FR-S vs 2010 Prius

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Asterisked Accolade

I have never liked the Prius. If you want good mileage, i'm sure there are more aesthetically pleasing cars out there that can ball-park a Prius' numbers. Also, i'm sure there are some that don't handle like a Pontoon.

I'm with you there. I also personally feel the whole drivetrain is just gimmicky and a half-hearted effort. I much prefer the tech in the Volt, where the car really is an electric car. Toyota could have done better.

Yes, I realize it sorta works, but I have to wonder what the fuel mileage of the Prius would have been with just a straight fuel efficient gas engine with the same level (or lack of) power. A lot of the mileage is really in the aerodynamics anyway.

I wonder the same thing about the Volt. If they had skipped the huge battery pack, and just made it a straight electric/gas extended drive car, would the "real mileage" been much different after the first 50 miles?

[Asterisked Accolade]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

I'm with you there. I also personally feel the whole drivetrain is just gimmicky and a half-hearted effort. I much prefer the tech in the Volt, where the car really is an electric car. Toyota could have done better.

Yes, I realize it sorta works, but I have to wonder what the fuel mileage of the Prius would have been with just a straight fuel efficient gas engine with the same level (or lack of) power. A lot of the mileage is really in the aerodynamics anyway.

I wonder the same thing about the Volt. If they had skipped the huge battery pack, and just made it a straight electric/gas extended drive car, would the "real mileage" been much different after the first 50 miles?

Also, Top Gear BBC was talking about how the materials needed for their synergy-drive systems comes from Canada, then goes to the UK, then goes to Japan. All the while, they're utilizing large ships, planes, refineries, ect. which all pollute. It was pretty humorous as Jeremy Clark was going on about it.

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Yes, I realize it sorta works, but I have to wonder what the fuel mileage of the Prius would have been with just a straight fuel efficient gas engine with the same level (or lack of) power. A lot of the mileage is really in the aerodynamics anyway.

Nah, the reason it gets such high fuel economy is all in the power split transmission. The engine itself improves peak efficiency over most engines by like 5%, but the transmission gives them the flexibility to run the engine at barely above 1000 rpm all day, and the electric motors do a lot of the work at low speed, so it really lets the engine run at very high levels of efficiency compared to your typical car.

If you want to look at what a fuel efficient gas engine only car looks like, take a look at the Yaris or Fit. They are geared a bit short, and have better acceleration than the Prius, so if they got some mild Atkinson cycle cams and slightly longer gearing, it would be pretty comparable to a Prius as far as performance goes. With even longer gearing and supercharging, you could probably match the Prius' highway consumption.

Around the city though, the regenerative braking and mostly electric power helps the mileage a ton. How much it exactly helps though, I'm not sure. I read that the power conversion efficiency from wheel to battery back to wheel is below 50%, because the mechanical losses and battery losses are quite high, even if the motors and electronics are efficient. Something interesting to try out might be swapping the CRZ drivetrain into an MR-S, I think the significant weight reduction over a Prius might negate a lot of the strong hybrid regen braking advantage.

[was385]

Originally Posted by Subie

Don't forget the "smug" emissions, too.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155193/thanks

I was behind a prius that had a bumper sticker, which said "My car runs on 50% less war". My smug meter went through the roof. But seriously, a fuel efficient used car will always be much better for the environment than a new prius. But many people who drive the prius just want to show people that they love the earth.

[yeah2311]

Originally Posted by Subie

Don't forget the "smug" emissions, too.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155193/thanks

HAHAHAHA, I was actually watching that episode when reading this.

[solidsnake4119]

Come'on man you should know that the Prius makes 0-60 in 4.2 seconds.

[cruzinbill]

I just traded a 2010 Prius for my fr-s true story. It served its purpose and let me save cash till the damn epic wait of the "gt86" came to an end. I will admit I'm a Toyota sports car fanboy so I told my self ill wait till it comes out anything else is just so so. In the end I couldn't be happier. Lol in a way reminds me of a cross of my old mk2 supra, mk2 mr2 and a ill ae86.

[Chewie4299]

Originally Posted by HotLavaMan

Ok so I've been driving the FR-S for about 600 miles now and I finally got back into my 2010 Prius to go somewhere as I needed cargo room. Here's initial reaction:

"Um, what the hell happened to my car? It's not running right at all. I press on the gas and it doesn't go. The steering doesn't respond at all. And what is with the cornering like a boat? Oh shit, yeah, it's not the FR-S."

And I realized just how nice the FR-S is. The 49 mpg for the Prius is double what I got in the FR-s (all in-town driving) of 25.6 mpg but the FR-S is far more than double the fun of driving.

Such is life.

Yes and, as an added bonus, even with half the gas mileage you could drive both vehicles until they have 300k miles on them and the FR-S would still have done less global environmental damage!