Posted on 07/10/2007 12:38:07 PM PDT by hardback
LOL BTW I live in an area with lots of hills and mountains,some cars get on my nerve when they can’t move out of the way in the left lane and the Prius is one of them.
I'd say 100-105.
Yep. Although the 1.5 liter gasoline engine in the Prius is detuned to around 80 hp, the electric motor assists in getting the car up to highway speeds - and electric motors have lots of torque for low-rpm acceleration. I've seen several different horsepower ratings for the electric motor, but the average seems to be 70 hp. That's around 150 hp total, much more than the Prius's non-hybid sibling, the Toyota Echo.
About half of the Prius drivers that I see are guilty of that. I believe they're watching the display that I mentioned above, trying to coax the car to switch to all-electric mode. Hey, fine by me - just move out of the damned passing lane with that nonsense.
Yup,just googled it.North Carolina.Summer 2000.Doing 97 in a 55.
I'm well into my 40's (actually,I'm older...I once had a draft card!) and the fastest I've *ever* driven was about 80....and I did it on I-75 in Florida where the limit was either 70 or 75 (can't recall which).As I was doing 80 I was scared silly.So scared,in fact,that I was close to soiling my underwear.
How in God's name can anyone do 100MPH (or 97) and not die of heart attack? Anyone,that is,other than someone who's fleeing the cops or is coked up.
Yes it can. I had one as a rental in San Antonio and it is easily capable of doing 100 or more.
I think terminal velocity within the Earth's atmosphere is around 127 mph, so mayyyyyyyyyybe....
Zero to 100 in 39.6 seconds! :)
There are several priaprisms that I see on my way to work on a regular basis that I avoid because I will just have to go around them at some point. They are slow.
Yeh, I hear that one will even do 115 on a good day.
http://www.chevrolet.com/aveo/specifications
The Prius costs: $23,070
http://www.toyota.com/prius/models.html
The selling point on the Prius is one and one point only “Mileage.” Every commercial focuses on rising fuel costs bla bla bla. Now lets look at the fuel costs and mileage.
Aveo: 27/37 MPG
Prius: 60/51 (That’s with the AC off - which actually makes a difference)
But you looking at a cost difference of nearly $13,000 between the two vehicles! How much fuel does $13,000 buy me? $2.97
http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/
With an Aveo you could buy: 4377.10 gallons of fuel before the price is the same as a Prius. With an average combined city and highway combination, you would have to drive: 140,067.34 miles before you break even with a Prius/Aveo. Now, not considering the fact that the batteries won’t last that long most likely and the warranty will expire at 100K, taxes which are based on the cost of the vehicle and the Prius costing more than twice, I can assure you, for the VAST majority of Americans buying the Prius, the fuel savings will “NEVER” pay off to any cash savings in the net.
The Prius is for people making a statement, it’s an over engineered car that caters to a low end market segment with near mid class prices and hopes to achieve sales through: Branding, perceived savings because of mileage, and saving the environment. Some cities and communities are buying this car because of those reasons. Economically, it makes no sense. It’s the intelligent car for the ignorant person.
Now some other interesting details that should drive the decision making process. The average new-car buyer trades in the car at 55,000 miles or right at four years (For a fact check: http://www.dot.gov ). Most people finance their car and the interest paid (total amount) will be more on the Prius. The Aveo is but one example and nearly every other brand makes cars that are economically a better answer than the Prius. So you tell me why people buy this car?
.....They are slow....
Think about that and then consider the testimony of several FReepers and the cop.
While you may see Prisus’ moving slowly, that is because the driver is driving at some predetermined speed conserving gas at a phenomanol rate and muttering under her breath how she is saving the world and how all you sob’s passing her are enemies of the earth.
From Car and Driver:
C/D TEST RESULTS
ACCELERATION Seconds
Zero to 30 mph 3.4
40 mph 5.6
50 mph 8.2
60 mph 11.3
70 mph 15.3
80 mph 20.5
90 mph 27.6
100 mph 39.6
Street start, 560 mph 11.3
Top-gear acceleration, 3050 mph 5.5
5070 mph 7.9
Standing 1/4-mile 18.3 sec @ 76 mph
Top speed (governor limited) 104 mph
BRAKING
700 mph @ impending lockup 184 ft
HANDLING
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad 0.76 g
Understeer moderate
But don’t get me wrong.. I would deem the performance very good for the mpg it gets.
I have 3 cars.. My daily driver is an 03 crown vic ‘sport package’ if you can believe such a thing exists.. but it does.. My weekend car is 07 infinity g35. It actually get’s right at 20 in mixed mode driving.. And, the beast I need to sell, an 89 BMW 750il.. It has a 5 liter 12 cylinder.. it does about 11 mpg, but 18 on the highway..
I drive very little.. a tank of gas lasts about a month, sometimes longer.. in any of my cars (I don’t think I’ve put gas in the bimmer in 3 months).. Because I drive so little, I don’t worry about mileage all that much..
I'm well into my 40's (actually,I'm older...I once had a draft card!) and the fastest I've *ever* driven was about 80....and I did it on I-75 in Florida where the limit was either 70 or 75 (can't recall which).As I was doing 80 I was scared silly.So scared,in fact,that I was close to soiling my underwear.
I, too, was the proud owner of a draft card. Was never into the hippie crowd, LOL. My draft number in '72 was 98! Only a 50 year old waitress in a big white Buick and my '45 flathead, kept me from VN. Can't say I'm too disappointed!
Back in '69, I raced a Charger on the Boulder turnpike at a 135 MPH. The next day I put my '65 Chevelle on the rack and found a bubble on the sidewall in the left front the size of a softball. Scared the hell out of me enough I never did it again! That was just to close for my young butt!
Never did out run that friggin' Charger! Heh, heh! He had more balls than I did!
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