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Hybrid Vehicles Hybrid Vehicles - Archived Discussions What type of hybrid should I buy? 
453 messages, Last post on Aug 19, 2005 at 6:05 PM
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| how many of these duplicate Hybrid topics do we need??? Just seems like the same people cover the exact same ground as the previous day in one of the other 4 hybrid threads. | |
| acceleration numbers a little unfair? After all, if you put a stick shift into top gear and stomp on it, you're just not going to get much power out of it, because it stays in top gear. Any automatic transmission will downshift, so "top gear acceleration" is a misnomer when it comes to automatics, and I'm sure a CVT will do whatever it is that they do! | |
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you definitely have to compare automatics to automatics. Whenever car mags have comparos where one or more of the cars is an auto, they also write a disclaimer into the text of the article to point out why the manual is so much slower in the top gear tests. Nissan has been limited in its application of CVT by the amount of power the engine develops. I take it that HSD does not have the same limitation? That is to say, they could eventually apply it to high-power vehicles like 4Runner, Sequoia (next gen), etc? |
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Hmmm, Insight, Prius, or Civic? Decisions, decisions... Wake me when some other choice ACTUALLY come out... |
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Since a vehicle purchase is a signficant decision, studying beforehand what will be available when it's time for you to buy makes a whole lot of sense. Waiting until the last minute does not, especially when delivery (due to backorders) takes so long. JOHN |
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| ...I haven't heard any definitive dates, or, just as importantly for those of us on budgets, prices on any of these new hybrids that are going to come by the dozens. Color me skeptical, but I'll reserve my opinions until then. My doubts are not that more hybrids will be available, my doubts are what they will actually deliver and at what price. | |
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with just a few minor modifications  From the Car and Driver article "Toyota Prius Race Car" by Peter Lyon, April 2004 http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=27&article- _id=7902&page_number=1 "The difference is under the body. First, the spring rate was upped 15 percent, and stabilizers from the Euro-spec model were employed. The shock absorbers were stiffened, and the rear-control-arm-and-bushing geometry was modified for flatter cornering with less body roll. At the front end, the steering-knuckle joint was reinforced, and special high-performance Bridgestone Potenza RE050 rubber (195/55R-16), boasting a stickier compound than on the standard model, was fitted all around. Inoue also knew he had to get the weight down. So his team stripped everything from inside the car—seats, carpet, power windows, air conditioning—and replaced that void with two racing seats and matching harnesses as well as a shiny six-point roll cage." That is all with putting the Echo engine in the Prius on the track to get 145 hp. Yes as I said before it was joke, that is why there were no quantitative results. No speed, slalom, braking , acceleration ,stopping or any other measures of performance or handling. It was purely a exercise it engineering to see if the Prius could be made to handle better. Sure it handled better, but at what expense!!! The Prius was the beta test of Toyota's HSD hybrid system. The test was successful abeit a little slow. However, this fall when the real man's hybrids start coming out : Toyota Highlander, Lexus 400H and Honda Accord Hybrid the latent demand for the prius will drop off and Toyota will be able to meet all the Prius orders that aren't subsequently being cancelled. Oh Yeah! I forgot someone said Car and Driver got a stopping distance from 60 mph in a normal Prius of 125 ft.(I couldn't find it) They must have been stopping on an uphill slope, becuase every other measurement I have seen is significantly higher: Edmunds 131.65 ft., another C&D figure from 70 was 184 ft. This are pretty slow times. |
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| When I ordered my Highlander Hybrid, the dealership told me they are expecting a bunch of cancellations on the Prius orders. People that order now will actually be able to get a Highlander Hybrid sooner than a Prius, so they claim. | |
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Since it is his opinion. The question of "supporting data" is of no importance for a future event that has never happened before. However, I think that the word "popular" is quite appropriate, as opposed to "real man's". I would also suspect that many people who are on the Prius waiting list will be interested in more popular vehicles with Hybrid technology when they become available, simply because there will be larger and better selling vehicles available. The Highlander and Accord are already great sellers. Thus I find the original post to be quite possibly correct in it's assumptions. |
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