What I don't like about 2010 Gen III Performance

Is the car broken in yet?

 

So far I am pleased with my 2010. Appears roomy and engine noise less. I am not pleased with a rattle or noise in the left door or post. Am returning to hopefully get fixed. The dealer has treated me well in the past.
Previous 05 owner.

 

They did, for up to 45 MPH.

That mode is called "Stealth" and it is automatic.
.

 

Well, Neeter Lou, I don't think you looked hard enough. I read your other thread about the things you don't like about the interior, and I think you'll be able to find other threads with soulmates. Long? Hardly! Your other thread started with a much longer list, I think.

OK. I don't know if I'll correct your impressions, as you've just described how you feel about the car or aspects of the car. Still, I may have info that will give you a moment's pause to consider whether some other way exists to have the car more to your liking.

The EV Mode isn't about driving around like you have an electric vehicle. The battery, even fully charged, will not give you that many quarter-miles, much less miles.

If you want to go faster in all-electric, it is available to you in a stealth mode up to about 46mph. You were able to do this in your 2004 (up to 41mph), and you can do it the same way in this 2010.

I don't really understand this complaint. This car has more available power than your 2004. If you are in regular mode, it should respond the same way as your previous Prius. Power mode just gives you more of that juice sooner. Leave it is Power mode if that is what you need all of the time. Otherwise, just give it the gas when you need the umph, because it is there and waiting for your call.

??? One thing it can't do is pretend to know is what you want from it. It will give you specific responses based on your choice of mode. If you prefer the "old" way, then stay in regular mode (don't select EV, ECO or PWR). Otherwise, you can choose to push the buttons on the fly to fit your desire.

I don't see this difference, but I just could be less sensitive to it -- or it could be that the difference between our models is fairly big on this front.

Report back when you have a number of miles on your new Prius!!

 

EV mode is for stop and stop again and stop again in downtown traffic. It is for creeping along.

Power mode is for faster excelleration onto the freeway. It is designed to make the gas peddle more responsive. I've tried it and it works great!

We have to remember that the Prius is a nice and comfortible hybrid.

If you use the Eco mode long enough it will teach you how to drive a hybrid. Driving a hybrid is all about smooth driving operations. Slow acceleration followed by slow deceleration.

When I fly an airplane, I could stand it on its tail but a good pilot is all about how smooth can you fly? How soft can you land? You have to have touch in the air and in a Prius. Of all the modes, I have found Eco the most interesting! It is teaching me how to drive the Prius most fuel efficiently.

Dan

 

This has been discussed in another thread but again I have to say I think people are confused about the difference between power mode and eco mode. Eco mode is just a trick to help you drive more fuel efficiently. If you give it 1/2 pedal in eco mode the computer only registers something like 1/4 throttle (not real numbers but you get the idea.) But by the time you give it full pedal you are getting full throttle (full throttle is full throttle in either mode). So if you want to drive in eco mode and need more power why waste the time to try and find the power mode button when you can just give it more pedal? Conversely if you drive in power mode and want fuel economy just don't give it as much gas. But this switching between modes all the time seems like a waste of time and more importantly just one more distraction while driving. my 2 cents. maybe not worth that much.

G

 

Like the other poster is trying to say, sounds like you need to leave it out of eco mode, and just use normal mode, or power mode. I notice eco mode just makes it easer to save gas, if you want power without having to press the pedal way down, Don't use eco mode.

Eco mode doesn't give the car less HP or slower than the older Prius's it makes it easer to feahter the pedal to save gas. This also makes it seem as if the car has less power than it does.

 

It does seem to confuse people (and every salesman that I have met so far) that there is no button for normal mode. Therefore they think your choices are ev, eco and power. They don't realize that there is a normal mode, chosen by not selecting ev, eco or power. Maybe the OP hasn't figured that out yet.

 

had my 2010 for about two weeks now and all is great. The only thing I want to know about this year versus last years (gen 2) is the throttle response versus torque.

I read one of the car mags and stumbled on one of the more impressive performance item: torque = approx. 400ft-lbs from 0-1200 rpm! I would assume that gen 3 is better since most reviews says that gen 3 is "more" powerful (hp), but there is no way I can feel this much pull even on the gentle feathering of the throttle below 25mph.

Is the 2009 better in terms of torque or is it equal to the 2010?? On eco mode, especially entering an incline, it can be a wait to eternity if I don't floor it. On powermode, yeah, it comes on a bit better. I had expected the torque of the electric motor to get the car moving with a "press you back" feeling. Am I missing something that I should have gotten a gen 2?

For those who have driven the 2010, how does the torque feel at startup versus the 2009?

 

Just how long do you think it takes to hit 1200 rpm if you thromp on it? That is an awesome number that an electric motor provides, but don't expect that torque to be noticable very long.

 

In a flash! But what I want to know from previous gen2 owners is whether the start up is greater than that of the 2010 as the OP noted. I have yet see any technical spec on net torque of gen3.

 

I'm also a bit curious about torque. There's a "hybrid system net horsepower" listed, but no "hybrid system net torque"?

PWR mode helps make the car feel A LOT peppier.

 

All of the modes on the Gen III are equally powerful - none of them restrict the maximum output of the HSD. The modes do change the sensitivity of the accelerator pedal. In ECO mode you have to press a lot harder to get the same power. The maximum power is still there once you get into the pedal.

You mention "regular eco mode". There is no such thing. Regular and ECO are two different modes. Regular is when none of the other modes are selected.

Tom

 

I'm guessing the peak is at the initial start of the motor thrust and quickly as the ICE kicks in the motor will back off and the ICE take over at higher rpm's.

I know that once moving this car will not throw you back when accelerating. That may be more of an issue with the response of the power splitting device rather than total torque. I don't know.

 

Once moving it will not have sudden torque because it is a CVT transmission. If it were a normal transmission, then sudden input to the motor would cause you to feel it (even on an underpowered car).

 

When you have to put the pedal down all the way to the floor (as in eco, and to some degree normal mode) to elicit any response, the car simply does not 'feel' as powerful. The initial delay off the line makes the car seem anaemic, plus people do not expect to really ever have to 'floor it' to get the car to respond quickly, wether it's from a stop or on the highway. Power mode feels much better, as the car will get up and move the second you start to give it some throttle.

It's like piloting a supertanker- you may be behind one of the world's most powerful engines, but you really can't feel its power.

 

Well said :rockon: