Anyone notice the feel of a different car?

Many vehicles now use electronically controlled throttles as apposed to the cable/butterfly of past which had mechanical feedback. Feel computers and force transducers (that's what we call them in aviation at least) are used to electronically "simulate" the effects of the older designs. The calibration of said "feel" is designed in by manufactures/engineers to regulate control for safety and to give a desired or perceived effect. That's the short answer, though there are likely other reason in play.

If I understand your post correctly...

 

One of the first things that I loved to hate about my Prius was the Xbox-360 steering.
The throttle doesn't really bother me since I use CC for probably 80-percent of my driving.
If I drove my Prius recreationally it might bother me a little more.

Every car I drive is different.
Back when I was working in a bigger office with 3-4 company cars in the lot (all same-year Chevy Cavaliers) they each felt 'different' to me.

I'm not a pilot, nor do I play one on TV but I'm thinking that feedback is a very non-trivial issue when you're dealing with control surfaces....
American Airlines Flight 587 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Unlike my Prius, when I press on the accelerator pedal in my Corvette, I suddenly feel immense amounts of pressure between my back and the surface of the seat.

 

Even mechanical systems will have different feel to them based on the design and how they are adjusted. I didn't like the family Luminas because they had a very soft brake pedal and stiff steering. Like the steering team was going for sporty performance and the brake guys for luxury comfort. When driving the wife's Sable, I have to remember it has a V6 with over twice the displacement and no turbo lag of the Sonic when applying the gas. Sometimes stiffer, less efficient feel of the control inputs allow overall better control of the vehicle.

 

The gen2 Prius likely produced more torque, and was no slouch off the line when pushed, but accelerating with that Duratec in the Sable just feels more enjoyable. Other aspects, like the suspension, play a roll, but I can't describe what exactly makes it feel better.

 

As it applies to aircraft it is critical. I would speculate various forms of this technology is used on your previous "transports" as well.

 

More than 428 lb·ft (580 N·m)?

 

Yup.
It was both much easier and harder to deal with a loss of control surfaces...jammed stern planes drills used to scare the CRAP out of the nukes!
All they could tell from back there is that we had a 20-30 degree down angle and a shaft spinning wildly in reverse trying to compensate.
We had time to deal with casualties, but it takes a lot longer to correct 10,000 tons of boat that's not going where you want it to.
Good times.

We had room (and money) to put in a lot more redundancy and we had 100 crew members and (usually)no pax.
Pretty much everybody knew what to do and when and where to do it when bad stuff happened.

 

I was comparing the Prius to the Sable if it wasn't clear.
The gen2 MG2 put out 295 lb·ft @ 0rpm, while the Sable's Duratec had 200 lb·ft @ 4400rpm.

 

I drove a 500+HP (performance cam/headers,etc..) loud, shaking, runs like shite in 1st gear... Challenger from NJ to LI last weekend via the GW bridge. Used 1/4 of the tank go go 70mi
Only a 70mi drive, but with a 6 speed manual tranny and all that stop an go traffic- my left knee was killing me by the end of the three hour trip! Did get a couple of thumbs up on the way home- never got that in my PIP or Volt.
Was glad to get back to my silent/smooth as silk Volt operating in all EV mode...

 

Sounds like a horrible car. Why were you driving it?

 

As a favor, it needed to be relocated for a family member... and I know how to drive a stick- so I drew the duty.

 

Yeah. My Prius can't get rid of a problem that my old CL600 could.

With both of them, when I get up to about 80-90mph, there's an annoying red-and-blue flashing light in the rear-view mirror, and sometimes a strange "woo woo" sound behind me. In the CL600, if I pressed the accelerator, the noise and the light would fade away, but with the Prius that doesn't seem to work.