On Tue, 25 Jul 2006 22:50:38 -0700, Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote: >The Prius has two motors ... the 1.5L four cylinder gas motor at 76 >hp and the electric motor at 67 hp. The drive system is designed to >use them together: very low speeds entirely on the electric, switch >to the gas for standard cruise and then add power with the electric >on demand. The net is that you have 143 hp available for >acceleration, which provides just fine performance over the road. The >transmission is continuously-variable gearing so the end result, with >the integrated drive of two motors, is extremely smooth power >delivery, good acceleration and economical cruise. > >I took one for a test drive and was delighted with it. It went well >and accelerated just fine, FAR better than some of the cars I've had >in the past, and cruised quite comfortably at 75-85 mph with passing >power to spare. It handles well, and has a very comfortable interior >with lots of seating/storage space. 50 mpg around town and 45 over >the road will save me over $150 a month ... > >I liked it enough that I've ordered one.
Good choice! I have been driving one for a year and a half now, after having had a 6-gear Celica for over 5 years :-) I really like it, and with a mix of arround town / highway I do an avarage of 53 mpg (4.3 ltr/100km) in the summer. (In the European winters it takes almost 10% more!) Note that my average cruising speed is between 55 and 60 miles or 90 km on the highway :-) Driving it is really comfortable and relaxing! Regards, JvW ------------------------------------------------------------------ Jan van Wijk; http://www.dfsee.com/gallery -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
