Merging into fast traffic

[pjone3]

Hi. This is my first post of any kind anywhere!
I'm hoping to buy a new 2006 Prius but test drives are hard to come by around here. I've driven a co-worker's car briefly through my neighborhood and really liked it. My concern is how well it does merging into the fast traffic of the beltway. Any feedback?

[qbee42]

The Prius does really well with mid-speed acceleration; that 30 to 60 burst of speed type of maneuver. Short of a sports car, it merges as well or better than any other car I've owned.

Tom

[TonyPSchaefer]

You kidding. Around CHicagoland, there is no such thing as slower traffic. Priapus and I share a cup of coffee in the morning and that's all he needs to jump into the mix of things, keep up with the regulars and pass the rest.

Never you fear about the acceleration of the Prius.
Though you don't see it often because it will hurt your mileage if you hvae a good tank average going. But as I tell my co-workers who rib me for driving at a leisurely pace: just because I don't doesn't mean I can't.

[withersea]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pjone3 @ Jun 9 2006, 08:03 AM) [snapback]268515[/snapback]</div>

Hi. This is my first post of any kind anywhere!
I'm hoping to buy a new 2006 Prius but test drives are hard to come by around here. I've driven a co-worker's car briefly through my neighborhood and really liked it. My concern is how well it does merging into the fast traffic of the beltway. Any feedback?
[/b]

I rented one for a day for my test drive. Many Toyota dealers keep one in their rental department for this purpose. Only around $38.00 for a day (refunded of you buy). It was well worth it to me. Merging into interstate traffic was also a concern for me. Happy to say that I had no problem at all. I was pleasantly surprised at the acceleration. Based on my rental experience I decided to order the car. The daily rental gave me the opportunity to drive it in various circumstances (night driving, city, winding country roads; interstate, rain.) I would suggest doing this if you can.

Also, I called around to regional dealers and found a car due in about 130 miles away. I then called my local dealer ( who had told me 6 weeks and at that he did not know which packages would be available) and had him call for a dealer transfer, which he was able to do. So now I should have my car in 2 weeks with the package that I wanted as pposed to 6 weeks with a mystery package.

Hope this is helpful.

[SomervillePrius]

As other have said the Prius is no slouch. It has a lot of tourque where it's needed (in the 30-70mph range). It's on par with most normal v6 engines in that range.

So don't worry about performance, the Prius is plenty fast. It's just that most of us decide to drive it slower in out quest for really good mpg!

[GreenGene]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pjone3 @ Jun 9 2006, 08:03 AM) [snapback]268515[/snapback]</div>

Hi. This is my first post of any kind anywhere!
I'm hoping to buy a new 2006 Prius but test drives are hard to come by around here. I've driven a co-worker's car briefly through my neighborhood and really liked it. My concern is how well it does merging into the fast traffic of the beltway. Any feedback?[/b]

1. I don't know about their current situation, but when we wanted to test drive a Prius, we went to Miller Toyota in Manassas, and they had one available. We also bought our Prius there.

2. The Beltway is no picnic in any vehicle (other than a tank, maybe), but I have had no problems at all on I-95 and the Beltway (the few times I've been on the Beltway with our Prius - I try to avoid it, but not because of the Prius - I ALWAYS try to avoid the Beltway!) The Prius isn't the fastest vehicle from a stop, but mid-range acceleration for merging or passing is excellent - very responsive, with more than enough get-up-and-go for anyone this side of NASCAR.

[DocVijay]

Absolutely no problems with merging. Even at higher speeds, 70+ mph, the Prius is very capable of giving a really quick 10 mph spurt to get you into traffic. NEver been an issue and I've already put on 14,000 miles in just over 5 months.

[larkinmj]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pjone3 @ Jun 9 2006, 08:03 AM) [snapback]268515[/snapback]</div>

Hi. This is my first post of any kind anywhere!
I'm hoping to buy a new 2006 Prius but test drives are hard to come by around here. I've driven a co-worker's car briefly through my neighborhood and really liked it. My concern is how well it does merging into the fast traffic of the beltway. Any feedback?
[/b]

Since getting my Prius, I have avoided hard acceleration as much as possible- sort of defeats the purpose. But when I have been in a situation where I needed to move fast, like merging into traffic, I found that it does just fine. I was surprised at how much pickup this car has. Don't worry- it will give you all the pickup you need.