Not looking so bad after all...

Can I put an SC in it?

 

nope, but it will cruise well and give you 50+ mpg in the process

 

In before the tow

 

actually.....they are working on a hopped up prius to market to younger buyers. The amazing thing is the torque produced by the electric motor. Technically, I think its infinite at 0 RPM.

John

 

i test drove prius couple times and car is slow as hell, 300tq is such a bs. i felt no tq at all and i think that tq is rated at 800rpm haha. it does get decent mileage t hough but i rarely see people get 50+, it's usually 45+/-

 

they arent all that bad, we test drove one and my wife loves it, i would have to do a limo tint before you catch me driving it!

 

The main reason you don't feel the 300lb/ft of torque is because the ECU prevented it from getting to the ground from the get go. Those crappy tires will have been done for if all 300lb/ft of torque was there to start. And ECU is trying to protect the electric motor for longivity, so Toyota does not have to pay for warranty repair for drag races (part of the 8yr/100k warranty). And yes, Prius is seen in autoX and drag strips now...

If you want to test out the torque power, try it on the freeway, after getting into highway speed, floor it... it will feel like you are strapped to a v8. It feels different though with the CVT tranny.

As for tuning the Prius... I saw a post in a Prius forum with someone doing a dyno run.... the engine was setup to run very lean. So if ECU could be reprogrammed to run richer and get the traction control to be turned off....

There was a Japanese tuner (forgot who) that put a turbocharger into the Prius... only for concept though.

 

people have been getting as low as 45 on the highway b/c the gas motor is used more on the highway than in the city. around the city you'll see at least 55mpg because it's all the electric motor running the car rather than gas.

the torques there you just don't need to feel that much torque that's why, as fokker, said the ecu doesn't let you feel all that torque b/c you wouldn't be able to control it

 

Somewhat true.

But even at highway speed, the gas motor could be shut off (rather no sparks and fuel sprayed in the cylinder). So going down hill will get you some really crazy mpg as no fuel was ever used. In fact, the battery is being recharged when going down steep hills. I have been getting around EPA between 49-54 going between Durham, NC and DC this summer averaging speed around 70-75 mph.

As for city driving. The 60mpg from EPA varies like crazy because of how EPA does their tests. Most people having to stop at a lot of stop-signs/lights/traffic get around 45mpg. But for some that drives around town not having to stop for lights/signs/traffic, then getting 55-60mpg is not hard to achieve.

 

Every owner I've talked to says they get between 45 and 50.

Still pretty damn good, almost 4 times my fx45.