@dagosa
We have a few Priuses in our fleet, and I have to say they’re actually kind of quick
The Prius will easily let somebody drive like a speed demon
I see it all the time
Looks like some of the Prius pilots around here…
@ok4450
That Prius driver in the video DESERVES to be rear ended HARD by a Freightliner semi
@B.L.E. got it, I think. The Prius used to get car pool lane stickers (I don’t think they do now) so some people bought the sticker. Another bad government idea, in my opinion.
Where is it the law that you have to turn your headlights on in the rain? Not here.
Each state has its own traffic laws. The feds influence them but each state passes their own laws. In Minnesota the law says you have to turn your light on in poor visibility weather. Been that way for about ten years. A few years ago they also passed the move over law requiring you to move a lane over for stopped emergency vehicles.
@db4690
You are right. They “feel” quick because of the instant and continuous flat torque curve, in no small way a tribute of the electric drive and CVT. But numbers don’t lie. They are Yaris type numbers. The economy minded chassis and cookie cutter tires really don’t help aggressive driving either. Will a bunch blow by people in the passing lane at 80 mph ? Sure ! But IMHO, more because they know they are still getting great mileage doing it instead of the sub 20 mpg in the behemoths at that speed; this instead of “trying” to show people up.
Maybe it’s just my small sample size but, the people I know who drive a Prius don’t have much for tattoos and aren’t drug crazed idiots out to show the rest of the driving world anything.
Over 3000 lbs and 130 hp. How aggressive can a car be ? I get that they can in time, reach 85mph. But I don’t see them accelerating to pass or merge too quickly and aggressively. They must be selling a turbo add on in California where they are made with Corolla like performance on cookie cutter tires .
Is that 130 HP the power of the engine or the combined power of the engine and the electric motors?
Unlike internal combustion engines, electric motors can be overloaded above their rated horsepower for short periods as long as they are allowed to rest and cool off before doing it again. Auto makers take advantage of this by designing starter motors for a short duty cycle, otherwise, the starter motor would nearly weigh as much as the engine.
double post deleted
@B.L.E.
Combined HP. Regardless of how much toque the electric motor has the potential for in the Prius, like most all cars powered by them, they are restricted performance wise to keep the battery draw to a minimum. Please check the acceleration times…I did. Around ten seconds zero to sixty and passing times equally mundane. I see Most average cars are much faster. My overweight under powered by today’s standards four cylinder Venza is a second faster. If we feel intimidated by all these Prius drivers…you’d think they would be on some drag racing circuit to hear us talk. They are squirrelly little Eco cars that handle and drive about as lethargic as most all Eco cars.
While the Prius may not be powerful when compared to many other cars, it certainly has enough power to get to 80 MPH. Once there, the driver can tailgate, weave through traffic, and do anything else other aggressive drivers do. I see Priuses as well as many other cars driving aggressively every day.
Here in my part of small city Indiana there are actually alot of Priuses. Most are driven by middle age and older folks and are driven in a safe sane manner. I have seen a few being hotrodded thru town racing redlight to redlight and I think about how stupid that kind of driving is in any car, especially a prius.
I drive a Prius V wagon, a silverado, a caprice, and now a minivan. When I am tailgated aggressively it is usually in the Prius. I did an experiment one day, I drove 60mph in a 55 during an 8 mile stretch of road I travel frequently while driving the prius. When I was in my truck I drove 55mph down the same stretch of road. I used a gps to make sure in fact my speeds were accurate. I was tailgated more in the prius. However there were different people tailgating so its not really an accurate experiment.
This I will say. In my neck of the woods by far the most aggressive angry driver are usually in big “jacked ups”. They are aggressive 90% of the time, I have even seen a few blow thru the stop arms of the school buses. These are usually always driven by a young or middle aged guy who thinks he looks “tough”. Its downright ridiculous how these idiots drive. They have 30 or 40k into the truck and live in a 15k dollar shack most of the time.