Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery

[cuius]

The "Prius" Ioniq

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-geneva-motor-show/2016-hyundai-ioniq-makes-its-debut-korea

[barrycoll]

The pics suggest a lot prettier car than the Gen 4.......and a sunroof!!!

Some intersting comments at the end of the piece

[YarisHybrid2016]

Why are they putting the electric drive through a conventional gearbox?

[johalareewi]

17 hours ago, YarisHybrid2016 said:

Why are they putting the electric drive through a conventional gearbox?

Maybe it is because they can and then sell it as a manual car.  There is still a fair resistance in the UK to automatic cars and Toyota hybrids can only really be automatic.

However, the Honda Insight was a manual.  That didn't go so well.

[johalareewi]

a fun, responsive drive and attractive design - a unique mix not yet achieved by a hybrid vehicle.

I dunno. McLaren seem to have done it.

[PeteB]

21 hours ago, johalareewi said:

 

 

I dunno. McLaren seem to have done it.

Hmmm, slightly different price range though... 

[PeteB]

21 hours ago, johalareewi said:

Maybe it is because they can and then sell it as a manual car.  There is still a fair resistance in the UK to automatic cars and Toyota hybrids can only really be automatic.

However, the Honda Insight was a manual.  That didn't go so well.

I can't help laughing that some people like sticking to gears, which were a necessary solution to a problem (limited torque range on combustion engines) originally - I don't the think engineers of that era really did it because people wanted the extra complication, especially as changing gear in the double declutch era was quite a chore.

Original Honda insight owner I've chatted (in my Gen 1 Prius days) to really liked them, and claimed realistic 80 mpg on dry days and 70 mpg on wet/windy days.  They rather looked down their noses at my 55 mpg Prius, but then, mine cost £1,000 less than the 2 seat, no boot Insight (which was probably it's main obstacle).

The more recent Insight that looks a bit like the Gen 3 Prius actually has a real CVT gearbox and torque converter.  It feels and drives very much like a Prius, but obviously has hundreds if not thousands more moving parts in it's drive train.

[cuius]

On 28/01/2016 at 9:12 PM, YarisHybrid2016 said:

Why are they putting the electric drive through a conventional gearbox?

Because virtually every review of Toyota hybrids is marked down because of the e-CVT box (" while the CVT causes the petrol engine to rev noisily hard", for example).

[PeteB]

On 30/01/2016 at 11:43 AM, cuius said:

Because virtually every review of Toyota hybrids is marked down because of the e-CVT box (" while the CVT causes the petrol engine to rev noisily hard", for example).

and I think they're being a bit unfair really (biased even?).

I don't think it's any noisier than many autos I've owned when using kickdown to accelerate or go up hills.  However, because the Hybrids are so quiet most of the time, many people notice it more the odd time a Hybrid does raise it's voice.

I also discovered over ¼ million miles ago that squeezing the throttle down fairly briskly makes for calmer revving (and better mpg) with hardly any loss of progress.

[johalareewi]

You could be right. When the Prius engine is revved, it doesn't go rrroooooaaaaaaarrr.

 

 

[YarisHybrid2016]

I've found with the Yaris that if you put the power needle between ECO and POWER, then accelerate harder as the car gains speed above about 40 MPH, it will accelerate very well and maintain good consumption.

I also (accidentally) discovered that if the car is cold and in the warm up period, as long as you don't put your foot on the floor, the system seems to restrain the engine, so you have reasonably hard acceleration, but the engine is remarkably quiet.

I've also discovered there is a "bump" as the engine is somehow..."not driving the wheels" but still running, around 50-60 MPH (lifting off to hold speed). With this bump is an increase in efficiency, but the engine hasn't stopped. It's not easy to run in that "zone" as it assumes the terrain and road to be fairly level/good.

I have also found the instantaneous MPG to be very helpful in obtaining high MPG, by adjusting the throttle so it is always/mostly reading at least 65 MPG. I'm not suggesting it is accurate as a figure, however by working with it andtrying to keep the figure as high as possible, I'm able to pretty much maintain the desired speed, but more efficiently than just maintaining speed alone.

Careful driving to make the most of hills (both up and down) combined with this method, is so far working remarkably well! For the first time in a couple of months the computer average MPG is in the high 50s/low 60s after 50 miles of driving, with temps of around +10 C.

I can't wait for summer! :D  It will be interesting to see where the fuel level is after this weekend.