Would my driving be suitable for a Prius?

[PeteB]

1 hour ago, kithmo said:

I have to disagree there Danny, especially when it comes to the Gen 4 it's not lacking, it pulls like a diesel at low revs due to the electric assistance and as good as any other 1.8 litre petrol car above that. It's not noisy and economy at motorway speeds is around 60-65mpg .

In fact, my record on a long journey so far, in summer, cruising at 60 mph indicated and taking things gently, was just over 84 mpg on the display, so about 80 in reality. 

Apart form the middle of winter, I find I'm getting about 100 extra miles per tankful compared to my previous Gen 3 Prius (despite a tank claimed to hold 2 litres less than the Gen 3's).

[danowat]

I have never once found myself wishing I had more power, it's more than adequate, but being a recent hybrid owner, coming from driving diesels for many years, the differences in how they drive at motorway speeds is quite jarring, hence why I'd always say an extended test drive is well worth it. 

[Mike J.]

59 minutes ago, PeteB said:

When you stamp on the accelerator, the engine revs rise, and the electric motor reduces rpm to compensate, even though it may be increasing its torque input at the same time.

The MG2 traction motor is directly connected to the CVT output (ring gear) so will not reduce rpm. MG1 (the starter motor and charger) will vary appropriately and can help out MG2 on the Gen4 Prime (PHEV?) as mentioned here: WeberAuto info on Gen4 CVT

[Joseph D]

A bit late to this party, I know, but just a couple of thoughts.

17 hours ago, danowat said:

0-30 is pretty keen, a Prius punches well above it's weight off the lights up to 30-40mph (64.37km/h), it does run out of puff above that, and if you are a driver who likes to press on at motorway speeds, you'll find it lacking, and noisy.

I have to disagree there Danny, too. My experience is only with Gen 2 (so only a 1.5 L), and I have never found it "ran out of puff" nor it lacking get up and go on the motorway.  As for noise, I think it is more that when you do push it at a higher speed, to overtake, for example, you notice the engine more as it goes from quiet to normal. But having reached your new speed or completed your overtaking manoeuvre, it is back to quiet again. I much prefer the odd noise now and again, compared to the constant diesel drone of a trip in my brother's Passat diesel. I usually have a headache after a day out with him.

15 hours ago, danowat said:

because if you try and gun it at motorway speeds the eCVT means you don't have the torque if you want it, like you would in a diesel in top gear, and it makes a right old din,

To me this points to poor technique. In any modern engine if you "punch" it to the floor, you will never get the best performance from the car.  You have to use a more gentle poke and prod and work with the car. Driving this way, I get plenty of punch and it doesn't hurt FE too much, either.

14 hours ago, danowat said:

I have never once found myself wishing I had more power, it's more than adequate, but being a recent hybrid owner, coming from driving diesels for many years, the differences in how they drive at motorway speeds is quite jarring, hence why I'd always say an extended test drive is well worth it. 

May be it is just a matter of becoming used to the differences between diesel and hybrid.

Like I said, just a couple of thoughts.

[danowat]

I expected to get some, let's say, alternative, opinions to my post!! 

The point I am trying to make is that, due to the way the gearbox works driving at motorway speeds is quite different to normal cars. 

In a normal car, particularly a diesel with a lot of torque, at cruise speeds in top gear you can just leave the gearbox in top and press the accelerator and still maintain fairly swift progress, and the car doesn't feel particularly stressed. . 

In the prius, you can't, you have two options, either accelerate with the HSI in the eco range, keeping the engine at lower revs and keeping the noise and economy to a minimum, or you can make more progress by pushing the HSI into the power range, by doing this the car, quite rightly, pushes the engine to a much higher rev range, and leaves it there, this means that the perception is that the car is working much harder for the same progress.

[Joseph D]

3 hours ago, danowat said:

The point I am trying to make is that, due to the way the gearbox works driving at motorway speeds is quite different to normal cars

By "normal cars" I take it you mean non-hybrids. I'd say the situation you describe is more the difference between diesel and petrol cars, regardless of whether it is a hybrid or not.

[kithmo]

The "higher rev range" mentioned is the optimum rev range in the power band for the engine, so it's working at its most efficient when needed.

The disturbing thing about this, to many drivers, is that the engine suddenly goes up to high(ish) revs then stays there until you back off the accelerator instead of steadily increasing as the car goes faster (manual or conventional auto). Watch the speedo as it does this and you'll see that it is accelerating quite quickly even though the revs are constant.

[Mike J.]

4 hours ago, danowat said:

In a normal car, particularly a diesel with a lot of torque, at cruise speeds in top gear you can just leave the gearbox in top and press the accelerator and still maintain fairly swift progress, and the car doesn't feel particularly stressed.

The 'problem' here is that, by design, the Toyota hybrid petrol engines are low torque, high efficiency engines. All you can rely on is that, in comparison to a manual gearbox, the CVT will give you the best acceleration out of the petrol engine.

I believe that the Gen4 Prius uses the electric motors more than before, so you might see better results.

[Cyker]

It really is just the difference between engine types; danowat gives a good comparison between the two and it follows my experiences too.

In my old Mk1 Yaris diesel on the motorway, I could be in 5th at 60mph and if I wanted to overtake, I could just floor it and the engine would respond immediately and a second or so later I'd be at 70mph with plenty of pull still available.

With the petrol Mk2 Yaris I now have, to pull that kind of fast overtake I need to drop from 6th to 4th or even 3rd, so where I'd be going from 2200rpm to 2500rpm on the diesel, I'm going from 2500rpm to 4000rpm in the petrol to pull an equivalent overtake - This is a lot noisier and sucks down a LOT more fuel. The HSD's do a similar 'downshift' when you floor them to deliver the requested torque, which obviously causes a similar RPM spike.

As JD says tho', this is a habit you have to get out of when switching away from a diesel - It doesn't matter how efficient the HSD's ICE is - 4000+ RPM is going to suck down a LOT more fuel than <2000rpm. You're better off accelerating as quickly as the electric motor's torque can provide on its own, (Which is still a fair bit!) and letting the ICE stay as close to cruising speed RPM as possible.

With me, this means planning overtakes more in advance so I can stay in 6th; It takes a lot longer, which is still quite painful because I'm so used to being able to nip out and back in again, but it's a lot kinder to the engine and my wallet.

The general advice HSD owners give is to accelerate as far in the ECO zone as possible, but avoid crossing into the PWR zone.

[kithmo]

The low torque in the Prius Atkinson cycle engine is supplemented by the high torque in the electric motor when needed, providing you have a good SOC in the HV Battery.

[Joseph D]

8 hours ago, Cyker said:

The general advice HSD owners give is to accelerate as far in the ECO zone as possible, but avoid crossing into the PWR zone.

But if required, use that PWR zone without even thinking about it, that is what it is there for.  And it is not necessarily uneconomical as it it is just a (relatively) short burst that is not going to affect your averages that much. People can get too paranoid about their economy sometimes, for no real reason. I drive fairly spiritedly in my Gen 2 on longer trips and I still manage to achieve 4.2 - 4.4 l/100km (67 - 64 UK MPG) on a tank. Top speed highway speed here (NZ) is mostly 100 km/h (62 mph), which helps, but that does mean I have to sometimes get to 110 - 120 km/h (68 - 74 mph) to get past some people.

[PeteB]

7 hours ago, Joseph D said:

But if required, use that PWR zone without even thinking about it...

It's interesting, but to remain a member of the RoSPA Advanced driving group, I have to take a driving test every 3 years, conducted by a serving or retired Police Class 1 Examiner.

They expect 1½ hours or more of very intense driving, including all sorts of roads, and they chose routes that are quite challenging.  First and foremost, of course, they are looking for safety, but also expect maximum progress at all times, taking all safe overtaking opportunities and driving to the maximum capabilities of car and driver, whilst staying legal and safe.

The progress bit is at odds with my normal relaxed style.  For the test, I'm flooring it out of most bends and junctions on the open, twisty rural roads they like to include, and doing 60 as much as possible on National Speed Limit roads, 70 on Dual Carriageways.  I'm always surprised how good the reported mpg (which I reduce by 5%, being my average calculated variation at fill-ups).  My last test was in May last year, a dry day with 12°C, and the car reported 74.1 mpg for the test period (I'd reset trip A), 70.4 with the 5% deducted.

[barrycoll]

My last car was a 2.0 litre Golf Diesel Estate DSG, and was Superchipped from 140 bhp to around 190bhp.

However, on a recent cross country run on the B1368 to Cambridge from Nth London to Cambridge,  my new G4 Prius, was just as quick on a give and take roads, and I was really pushing it.....when the road opened up, it was full throttle to a very old fashioned legal limit (or the next bend)....exiting 30 limits for an overtake was easy with the G4 

Basically, what I am saying is that the new G4 Prius, has improved light years over the G3, and lacks for no grunt. ....and the runs through villages at a respectable pace, allowed for a respectable (indicated) 72mpg at shut down in Cambridge.

Skoda 1.6 HDI or Prius G4 seems a no brainer 

 

 

[thecaretaker]

One thought for the poster, once you drive a Hybrid, your zippy driving style may well change. Once you experiences the calm, quiet (and dare I say relaxed) ride inside a Prius, you may well start to drive in a completely different way. And that's a good thing, I did.

I'm on my third Hybrid now and I can't see me ever wanting to drive anything else.