Prius C - Test Drive thoughts - Page 3

 On 4/24/2012 7:22 PM, Bruce Richmond wrote:

Indeed, I fully intended to, but now won't.

 

It's 10.5 second 0-60 time won't win any drag races.  But as cars in general
go, it's got plenty of company at that rate, and as small compacts go,
unassisted by super or turbo chargers, it's better than some.  Hope you test
drove it without ECO mode on.  That dampens the pedal response.

And as I mentioned previously, the CV transmission can be decepetive.  It
just doen't give you that "kicking into gear" surge feeling you get with
other tranmissions.  The car *is* accelerating, and you *will* get up to
highways speeds in plenty of time on the entrance ramps, but you will not
have that same feeling your looking for.   A turbocharged Golf TDI might be
more suitable for you.  You'll still get 50 mpg, but with the turbo and a
normal transmission, at will do 0-60 in about 8 seconds.  I had my choices
narrowed down to that and the C, but found the Golf lacking in some critical
areas.

Bob

 On 4/25/2012 6:02 AM, rjdriver wrote:

The CVT hunted incessantly and evidenced significant hysteresis.

The typical automatic slushbox has more positive feedback.

 

      CVTs don't hunt.  At least not in a way you should notice.   If they
do, then something is wrong.  They slide.  And any hunting due to road
conditions and driver input should not be be perceptible.  And a CVT will
never give you the kind of feedback you are used to, at least not with an
engine this small.   I have driven my C for three weeks now, and there is no
hunting.  As for your other complaint, if you did your test drive with ECO
mode on (salesman should have known better), that would require much more
pedal travel to get a response then if it was off.   That kind of delay or
lag could easily be defined as hysteresis.

     If you found anything to like in this vehicle at all, then I would go
back and drive it again.  This time, tell the salesman you need to expience
it as it will be in real life, with just your weight in the vehicle, and no
passenger.  Then, make sure ECO mode is off, and give it a real work out.  I
did an informal 0-60 test today and counted it at 9 seconds.  This may not
be the car for you, but somehow, I don't think you have seen it's full
potential yet.

Bob

 On 4/28/2012 10:07 PM, rjdriver wrote:

Just want to point out the the Prius does NOT have a ContinuousVT.  It
has an ECVT and ElectronicallyControlledVT (note the difference in what
the "C" stand for).  It does not have a set of sliding gears, but the
computer controls (among other things) the ratio of the engine output
which goes to the drive-train or to the motor-generator.  With the
motors either adding power to the wheels or sending power to the battery
(or both), it's obviously more complicated than that, but the bottom
line is that the Prius does not switch gears in the conventional or CVT
sense and therefore can never "hunt".
--
Peace,
bobJ