Prius Horsepower

I have been reading about the new Prius. It looks good and appears to be
roomy. I'm curious, however. The review I read (Edmunds) stated that the car
drives like an average 4-cylinder. They said it goes from 0-60 in about 10
seconds. Is this people's experience? How is the HP? I know the gas engine
is rated 70HP. However, what I'd like to know is what happens on a dyno. Has
anybody put the car on a dyno and run it through the tests? What were the
results?

--
Kai

"...that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends,
it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its
Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their
Safety and Happiness." -Jefferson

See Your Lights wrote:

> Don't see anything there about the '04 Prius. Why would one want to dyno
> such a car? Well, the specs say 70 HP. Okay, that's for the gas engine. The
> electric engine has ?? Kilowatts. Now, the thing is supposed to work with
> both engines in concert when needed. So, what's the effective HP at the
> front wheels? THAT's why I want to know. I'm curious if it'll work as a
> replacement for our current car.

Close to 100-120HP effective, due to the large low-end torque provided by
by the electric motor. Once you get going past 20-30mph, it only takes
a few dozen HP to maintain highway or cruising speed. It also accelerates
faster due to having no gears.

It does take some getting used to, though - the CVT is not like a typical
transmission.

See Your Lights <seeyourlights@m> wrote:
>
> Don't see anything there about the '04 Prius. Why would one want to dyno
> such a car? Well, the specs say 70 HP. Okay, that's for the gas engine. The
> electric engine has ?? Kilowatts. Now, the thing is supposed to work with
> both engines in concert when needed. So, what's the effective HP at the
> front wheels? THAT's why I want to know. I'm curious if it'll work as a
> replacement for our current car.

Horsepower (all by itself) is not a perfect way to measure how a car
will perform. That's why performance magazines include information like
final gear ratio, number of gears, etc too. The HP is measured at peak
output which is only available over a specific range of engine speeds.

The unique gearing arrangement on the Prius allows the smaller engine
to remain in the efficient range nearly 100% of the time. The electric
motor is additive, I don't know how the gearing ratio of the electric
motor would be figured in the Prius transmission.

In a nutshell, the question was "if it'll work as a replacement for our
current car". The answer is that it does everything a Camry, Corolla,
Impala or other sililarly sized car would do. In many cases it does it
better or cleaner or both. In almost all cases it will do it using less
gas and creating less pollution.

It climbs mountain ranges, hauls a basket full of groceries, creeps
though traffic jams, seats 5 people, cruises all day at freeway speeds
and does it comfortably.

So test drive one. Chances are that you'll enjoy it.

Daniel

<dbs__usenet@tanj.com> wrote in message
news1rzb.405991$HS4.3267168@attbi_s01...
> See Your Lights <seeyourlights@m> wrote:
> >
> > Don't see anything there about the '04 Prius. Why would one want to dyno
> > such a car? Well, the specs say 70 HP. Okay, that's for the gas engine.
The
> > electric engine has ?? Kilowatts. Now, the thing is supposed to work
with
> > both engines in concert when needed. So, what's the effective HP at the
> > front wheels? THAT's why I want to know. I'm curious if it'll work as a
> > replacement for our current car.
>
> Horsepower (all by itself) is not a perfect way to measure how a car
> will perform. That's why performance magazines include information like
> final gear ratio, number of gears, etc too. The HP is measured at peak
> output which is only available over a specific range of engine speeds.
>
> The unique gearing arrangement on the Prius allows the smaller engine
> to remain in the efficient range nearly 100% of the time. The electric
> motor is additive, I don't know how the gearing ratio of the electric
> motor would be figured in the Prius transmission.
>
> In a nutshell, the question was "if it'll work as a replacement for our
> current car". The answer is that it does everything a Camry, Corolla,
> Impala or other sililarly sized car would do. In many cases it does it
> better or cleaner or both. In almost all cases it will do it using less
> gas and creating less pollution.
>
> It climbs mountain ranges, hauls a basket full of groceries, creeps
> though traffic jams, seats 5 people, cruises all day at freeway speeds
> and does it comfortably.
>
> So test drive one. Chances are that you'll enjoy it.
>
> Daniel

Thanks!

Another very important number is torque.

If you go to Toyota's homepage you'll find the specifications for the new
Prius.

HP: gas:76@ 5,600rpm, plus electric: 67hp @ 1,200 -1,540rpm.
That's a combined 143 horsepower possible max?

Torque: gas:82lbs.@4,200rpm, plus electric: 295 foot lbs. at 0-1,200rpm.
295 lbs as soon as the electric engine starts, that's significant to say the
least.
That's a combined 377 foot lbs of torque!
Considering how low in the rpm range the horsepower and torque of the
electric
motor kick in at, this car should have very respectible performance. That's
also alot
of torque to horsepower, a hella lot actually.

Away from that, my brother has a first gen Prius, I have a 92 Celica GT,
2.2.
We raced, and I went through the 1/4 mile about 2 1/2 seconds sooner.
I was surprised how well his car performed. On the highway he gets
restricted
to 100 by the limiter though ;/.

rh.

Torque:
<dbs__usenet@tanj.com> wrote in message
news1rzb.405991$HS4.3267168@attbi_s01...
> See Your Lights <seeyourlights@m> wrote:
> >
> > Don't see anything there about the '04 Prius. Why would one want to dyno
> > such a car? Well, the specs say 70 HP. Okay, that's for the gas engine.
The
> > electric engine has ?? Kilowatts. Now, the thing is supposed to work
with
> > both engines in concert when needed. So, what's the effective HP at the
> > front wheels? THAT's why I want to know. I'm curious if it'll work as a
> > replacement for our current car.
>
> Horsepower (all by itself) is not a perfect way to measure how a car
> will perform. That's why performance magazines include information like
> final gear ratio, number of gears, etc too. The HP is measured at peak
> output which is only available over a specific range of engine speeds.
>
> The unique gearing arrangement on the Prius allows the smaller engine
> to remain in the efficient range nearly 100% of the time. The electric
> motor is additive, I don't know how the gearing ratio of the electric
> motor would be figured in the Prius transmission.
>
> In a nutshell, the question was "if it'll work as a replacement for our
> current car". The answer is that it does everything a Camry, Corolla,
> Impala or other sililarly sized car would do. In many cases it does it
> better or cleaner or both. In almost all cases it will do it using less
> gas and creating less pollution.
>
> It climbs mountain ranges, hauls a basket full of groceries, creeps
> though traffic jams, seats 5 people, cruises all day at freeway speeds
> and does it comfortably.
>
> So test drive one. Chances are that you'll enjoy it.
>
> Daniel