[OT] Prius bashing

[The Natural Philosopher]

What do you mean *trying*..

Actually that punto was the first FWD car since a mini that really steered on the throttle.

Sadly I am getting too old for all that..

[Doctor Drivel]

It is simple. An engine and motor in parrallel. A power splitter which varies the ratio of power given by both motors - one could be giving 10% and the other 90% or anything between or the reverse. This power splitter presents the power of both motors directly to the wheels without an in-line gearbox as does an electric motor in an EV car (they don't have gearboxes). The power splitter effectively presents to the wheels the effect (in torque and power) of one electric motor. There is NO in-line gearbox.

It has;

- an engine (as a normal car, although specially tuned for maximum )

- an electric motor (as a normal car - starter motor)

- a battery setup (as a normal car, but larger)

It does not have:

- an inline gearbox

It gives:

- superb economy in town driving

- ultra low pollutio levels, especially in town (the engine and motor are off when the car is stopped)

- a superb ultra silent ride.

- seamless ride on no transmision steps (great for pasengers).

It doesn't at all. Noisy, smelly, vibrating diesels are good for tractors.

Split a powertrain into three modules:

1 petrol motor, 2 gearbox (CVT or otherwise), 3 diff/wheels It is in sequence,

1, 2, 3. Simple.

The petrol motor need module 2 because of its poor torque delivery characteristics. An electric motor has modules 1 and 3, eliminating 2, as it can deliver 100% torque to module 3 on start up. Super simple. The best.

A Prius has modules 1 and 3, like an electric motor. In module 1 it has an electric and petrol motor. In module 1 it has a mechanism to automatically combine the power/torque of an electric and petrol motor to give the torque delivery characteristics of an electric motor.

Some experimental petrol engines can have modules 1 and 3 only, eliminating

1. This is by automatically varying the valve timing by using solenoid controlled valves. This will deliver the torque to module 3 similar to an electric motor. As with a Prius an auto mechanism is there to present to module 3 torques characteristics like an electric motor.

So, no in-line gearbox, gear cogs, or CVT or otherwise in a Prius.

The point behind a Pirus is to:

- Have no to very low emissions in urban conditions

- reduce fuel consumption, and hence emissions

Ferdinand Porche raced (and won) a sort of hybrid in the early 1900s. They were petrol motors -> generators -> electric motor -> diff/wheels. In effect an electric CVT "gearbox", all in-line, where the generator and electric motor replaced a mechanical gearbox/CVT. The generator/electric motor does the same job as a mechanical gearbox/CVT. A Prius does not use this setup at all, it has the two motors in parrallel.

The Prius doesn't have an "in-line" transmission (gearbox/CVT). The "clever part" is that is combines the outputs of the electric and petrol motors to give the characteristics of one electric motor, presenting the characteristics of an electric motor to the diff/wheels. Module 3 thinks that its input is an electric motor.

[Doctor Drivel]

You made that up.

[Adrian]

Doctor Drivel ( [e-mail]) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

No, I test drove it from Andrew Rowley Toyota, near Radlett, Herts.

[Andy Hall]

It's true. Sometimes people give them to me - e.g. on aircraft - but that's it,

Quite.

[Doctor Drivel]

You still made it up.

[Steve Firth]

Or have class.

[Steve Firth]

We discussed the Pious at work today. A couple of people have owned one, several have been given one as a pool vehicle.

Anyone who has been in one comments on the piss-poor fuel economy, the noise "gearbox sounds like a bag of spanners", poor acceleration, indifferent ride/handling and nasty build quality.

Which reinforces the opinon that Drivel either (a) has never driven a decent car or (b) has never driven a Prius or possibly (c) both of the above.

It's worth noting from the Torygraph article that several respondents claim that it is possible to get 60mpg in the Pious if one "learns how to drive it for economy." Umm well yes, but the same techniques will ensure one gets greater MPG from any vehicle. Hell, during the petrol strike I got 32mpg from a Jag.

[Adrian]

Doctor Drivel ( [e-mail]) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Why do you refuse to accept that anybody's opinion may differ to your own?

I most certainly *did* test drive one, a silver T-Spirit, and I posted my opinions immediately afterwards in a thread that you were participating in.

It was massively unimpressive. The handling was uninspiring. The ride was standard Japanese over-firm and under-damped. The road noise was hugely outclassed by today's standards - and poor by those of a decade ago. If you accelerated slowly enough to keep it in ZEV mode, grannies in automatic Metros would overtake, but if you thraped it any, the engine noise was intrusive. Headroom in the front was OK, in the back was insufficient for an adult. The boot was far too shallow to be usable.

Oh, and the fuel computer reported mid-30s mpg for my 30-45 min mixed-road testdrive.

I got back in my 10yo Cit XM, and was immensely glad.

Then I had to spend a week fending off calls from over-eager sales muppets.

[The Natural Philosopher]

QED.

A sentence without any discernible verb.

Or punctuation.

What DOES he mean?

Let's see..

You! Simple people like that would be the case. Hmm. Not much sense there.

You simple people! Like that *would* be the case..

Thats almost meaningful..

You simple people like that, would be the case.

That's almost grammatically correct, but means nothing without context.. and the available context bears no relation to the sentence.

I think I give up at this point. It's just vain mutterings isn't it?

[The Natural Philosopher]

sounds about as bad as the Yaris then. After 5 miles of vague steering I already had backache, and was deafened by the noise.

I wasn't much taken with the StarTrek dashboard either.

Quite the worst small car of all the ones we tried before getting the Punto.

Probably the Polo was the nicest, but the price was silly...and the punto handled better.

[The Natural Philosopher]

They can't give em away these days. Shades of the Sinclair C5.

[Steve Firth]

Not everyone lives the rich fantasy life that you have.

[Andy Hall]

[Doctor Drivel]

You are clearly mad.

[Doctor Drivel]

Matt, what do you fear.

[Doctor Drivel]

Neither do the dealers.

[Doctor Drivel]

You are a plantpot.

[Doctor Drivel]

What about the Hyundai Getz (sp?). Polo rip-off, 5 yr guarantee and more reliable.

[Doctor Drivel]

You are telling lies as you are a plantpot.