| Author | Message | ||
| Ted Schuler (Red4501)
Rating: N/A |
I just got one of these and am hoping it will be as good as all I have read. I put 1050 miles on it the first week and really love it. It has great room in it. I am 6'1" and my son is 6'3" we sit front to back from one another and both have leg room. I sit in traffic air conditioner and radio running not using a drop of that precious mid eastern oil I so love to hate. It has great pick up and fuel economy. Think it might make a good toad when we start to hit the road. I would love to hear any opinions you may have on this car. Thanks and Happy Bussing. Red4501 p.s. Love my Scenicruiser too................. | ||
| evacuated from mississippi Rating: N/A |
I wished I had known. I just saw a wrecked prisus that was sold for PARTS only NTSB sold it so it could never be rebuilt. This car sold for 1000.00 | ||
| Tim Strommen (Tim_strommen)
Rating: N/A |
Convinced parents to buy one when they first came out. My mom has gotten ~34MPG average after 40K Mi. every time I get behind the wheel, the average goes back up to 57MPG. Just goes to show that no matter what car/truck/bus you drive, if you drive with a lead foot, you get $***ty fuel milage. The trick to getting terrific milage with those cars is much like with the new DDECs... (think Cruise Control). Try it, you'll see milage around ~75MPG when you're on flat land. Saves the average when you get to a hill. Cheers! Tim | ||
| BrianMCI Rating: N/A |
The Prius is alright...we bought a few of them for our fleet a while back. Fortunately ours aren't one of the years being recalled for stalling... sometimes at freeway speeds. The one big concern I have with the Prius is battery replacement, currently the cost of a new storage battery is about 3,000 dollars. The bright side is, a spokesman for the industry stated his belief that by the time the first Prius needs a replacement storage battery the cost for them will have fallen significantly. Brian | ||
| Tim Strommen (Tim_strommen)
Rating: N/A |
Parents just had their 2001 battery recalled 2 months ago... so much for the cost going down. | ||
| James Maxwell (Jmaxwell)
Rating: N/A |
So Tim, are u saying it's more in the driver than the car? I have to agree w/ your conclusion that driving patterns have a significant influence on end results, but I would think that a vehicle touted to be so high tech would be able to compensate for that. Afterall, 34mpg is not impressive for low performance, small displacement vehicles. My Cadillac will get 23-24 on the cruise and it makes no pretense of economy being even a consideration. | ||
| Geoff (Geoff)
Rating: N/A |
I am wondering if the Prius is towable 4-down and how much it weighs (not that I would want one). | ||
| James Maxwell (Jmaxwell)
Rating: N/A |
Geoff: Someone at BusNUSA was towing one but I did not ask them about the setup to do so or how it was equipped. Considering that your riding around in something that looks the size of an overgrown rickshaw, I was not impressed by the 34mpg that Tim quotes for someone to just get into it and drive without continuously referring to a checklist to make sure you're doing it right. | ||
| john w. roan (Chessie4905)
Rating: N/A |
If you want mileage without all of the high tech.stuff to start going bad after a few years; you could consider a Jetta TDI, which get close to 50 mpg most of the time. | ||
| Tim Strommen (Tim_strommen)
Rating: N/A |
It very much has to do with the manner of driving. Much the same as a V-8 will get better fuel economy when driven gently (so rarely done), than when you push the gas pedal through the floor. When the Hybrid system is being driven gently, the dynamic (changing) loads on the drive train are lower. When the Toyota Synergy Hybrid Drive System (mouthful) sees lower dynamic loads, it will run the gas engine at the most efficient RPM to re-charge the battery pack, while putting as much power to the electric motor (~85% efficient). If the driver is driving with a lead foot, and changing their speed a lot, the hybrid system over-rides the efficiency in order to facilitate the change in speed/torque requested by the driver (they have to do this so that you can still do panic obstacal avoidance). When the System sees a very dynamic load, it forces the engine to directly act on the drivetrain, and pulls power out of the battery to assist in acceleration (~35% efficient). This is much like the fuel systems in all gas powered cars. The fuel pump has a surplus of fuel which typically returns to the fuel tank. If the driver makes a high demand movement on the gas pedal, the engine comuter increases the amount of fuel it puts in the cylinder to in crease the power the cylinder produces during combustion. When the gas pedal fluctuations are small, the computer only puts the ammount of fuel required to make the engine operate at the specified RPM (based on throttle position). So no matter what car you use, the driver ultimately decides what fuel economy he/she gets. It should be noted that I gave two examples, 1) my mother drives with a lead foot and gets ~34MPG, 2) I don't drive with a lead foot and get ~57MPG. It should be further noted, that in my truck ('93 Toyota PU, 4-cyl, Manual) I get ~33MPG while my Mother will get ~11MPG. The key here is the fuel efficiency band which the specific vehicle opperates in. The Prius deffinately wins. About towing, the manual says not to tow it with wheels down because the Prius doesn't have any way to "unplug" the drive train without taking it apart. It has a C-V Transmission not a clutch or torque converter, so you would have to trailer it. I should also mention that I left it in Neutral when I turned off the ignition, then placed it in Park to remove the key; the driver information display gave me a nasty warning about how I shouldn't do that, something about discharging/not-charging the battery (I'll see if I can take a picture of it later). Cheers! Tim | ||
| Tim Strommen (Tim_strommen)
Rating: N/A |
Lo-and-Behold! My mother just came over to drop off a few things for my trip. So here is the warning I was talking about:  When this is displayed, the master warning light in the instrument cluster comes on and it SCREAMS at you (very loud-steady beep). It looks like Toyota has left few options for towing this type of car, I should note that I've only seen these towed on flatbed trucks not the 2-wheels down trucks... Cheers! Tim | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
Rating: N/A |
Extra power for panic obstacle avoidance? We sure didn't have that in the VW Bettle until 1968. Used to pass by racing up on the bumper of the slow car at 70 mph (top speed) and taking a peek to see if it was safe to pass. Otherwise, slow down, drop back and accelerate and try it again. The new Herby movie is being marketed to people who have never driven an under powered car. They may not get it. | ||
| Tim Strommen (Tim_strommen)
Rating: N/A |
Exactly, and most of them drive SUVs... Tim | ||
| Mike (Busone)
Rating: N/A |
I just don't like the idea of the hybrid, too much extra crap to fail. Dealing with problems related to sensors for EFI cars is enough trouble. I like the TDI as well it is just plain more simple. My saturn gets about 38MPG on the highway with the A/C on. The car was cheap to buy and it is fairly cheap to maintain. The best part is I can work on it myself. The only battry that will ever need replacing is the one that starts it. |