even 14 seconds into being on the highway I'm not even 60 mph yet. There aren't really many use cases where acceleration is not enough for the Gen III but certainly is pretty bad on the II. That said I'm also the type of person to make a car handle it's best from a active safety standpoint. Stickier wider rubber alone will give you shorter braking distance, better cornering grip and depending on tires much better wet / snow traction. Regardless of how safe of a driver you are and how much room you give in front of you and how slow you go on turns the extra insurance is worth it to me over almost all stock tires.

Anyhow, some thoughts on the subject. I've pinged a few toyota tuners (scion folks, carolla folks) and it seems those guys have ECU tuning potential. The 1.8 in some carollas are similar to the 1.8 in the prius and hoping similar tuning tools work. What I'm thinking so not anything like forced induction but perhaps tune for e85 (for those that dont' know it's basically like using 105 octane) and many tuners use it (I know being a subaru guy we have long term e85 cars doing great on e85). This should allow for more hp and particularly more torque from the ICE and be relatively low risk. Not sure the fuel pump and injectors will have enough in them for the increased fuel needs (will reduce mpg but e85 burns cleaner and is cheaper).

 

Unless he's not actually flooring the pedal but instead taking advantage of the quicker acceleration mapping for a given throw of the pedal.

 

Perception is all that matters sometimes. I have a Pivot throttle controller installed on my 09 Corolla S too & it makes the car "feel" much quicker. Many of use have that mod on the Corolla & perceive it the same way.

On the Prius I've floored it in ECO mode & it doesn't seem to have the same snap as not flooring it in the PWR mode. I use ECO mode most of the time but when I need to get up & go quickly I almost always select PWR first.

To each their own but I like the "feel" from my "butt" meter. :lol:

 

This is what is noticed in most situations since in most daily driving is not done by flooring the pedal all the time.

 

Anyone know how to make a Corvette slow?

 

power modes don't make the car faster. that is well established.

the ct200h boy racers are trying to make the same prius engine faster:


Injen MR Short Ram Air Intake

 

LOL Boy racers; classy =p. Injen makes good products and I believe they're working with Amsoil with their air filters (which would be the drop in filter I would use anyway, saves $, flows better, better mpg and is reusable which makes it greener). I know for forced induction cars, intakes can be an issue (metering air for a/f ratios) but for NA the difference in incoming air I'd imagine would be fine (looking at the 1 inch pipe going out the back I really don't think it's breathing that hard =). The 10hp / 13tq claims seem super high unless the stock box is that inefficient which I would doubt since I would hope it was designed for max flow to result in good mpgs.

 

Agreed.

I tried removing the intake cover and running no filter but my mph didn't change much. I wish I had ran it on the stock 15" wheels. Those 17s are heavy and don't roll well.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/23047-took-prius-drag-racing.html

 

We all want our cake and eat it too but I'm sure the Gen4 Prius (because toyota did talk about a coupe Prius) will be faster than 134hp and achieve sub 10sec 0-60 acceleration.

I'm guessing the engineer (I'm mispronouncing this word now thanks to ENGINER, and what's the deal with the oil droplet on the company logo? Shouldn't it be a + and - instead?) at toyota will harness more power from the electric drive instead...higher inverter and battery capacity as battery technology continues to improve and become lighter. That electric motor is not being exploited to its full potential and that's where i think the fruits are still within picking distant of the tree.

 

1/4 mile uphill.
going for 100
Its not slow

 

I bought the Injen MR Short Ram intake...just waiting to receive it..and when I do I will post on here what I think.

 

Its an easy install, only problem is the check engine light remains on.

 

Put me behind the wheel of it

(I can't believe this is actually a thread. I'm not even going to bother reading the whole thing, it's gotta be downright ridiculous.