Jed Rothwell wrote:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
But now we've been told that engineers working on the new Prius have a
fuel economy target of 40km/litre - a mind-boggling 113mpg.
Wonderful! I hope they make it a plug-in hybrid.
In the U.S., Toyota just came out with a hybrid model of their Camry,
which I believe is the best-selling U.S. automobile model.
If U.S. do not quickly catch up and bring a good hybrid models they are
doomed -- and frankly I think they deserve to go out of business. If
cold fusion ever becomes practical, the same thing will happen on a
faster time scale.
And improved economy isn't the firm's only goal, as engineers are
working on reducing the current car's 10.9-second 0-62mph time by more
than a second.
Arrgggghhh! I hate it when car manufacturers obsess about this. It is so
stupid. For one thing, the so-called "muscle cars" of the 1960s actually
took around 10 seconds,
Don't think so!
My 1966 Lincoln did 0-60 in 8 seconds, by watch, and yes, I did check
its speedometer and 60 meant 60. 462 cid engine (what's that -- about
7.5 or 8 liters?), 4 bbl carb (looked like a toilet, and the accelerator
pump dumped about a half cup of raw gas into the manifold every time you
hit the pedal), something like 350 bhp, torque was up around 425, but I
no longer recall the exact torque & bhp numbers.
A Corvette with a 454 cid engine and fiberglass body would have been a
lot faster than that fat old Lincoln, you may be quite sure.
If you're talking about Chevy Impalas with small-block V-8's that's
something else again, but those weren't "muscle" cars by anybody's
standards.
and nobody cared or noticed.
Speaking as someone who regularly checked 0-60 times after tuneups, yes,
some people did care _and_ notice.
For another, at low
speeds the Prius actually accelerates faster than a regular car, thanks
to the electric motor.
Do you need to be careful how hard you hit the gas when you merge onto
the expressway, to avoid breaking the wheels loose?
No, I'm not being sarcastic. If it's torquier than the 1960's muscle
cars, then that would follow.
- Jed
