topspeed

It can go faster downhill, apparently; the system just cuts power at 106mph. It's computer limited; the electric motor (which is attached directly to the driveshaft) has a 6000rpm limit, which equates to 106mph.

 

As far as fastest speed I went is 87miles..... which chase by big rig.... :mrgreen: on freeway on the way to work :roll:

 

Having no interest in fast cars or performace driving I know nothing about the subject, but I'm curious: how hard would it be to rent time on one of those racetracks you see Very Fast Vehicles racing on, and take a private individual's own grocery-getter on the track to see how fast it can go (legally)?

Or are there legal or liability problems with letting people do that? Do vehicles need to meet certain racing standards (roll-cages, safety harnesses, etc) to be allowed on the track?

Interesting stuff...

--Michael Spencer

 

94 MPH using cruise control for about 5 miles on a recent commute to work.

Awesome smoothness and never any strain of any kind. Certainly as good as my now long gone BMW 325es.

I have no interest in top speed but I have a strong interest in high speed cruising. I tend to cruise at 75 of so. This 94 was a bit of an experiment.

I estimate that over the long haul, my MPG at 70-80 should be about 46 MPG. Simply phenomenal!!

 

170Kmh is the official top speed of the Prius in Germany. I took the test car to this and about 5Km over on the autobahn. No problem. Still, I was holding up the traffic a bit

 

I've had mine up to 105 on the way to work one day. It was smooth and in control at that speed. It doesn't compare to the 150 mph (240 kph) I went on the Autobahn yesterday in a friend's Porsche, but that's not what the Prius is made for.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(toolbox\";p=\"42923)</div>

hmmm

 

The cruise control tops out at 99 MPH and the car tops out around 107.

 

107 mph observed at speedo; 13.7 mph; still accelerating, but had to stop at a stop sign.

 

If your battery has a good charge, the car does 108.. me and someone i know have reached this speed as our max

 

Hey Cobrakid, I hope you were being safe while doing this.. The fastest I have had mine is around 72MPH and that was by accident going downhill. I am donating some points to Cobrakid for his achievement. Do you have an e-dress for the place you bought your decals?? 8) <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(V8Cobrakid\";p=\"43716)</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(V8Cobrakid\";p=\"43716)</div>

And you wonder why your auto insurance rates are so high?

 

This month's Car and Driver had an article with a suped-up Prius in the Salt Flats. I haven't read the article, but I did look over the pictures while watching the debate last night. I don't think they altered the engine/computer but I did see a nitrous tank where the center console would have been. They used a Tacoma to push the Prius while a driver sat on the brake to fully charge the battery and then they were still only able to achieve 106 mph and change. I would believe that the max rpm for the electric motor may be the limiting factor.

 

I want to know where you work in the US that you can achieve these speeds on your commute. I sure couldn't get anywhere close to 85 or 90 MPH. There is simply too much traffic around here.

 

I've performed some dynamic modelling of the Prius drivetrain, and the 106mph limit corresponds pretty much exactly to 6000rpm on MG2. It is definitely a software limit - the car is still accelerating when it reaches it. My calculation shows about 50kW of power is required to sustain 106mph (out of 82kW peak available).

Any significantly higher cruise speed would require more power than available from the engine alone (57kW). I suspect that was a consideration - Toyota didn't want users to reach cruise speeds that would drain the battery.

Also, just boosting the engine in a Prius achieves little, due to the torque distribution in the planetary gear - you end up generating electricity in MG1 that you can't use. To make the system work, you need a heftier electric motor to make use of the power going into the generator. It also helps to increase the rpm limit on MG1, so the engine can reach higher rpm earlier. Toyota did all this in the Prius GT when they fitted the new engine.

The HSD is a carefully balanced design - boosting any 1 component will do nearly nothing to boost performance, unless all the other components are also uprated to match.