sluggish acceleration?

Welcome to the hybrid world... Sluggish acceleration is an important component of driving efficiently. In the Prius, that effect is more pronounced in the ECO mode, less so in the "normal mode", and absent in the PWR mode. If you hate the sluggishness and you think you will never be able to adapt to it, you’ve got 2 choices:

1- Use the PWR mode for low speeds and eco when cruising: that will reduce your MPG significantly but will likely still be over 40 MPG.

OR

2- Forget about driving a hybrid....

Cheers...

 

Gen II Prius he asks about does not have any of those modes... No eco or pwr, you cannot change anything.

EDIT: Ahhh, I just realized he probably meant gen III Prius II. I was confused, sorry...

 

Prius acceleration isn't that bad. Passing and merging acceleration is really quite good. Part of the issue is one of perception: The Prius uses a drive system that is equivalent to a CVT, meaning that there is no shift shock, neck snapping jolts, or rapid RPM changes. Years of normal driving have accustomed drivers to associate these events with rapid acceleration. When you don't feel them in the Prius, you assume poor acceleration.

In real driving you will have no trouble leaving other cars behind if you need to. It just doesn't feel or sound the same.

Tom

 

I don't find it so much sluggish as the car will move if you stomp on the gas. I find that the pedal just isn't set up for the all or nothing acceleration speeds that traditional non-hybrids are set up for.

 

I would instead say that the everyday American car has too much power. A Prius is not slow in Europe - 10.1 seconds 0-62 is faster than a 1.6 litre Ford Focus with a manual gearbox (11.5s, or 10.5s for the Ti-VCT variant) and hugely faster than the automatic (13.2s). It's on par with the 1.6L Toyota Auris (hatchback Corolla).

You do have to put your foot down to the floor to get the power out of a Prius. This is normal on small-engined European cars as well. Don't expect fantastic response by just pressing the pedal a little bit. Yes, it will make some noise. That's what an engine running at peak power sounds like. You probably haven't heard it before.

 

Absolutely agree. Yes Tom, I agree with you sometimes...

BUT, if you push it too much, it may feel good, but it comes at the expense of more gas usage.

If you want to optimize your driving style for maximal fuel efficiency, the sluggish phenomenum is important.

 

Hi there - PriusChat has successfully muddied the nomenclature so that now noone is quite clear what you are referring to. Help us out by clarifying what year and model you are looking at. The new gen 3 model has more power than anyone really needs. However, you do need to be aware that eco mode (which you can go in and out of with a press of a button) flattens the throttle response, which can make it seem as though the throttle is sluggish, rather than just smoothed out. The smaller engine in the gen 2 cars is also big enough to get you the freeway and for passing speed. People driving up a mountainside might find it a tadd sluggish, but still adequate. I also have a 2007 Camry Hybrid that feels like a V6, so if you are worried about it, that could be a good compromise for you.

 

This is an important point. Many (most?) normal cars have their accelerator linkage tuned to be very sensitive at the start. This gives the impression of great power: a tiny press causes the car to lurch forward and tires to spin. It's an illusion, and a silly one at best.

Tom

 

OK, then my answer still stands. There is plenty of power in the 2010 car. All the models use the same 1.8L engine. Experiment with the eco button, power button and no button if you test drive it again. They just change the throttle response, not the actual available power. More than enough power to zip around those rotary circles in Boston, or power down the freeways or up those New Hampshire mountains.

Oh - and my hybrids have all been extremely reliable, low maintenance cars.

 

I haven't driven a Camry, but I thought I'd try answering your question anyway.

The main focus of the Prius is fuel economy, so it's biased towards that in both "Normal" and "ECO" modes, and acceleration will feel sluggish -- but in time you will likely get used to it. However, that changes significantly when "Power" mode is selected, and the hit on fuel economy is surprisingly minimal while driving in this mode. If I see any kind of tricky driving coming up, I will switch into power mode for extra maneuverability. Some people will say that pushing the gas pedal down further is equivalent, but that has not been my experience. So my suggestion would be to take yet another test drive and immediately select power mode for the whole drive to see how it goes.

As far as the Prius II vs Prius III is concerned (another thread), I too was only planning on getting the Prius II, but I ended up going with the Prius III (reluctantly) because the CD player in the Prius II wouldn't play some of my compressed 16K (voice) mp3 discs properly. But boy am I glad I did for a couple of reasons:

1. The satellite radio music quality with the JBL radio is very detailed and clear, with surprisingly solid bass coming from the front two speakers. I'd never had satellite radio before so I didn't think I needed it, but I'll be hard-pressed not to renew it when the three-month free trial ends. The family recently went on a trip in our Dodge Caravan (which doesn't have satellite radio build in), so we borrowed a friend's portable satellite radio and jacked it into the car's audio system. We were a bit disappointed at how muddy it sounded compared to what we were used to in the Prius. We also tried feeding some songs from my son's IPhone into the radio and they sounded fine, so it looks like the Prius's radio is a step above the portable one in terms of quality.

2. I never thought I'd use bluetooth, but the ability to have a cell phone left permanently hooked to the 12-volt charger in the center console of the car (or just leave it in your pocket if you prefer) and have it automatically tether to the Prius radio when you start up the car is great. There are three buttons to control the phone on the steering wheel: a) talk to the audio system, b) hang up, and c) off hook. There's a mic located near the rear-view mirror, and hands-free voice dialing is truly a wonderful thing. With the JBL system the telephone audio quality is so good, you and your passengers will almost think the person is in the car with you.

 

In comparison to an ICE Camry the acceleration is going to be "sluggish". I haven't directly compared steering wheels, but that observation might be valid as well.

Without being adversarial, or combative, I'd ask, you say you've been in the market for a Prius for a while? You want to change to a Hybrid?

I think you need to ask yourself why, and figure out what your priorities are as far as car ownership. If you like the driving feel and performance of a Camry have you tried the Camry Hybrid? Might be a less dramatic change, while still offering Hybrid advantages.

Otherwise, The Prius, while becoming more and more mainstream, is still a different animal in direct comparison to a full fledged ICE vehicle such as the multiple Camry you have owned or do own.

I look at it this way, and it's easier to deal with as I get older. I might be beaten of the line at a stop light....but I'm going to kick @ss in gas savings at the Drive Thru, or in a traffic jam. Which situation do I find myself in more often? Drag racing at a stop light? Or picking up coronary inducing food or sitting in a traffic Jam? Advantage Prius...imo.

 

Last night I had a fool turn into me from a non turn lane. I had to "punch" it to keep from getting hit. There is surprising acceleration if you floor it, and I was "stealthing" and in ECO mode when I punched it, so the ICE had to start and immedately go to full throttle, it did so with no lag. I was impressed, the power is there if you need it, more than I would have thought is there.

 

I had a 2 litre Camry and now have a 2004 Prius. My Prius would out accelerate my Camry because the Prius delivers its power in a smooth progressive manner. You might be surprised how quickly it actually accelerates.
I love the sporty little steering wheel, it is what attracted me to the Prius after I looked through the window of one in a car yard after hours. That and being dragged off at the lights by a Prius.

 

This thread is in the wrong forum

 

Seems like the right place to me, since OP is asking a general Gen 3 question.

I wonder if OP's concern about the steering wheel is really a complaint about the lock to lock ratio? FYI to OP, the model II and III (with the 15" wheels) need a higher number of turns of the wheel to turn the car than the model V (with 17" wheels), but have a smaller turning radius for the car. Personally, I like the size of the steering wheel and its flat bottom, but really wish it were a 3 spoke rather than a 4 spoke, just because it interferes with where I would normally like to rest my hands.

 

Seems like the particulars have been covered, so if I may add my little story... Got my brand new 2009 Prius late on a Saturday night. (Traded in a 1994 Camry wagon that had been very very good to me.) First day out, Sunday, got the whole family in the car. I had heard about the sluggish acceleration from a friend, Liz. Pulled out of a parking lot onto a nice wide road and decided to check out the pickup. No sooner had I thought to myself "Weeeeeeeeeee!! What is Liz talking about, this has GREAT pickup!" did I see the flashing lights in the rearview. First time being pulled over in twenty years. Be careful what you wish for! P.S. I loved my Camry but I really really really love my Prius.