Gore's Prius Was Going 105 Miles Per Hour (Experts Wonder If That's Even Possible)

Orlando Sentinel ^ | 7/9/7 | Dan Neil

[hardback]

As yet another tale of celebrity spawn gone wild, the arrest Wednesday of Albert Gore III -- son of the former vice president -- on suspicion of drug possession was routine except for one, rather mind-blowing detail:

Gore was clocked in a blue Toyota Prius hybrid traveling on the southbound Golden State Freeway in Orange County, Calif., in excess of 100 m.p.h.

"One hundred and five, actually," said Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino. "I think it's slightly downhill there."

The former vice president Thursday declared his love for his son, said Albert III was receiving treatment and added that the family was "going to leave it as a private matter."

Gore's cruel caning of Toyota's greener-than-thou hybrid -- powered by a small four-cylinder engine and electric motor that together produce about 125 horsepower -- rippled through talk radio and the blogosphere Thursday. Many were simply amazed.

"How in the world do you get a Prius to go 100 m.p.h. without a cliff to go over?" asked Rush Limbaugh.

Others wondered if the episode represented some kind of viral marketing coup for Toyota.

"Everybody must realize the incredible serendipity effect the Al Gore Jr. [III, actually] in-a-Toyota-Prius-going-100-m.p.h. story will have on this car?" said one of dozens of posters on a heavily trafficked Priuschat.com Web site. "If Toyota is smart, they'll have a specially prepared Prius Pace Car for the next Indy 500."

Actually, the Prius -- unofficial merit badge of environmentally conscious Californians and officially the most fuel-efficient car on the road -- is capable of going even faster, according to Mike Michels, spokesman for Toyota.

But the car, which uses an electric booster, is speed-limited to 103 m.p.h. to avoid depleting the battery.

"It can go 103 m.p.h. indefinitely," he said. At least until the gas runs out.

[linn37]

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.

[radar101]

Can a Yugo get up to 110 mph?

I'd say 100-105.

[Charles Martel]

Um, I believe the electric is only there to handle the low-speed part. Or something like that.

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.

[Charles Martel]

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.

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.

[Gay State Conservative]

Search FR for the words Al Gore's son"; you'll find the articles.

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.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Ford Festiva doing 105? Take radar 201 and learn about “radar artifacts”.

[DarthVader]

Yes it can. I had one as a rental in San Antonio and it is easily capable of doing 100 or more.

[JRios1968]

You could drop a Prius from space and it wouldn’t get to 100 mph.

I think terminal velocity within the Earth's atmosphere is around 127 mph, so mayyyyyyyyyybe....

[Jaysun]

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.

It might depend on the vehicle. We had a BMW that would climb to over 100 before you knew it and it felt like you were doing 60.

[hardback]

Zero to 100 in 39.6 seconds! :)

[doodad]

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.

[arderkrag]

Yeh, I hear that one will even do 115 on a good day.

[arderkrag]

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.

I used to do 100 sometimes on the way to work in my Gran Torino:



Not mine, but that's what it looks like - except mine is orange.

[Red6]

I actually sat down and crunched the numbers at one point. The Prius will most likely not pay off for most people who buy this car. Of course other have done the math as well and there are several articles written on this. Butt it’s a fairly simple and straight forward concept to understand. A substitutable product with a Prius may be a Chevrolet Aveo. Both are in the same market segment, both offer about the same capabilities and the same limitations. However, a Aveo costs: $10,560

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?

[bert]

.....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.

[tje]

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, 5–60 mph 11.3
Top-gear acceleration, 30–50 mph 5.5
50–70 mph 7.9
Standing 1/4-mile 18.3 sec @ 76 mph
Top speed (governor limited) 104 mph

BRAKING
70–0 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.

[Dixie Yooper]

I am presently driving an 06 Corolla S that cost $19,000 (I had to get leather seats)and average 37 mpg with mixed driving. The difference of over $5,000 can buy allot of gas for my Corolla, but I still have a bad case of mpg envy. Anything that keeps me out of the gas stations and sending more money to the Arabs has my attention. I look forward to the day I can own an electric car that’s practical. As far as the environmental aspect of it... As long as no one is urinating in my drinking water, I’m not very environmental.

[tje]

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..

[Dixie Yooper]

I had a BMW addiction for 17 years. I traded in my 98 528i in on the Corolla right when gas got up to $3.00 after Katrina. Huge difference in everything about the two cars, but I wanted to get rid of it while it was still worth something and before it started costing me big repairs. I drive at least 500 miles each week just to work and back. Over the 17 years of my BMW addiction I started with an 82 320i for 7 years, moved up to a 89 325i and then got the 528i. They were all great cars, but my favorite was the 325i. Great size for throwing around and the engine was a good match for the weight of the car. The ride quality of the Corolla compares to the 320i, until you start in on hard corners. I would like to get an Infinity someday. I test drove an 04 FX35 and fell in love with it. My wife stopped me in my tracks. She wanted a van, so we got an 05 Sienna XLS Limited the next year. So far the Toyota's have really been dependable and not disappointing at all to drive. When I bought my first BMW, I swore I would never buy another American car again. So far after 20 years, I have kept my word.

[Allosaurs_r_us]

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!