The Prius need for speed

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Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: dparm
With a diesel you don't have a battery pack that's toast in 10 years or less...


with a diesel you will be repairing turbo, pump and injectors in 10 years and that will be several times the cost of the prius battery ($2000). I suspect timing belts alone will cost you more than battery that surprisingly doesn't brake if you bothered to check.


The offerings of Diesel and hybrids in last 10ish years do have a nest of really expensive potential repairs nested in them. Forget the battery, the inverter is silly expensive out of warranty ($6000-$8000) which buy lots of fuel for your simple engine car.
 
Originally Posted By: Stewart Fan
I swear every Prius I see on the highway is doing about 15mph over the speed limit. Of course people in other cars do as well,but its like its mandatory to drive like that in a Prius.

Maybe they're all suffering from a stuck gas pedal.

Or it's the fact that they're sucking down fuel and getting 40mpg while I'm going only a couple MPH slower and pulling 65-70+mpg. Maybe they're always in a hurry to go somewhere, maybe it's the wretched excess of power they have available. Since I only have 40 horsepower to choose from I usually tread lightly, haha.
 
Originally Posted By: rjundi

The offerings of Diesel and hybrids in last 10ish years do have a nest of really expensive potential repairs nested in them. Forget the battery, the inverter is silly expensive out of warranty ($6000-$8000) which buy lots of fuel for your simple engine car.


Interesting, since the battery failures have been mostly disproved, now the inverters replacement is used to bash Prius.

Now, how often does it happen, 1 in million cars?
Probably not more than complete engine failure in non-hybrid cars.

Lets see how much the super expensive inverter costs on used car parts market. Whooping $310 buy it now: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2005-TOYOTA-PRIU...5f3&vxp=mtr
 
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: rjundi

The offerings of Diesel and hybrids in last 10ish years do have a nest of really expensive potential repairs nested in them. Forget the battery, the inverter is silly expensive out of warranty ($6000-$8000) which buy lots of fuel for your simple engine car.


Interesting, since the battery failures have been mostly disproved, now the inverters replacement is used to bash Prius.

Now, how often does it happen, 1 in million cars?
Probably not more than complete engine failure in non-hybrid cars.

Lets see how much the super expensive inverter costs on used car parts market. Whooping $310 buy it now: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2005-TOYOTA-PRIU...5f3&vxp=mtr


For whatever reason I have known two hybrid owners with 100k+ who have run into this with a relatively recent Highlander and the other an older Prius.

$350 for a part with 203,000 miles on it seems about right given the new price and shows how expensive they are.
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Yeah I see them flying all the time.

I was following one in my friends diesel Mercedes at about 85 once and I said to him, you know this car is probably getting better mileage than that Prius at 85....


Prius will do circa 40 MPG at that speed. How about your diesel?


41-42.

Compare it to the energy costs that big old battery consumes during production and generation of the juice and the diesel is way ahead.

Run the diesel on bio fuel and were not even in the same ballpark.

Plus an E320CDI can do something a Prius cannot at that speed...accelerate.

They can't sell hybrids in Europe because the diesels are to good. But they have reasonable emissions standards and don't have cat [censored] for diesel fuel like we do in this country. I actually saw "premium" diesel the other day with a 45 cetane ratting, seriously? That's cat pee.


X2. Our regulations have made diesel unreasonable here except for the enthusiasts. Nobody wants to fool with it anymore. Too expensive, too much maintenance, too many issues.

I think wider use of diesels in the US would be good, but until then hybrids are as good as it gets for some commutes. My dad has a hybrid Civic that has had no trouble getting 50 MPG on the interstate since new, but unfortunately it's an unreliable transmission eating POS. If it were reliable it would be a great car.


Its a crying shame.

I know someone who just rented a new A6 TDI in Germany and he said it couldn't have been any more fantastic. Excellent power, very low fuel burn, and would run 130-140 without any trouble on the Autobahn.
 
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Yeah I see them flying all the time.

I was following one in my friends diesel Mercedes at about 85 once and I said to him, you know this car is probably getting better mileage than that Prius at 85....


Prius will do circa 40 MPG at that speed. How about your diesel?


41-42.

Compare it to the energy costs that big old battery consumes during production and generation of the juice and the diesel is way ahead.

Run the diesel on bio fuel and were not even in the same ballpark.

Plus an E320CDI can do something a Prius cannot at that speed...accelerate.

They can't sell hybrids in Europe because the diesels are to good. But they have reasonable emissions standards and don't have cat [censored] for diesel fuel like we do in this country. I actually saw "premium" diesel the other day with a 45 cetane ratting, seriously? That's cat pee.


41-42 MPG in E320 CDI???
Clearly in your dreams only. I don't think you own or drive one. Here is why:

Quote:
2006 MERCEDES-BENZ - E320 CDI
City MPG: 23 Highway MPG: 34 Combined MPG: 28


http://mpgfacts.com/?did=386&year=2006

Yes, the merc will accelerate all right, 0-60 in 6.6s vs 3 seconds longer in prius.


Whatever you say, your the professional you have the interweb.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
You gotta be kidding... around here the Priusesesessss (Priuii?) are rolling chicanes, especially on the 80-mph speed limit toll roads. Granted, I think the 80 limit is too high for many vehicles like my Cherokee and generally use the right lane at about 75, but even then I have to jump left to dodge the Priuses all the time.

And there's no need... I KNOW that they can cruise over 80 if the driver wants too. Maybe they just don't feel safe at that speed, I've always found them a bit underwhelming as far as chassis and suspension goes. Great tech, not so great car fundamentals IMO.

German car drivers are the ones that seem to think they've imported part of the Autobahn along with the car... :-/

And then there are the ricers. Phart-cans, "ground effects," and giant wings are dwindling in numbers (through natural selection, I presume) but there are still a bunch out there... driving too fast and leaving a trail of blue oil smoke. :-/


I raced one of those riced out [censored] cannon equipped, blue smoiking Civics a while ago up the boulevard in the city. And won!

I didn't even know I was racing, either. I was driving at my usual pace and the kid was giving it all it had to try to keep up with the Cherokee. Mind you, I accelerate as light as possible.

The 5 miles we went, he must have burnt more oil than I did gas.
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy

Whatever you say, your the professional you have the interweb.


I had to look it up.

from Urban Dictionary:
Quote:
interweb
A sarcastic term for the internet. Often used in the context of parody regarding an inexperience, unskilled, or incoherent user.


Thanks (sarcasm).
I learned something new.
 
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: rjundi

The offerings of Diesel and hybrids in last 10ish years do have a nest of really expensive potential repairs nested in them. Forget the battery, the inverter is silly expensive out of warranty ($6000-$8000) which buy lots of fuel for your simple engine car.


Interesting, since the battery failures have been mostly disproved, now the inverters replacement is used to bash Prius.

Now, how often does it happen, 1 in million cars?
Probably not more than complete engine failure in non-hybrid cars.

Lets see how much the super expensive inverter costs on used car parts market. Whooping $310 buy it now: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2005-TOYOTA-PRIU...5f3&vxp=mtr


I had the inverter replaced in my 2006 Lexus RX400h at 120 000 KILOMETRES, due to it leaking coolant. The part at the time was $7000 new. It was covered under the hybrid warranty.

I have a co-worker with the same vehicle (except a US model) and at around 40 000 miles, her inverter failed completely while on the highway leading to complete loss of power. There are a few posts on the clublexus and lexusownersclub forums with other inverter failures mentioned.

So, yes, they do fail. Lexus had a full recall on the inverter on the 400h for just this reason.
 
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I'm not familiar with lexus hybrids. There are only a couple of inverter failure accounts on the priuschat. I will look up the lexus issue, it could be significant as they don't sell a lot of those.
 
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Honestly I never see Prius drivers flogging their cars... They are squeezing max MPG which is obviously why they bought it in the first place.


We're not talking about flogging, we're talking about basic driving skills, such as keeping up with traffic, staying out of the passing lane, proper signaling, etc.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Honestly I never see Prius drivers flogging their cars... They are squeezing max MPG which is obviously why they bought it in the first place.


We're not talking about flogging, we're talking about basic driving skills, such as keeping up with traffic, staying out of the passing lane, proper signaling, etc.


LOL, in my area, I'm probably the only driver doing those things, no one else bothers. And yes, I drive Prius. So much for generalizations.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
I'm pretty certain almost ANY driver would do better in the Corolla on a 1000-mile all highway trip than they would in the Prius.


Only you you compare corolla doing 60 MPH vs Prius doing 80 MPH.

Prius has the same engine hardware as corolla plus atkinson cycle that makes it more fuel efficient (under 220g/Kwh, near diesel range). Throw in continuously variable tranny that has infinite number of gears and lower aerodynamic drag.

Lets get real here for a change.


I am being real, and I never compared a Prepuce going 80 to a Corolla going 60.

Hybrids lose their advantage during highway cruising because they become fully dependent on the gasoline engine, and incur all the dead weight of batteries that are sitting there fully charged, but otherwise doing nothing. Even the EPA ratings tend to reflect this, but real-world (albeit somewhat anecdotal) evidence tends to back it up to an even greater degree. If you have a highway commute, get a small, aerodynamic, manual-transmission compact car (not something with the aerodyamics of a brick like a Smart Fortwo, though). If you have a city commute or a mix of the two, get a hybrid.


Nearly all 70 mph highway driving on this tank, I doubt a Corolla could have attained these numbers:

9b42b139.jpg


Originally Posted By: FZ1
They have to drive fast so the wind noise is greater than the drive train noise.


Sad but true for the Gen II Prius.
 
Critic great you ground this silly debate on hybrids.

They seem like the new car to buy for MPG. Used they scare me off. I like buying taken care of 80-100k used cars.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic

Originally Posted By: FZ1
They have to drive fast so the wind noise is greater than the drive train noise.


Sad but true for the Gen II Prius.


Good point about Pius 2 Gen. I rode in a bunch of them (taxis in Canada) and they were much noisier than my Gen 3.

Gen 3 is such a huge improvement, that I was sold on it as soon as test drove one (in power mode mind you). I can't hear the engine most of the time, unless I flog it for full acceleration.
I have a corolla to compare and there is no comparison whatsoever.

People who claim that corrola is better, higher MPG and other nonsense clearly didn't drive both cars to compare.

This thread is silly indeed.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
It's true, the E320 CDI can get 43 MPG......... at 34 mph
smile.gif


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtTXeaN_WLg


The smaller E220 CDI gets about 31 MPG at 90 mph, so yeah, that 41-42 MPG figure from an E320 CDI at 85 mph is highly suspect...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhXKe8VfVEE


Just for the [censored] of it I'll record my car at 85mph steady-state to see what the instantaneous MPG is for a mile or two at that speed. I think I'd still be good for 50-55mpg. But it's not a Prius or some oil burning diesel.
 
Originally Posted By: hypervish
I agree this thread is silly. All the haters are coming out in full force for no good reason.


I was rear-ended by a Prius on I-95, after traffic came to a halt for at least 2 seconds. Driver was constantly on others' bumper and almost hit me twice 5 miles back. Probably texting or some stupid [censored] because it is not possible to not brake in time after traffic around you already stop for 2+ seconds.

Offending driver is from Connecticut, is that part of New England? He is fortunately I don't drive a big OJ Bronco anymore as he would have been toasted. My bumper and tow hitch would be knocking his teeth and jaw off. Instead, he messed up my rear bumper.
 
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