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Hybrid Vehicles Toyota Prius What to expect from the next model year Prius
311 messages, Last post on Apr 26, 2009 at 5:43 AM
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Replying to: bigmclargehuge (May 21, 2008 12:36 pm) 2008 Prius specs, Gen 2, are 185 / 65 R15 or 195 / 55 R16 depending on model Regarding the NHTSA tests there's a long discussion on the website of the 'Enhancements' needed....Here's a sample Eighty-seven percent of MY 06 vehicles received four- or five- stars for the driver. Consequently, the side NCAP ratings are reaching the point of providing little discrimination between vehicles. Since the fleet has changed both in terms of weight and front end characteristics, and since the side impact occupant protection systems have improved over the years, it is necessary to revisit the design of the side test to better reflect what is occurring in the real world when serious injuries result. Approaches to enhancing Side NCAP • The agency can use NCAP to encourage head protection by using the pole test proposed for FMVSS No. 214 until such time as the rule is fully phased-in. This test would continue to measure performance while at the same time indicate to consumers the importance of good head protection devices.16 Some research will be needed to develop a new rating system. Also, since both the ES-2re and SID-IIs dummies were specified for use in the proposed FMVSS No. 214 pole test, a decision will be made on whether one or a combination of these dummies would be used for ratings in the NCAP program. • Research that focuses on the assessment of the injury mechanisms in a fully equipped side impact air bag and window curtain fleet needs to be conducted. The purpose is to evaluate how serious injuries occur in a fleet fully equipped with inflatable head protection and develop test procedures to reflect these impact conditions. The outcome of this research could be used to further raise the level of side impact protection. More research is needed, as outlined below: • A new barrier test protocol. The research will evaluate the side impact crash conditions that generate serious injuries to the occupants of the struck vehicles in the new fleet. This includes examining vehicle orientation at impact, vehicle trajectory at impact (e.g. barrier impact angle), and impact location. • Increase speed. This strategy would potentially address the serious injuries that occur in the 21-25 mph delta-V range. The 21-25 mph delta-V range has the highest number of serious injuries (5,638) in vehicle-to-vehicle side crashes. • Increase barrier weight, change geometry, and/or modify stiffness characteristics. This is an opportunity to refine barrier characteristics as the fleet changes. It is also a chance to evaluate the different MDB characteristics around the world in hopes of developing one common barrier. This strategy could adopt the IIHS barrier or build on previous research to develop other methods. • Use of new dummies, such as WorldSID. Considerable effort by industry and governments has been devoted to development of WorldSID, a new 50th percentile side impact male dummy. NHTSA is evaluating the WorldSID dummy. If development progresses to the stage that it is ready for incorporation into NHTSA’s test dummy regulation (49 CFR Part 572), inclusion in side NCAP would follow. • Develop additional lateral injury criteria. If new dummies are used, the agency would take full advantage of new dummy capabilities to measure additional lateral injuries. If you read the whole discussion you will see that they state that the test criteria were first set up in the late 70's. A few minor adjustments have been made since then but nearly the entire fleet is 4 or 5 star. |
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Replying to: kdhspyder (May 21, 2008 3:15 pm) Golly Gee you're only 6-1/2 years out of date!!!!! You do realize that since the Gen2 came out there are no such thing as LRRT's on any of the OEMs. How can you make a post like that based on completely inaccurate data? Pretty soon it will be 2004 and you can bring yourself up to date. In your own words you said "none of the Original Equipment Manufacturers used LRRTs." Incorrect BTW. My only interpretation is that you are easily offended by someone who correctly challenges your own limited knowledge and misinterpretation of reference matierial. PERIOD. new subject.
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Replying to: kdhspyder (May 21, 2008 3:43 pm) P195/65R15 P205/55R16 P215/45R17 Yup, all bigger than the Prius tires. And we're on Gen. 10 actually. Maybe thats where you got the wrong numbers quoting the car that was built in 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Corolla_E140
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Replying to: kdhspyder (May 21, 2008 3:43 pm) Of course they want to improve year-to-year. How else would they make progress? Like they have over the last 30 years. They have improved, the tests have worked, and cars on average are safer. So they have to up the standards to discern the good from the average. You said it was because they were admitting that people were dying because unsafe cars were incorrectly labeled. That's your own propaganda ministry at work, nothing more. You'll never figure it out. I think somewhere in there you know you're flailing like you have a bag over your head. But if you to stay on the offense to save face... its not gonna work.
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Replying to: kdhspyder (May 21, 2008 3:43 pm) |
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Replying to: bigmclargehuge (May 21, 2008 3:50 pm) However I do see where you might have been confused by the wording. To be precise.... There have been no LRRTs on the Prius model since the end of the Gen 1s in Sept 2003. This subject was about the Prius nothing else. You jumped the Yukon/Tahoe into it somehow and for some unknown reason.
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Replying to: bigmclargehuge (May 21, 2008 3:55 pm) Yes for two months the new Corolla model has larger tires and we'll have to wait for the new Prius model next summer to finish the comparison. But your two original statements were faulty and not founded in fact. That's all I wanted to prove. Just be precise and don't let bias get in the way of a rational viewpoint. |
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Replying to: bigmclargehuge (May 21, 2008 4:02 pm) Congressional interest has also indicated a need for a more comprehensive review of the NCAP. In April of 2005, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report based on its study of NCAP.9 The study examined the impact of NCAP on vehicle safety and investigated opportunities to enhance its effectiveness. The GAO’s general recommendations were that “NHTSA examine the direction of the New Car Assessment Program to ensure that it maintains its relevance in improving vehicle safety, including identifying tests that best address the fatalities occurring on the nation’s roads,” and that “NHTSA enhance the presentation and timeliness of the information provided to the public.” More specifically, the GAO cited the recent abundance of four- and five-star ratings and suggested that pending changes to compliance testing that would render NCAP’s tests less meaningful. It also pointed out that NHTSA must update NCAP to stay current with changes in the characteristics of the fleet. NHTSA generally agreed with GAO’s findings. Reading between the lines for those that need it... The GOA directed the NHTSA to get moving and update its 30 yr old tests because these current tests predict little or nothing. The NHTSA generally agreed with GAO's findings
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Replying to: kdhspyder (May 21, 2008 8:07 pm) "Any OEMs" read correctly is "Any original equipment manufacturers". No bad reading comprehension, I'm not a mind reader. I don't care what you meant beyond what you said. The 2008 'model' is the gen-10 Corolla. It is only logical that they update standards to continually improve safety accross the board. Making slight improvements is not the same as what you were saying, that the standards are useless. The GOA directed the NHTSA to get moving and update its 30 yr old tests because these current tests predict little or nothing. Don't interpret 'between the lines' as part of your propaganda ministry. That is NOT what they are saying. All vehicles have come up to spec, so its time to change the spec. It does not say they predict little or nothing. It means most cars are now relatively safe due to the successful testing, and they need to see how much safer the excellent ones are from average. Today's passenger vehicles are designed to be more crashworthy than they used to be, largely thanks to this testing. Still, over 30,000 occupants die in crashes on U.S. roads each year. The very success of the NCAP means remaining differences in performance among most new vehicles in full-width tests are small. This doesn't mean important crashworthiness differences no longer exist. They do exist, and additional crash test configurations can highlight these differences. One such test is the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) frontal offset crash. Full-width and offset tests complement each other. Full-width tests are especially demanding of restraints but less demanding of structure, while the reverse is true in offsets. Safecar Go ahead and read it. Notice when they say "23 years later, the standard is the same as it was in 1978." That was 2001. It follows with a long list of improvements. You actually haven't managed to make many posts without making significant errors either, so I wouldn't bother sounding superior. But like I said you'll never figure it out. I see you troll the Prius boards defending safety. I have no doubt you use bias to form your arguments. |
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Replying to: kdhspyder (May 21, 2008 8:41 pm) The 2008 Prius weighs more than the 2009 Corolla. 2009 Corolla's shoes are wider accross the range. Even the 2004 Camry, which was of roughly equal weight to the Prius, had an extra inch of contact patch. 2008 Prius wears shoes designed for cars 300-400lbs lighter than itself. The point I was trying to make, but we both got lost on how many generations of Corolla there are, and which one is which. I get the feeling that the 2009 Prius will be a real porker, close to 2009 Camry weight. Let us indeed see if they follow up with mid-size car tires, as that is what the Prius ought to have always had. Indeed I was correct, that compared to other vehicles of its size, Toyota always fitted tires that had less resistance while rolling to the Prius, likely to improve fuel economy. That works the same with any car, but they wanted to exaggerate the improvements of their Synergy Drive. They do not have to be of a LRRT material to achieve that effect. But I guarantee it is at the cost of braking and accident avoidance.
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