"Edward W. Thompson" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Jul 2005 04:49:50 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ws.net,
Doctor Drivel wrote:
The Prius has a 70hp petrol motor and a 70hp electric motor.
So with 140 hp, despite being light and with a good CD, it can only
manage
0-60 in 12 seconds and 100 mph?
Think they calim 122bhp now... but its only 78 of your real bhp though -
since the engine is the only source of power ultimately. The claimed
output can only be sustained until the batteries are low on juice. An
enthusiastic drive round some B roads ought to see to that ;-)
Not sure I understand your point/obsession with horsepower. The
horsepower required to maintain the vehicle at a constant 60 mph in
still conditions will be about, say 15 hp (maybe less but not more) so
78 hp available seems adequate.
With respect to acceleration, sure that's important if you are going
to race the vehicle but what other true relevance does it have when
considering the car is for transportation?
0-60 in 10 secs is not slow. The 0-30 time, I don't know what it is,
appears very fast. The last time I did a 0-60 start was when I was about
19, so not applicable. 100mph top speed. The limit is 70mph. It pulls 4
people very well.
If you regard it as some
sort of macho toy then that is another matter.
I suggest vehicles such as the Prius are
not intended for the 'boy racer' market.
Yep. They are to match other vehicles in performance of the same
size/class. They do that very well, and great fun to drive, smooth, eerily
quiet at times, no bumps as auto tranny change gear or no auto struggling to
get the right ratio and hunting between gears, no whining , and slipping of
CVTs. They are worth buying because the absence of a gearbox/CVT alone.
Put a Stirling engine in place of the internal combustion engine and this
thing will be super quiet and give amazing mpg. Add the large battery sets
(batteries will drop in price a manufacturing ramps up), and this thing will
amazing compared the current offerings.
It is laughable when people start comparing high mpg diesels to the Prius.
Compare a diesel of the same size and class and there is no contest
whatsoever on any point. There is a hell of a lot of ignorance towards the
Prius as this groups has clearly demonstrated.
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