Acceleration Concern

The people that say "size doesn't matter" are usually the ones for whom it matters.

That's why Prius drivers have the whole Napoleonic complex thing going on.

Agility and situational awareness can usually mitigate some of the size thing, and partially make up for a 2-digit BHP number....but I guarantee you that if you get to choose between taking one on the chin in a trial-sized Prius, or a Hummer H1, most people with three-digit IQs will opt out of the Prius.

Many things in life are a compromise.
I like to ride bikes.
No...not bicycles, motorcycles.

I exchange about 1500 pounds of mass and all of my interior volume for getting to ride IN the environment instead of just passing through it.
I'm rewarded with near-supercar performance for my 121BHP (55 in the cruiser) and the aforementioned riding experience but some dopey kid in a Chevy Spark playing with a cell phone can transmorgify me into squid pate if I'm not careful.
I get decent fuel economy, but I have to deal with the weather on a more personal level.

Same thing with Priuses.
Cost versus luxury.
Safety versus the environment.
Acceleration versus frugality.

You're not giving up ALL of anything, but merely trying to fit your wants and needs with what different cars have to offer.
And (here's the cool part!)
I don't get to tell YOU when you're happy!
If it's big to you?
It's big enough!

 

That's a true statement. But it's a bit erroneous. Nobody said that it wasn't the case. Now I'm just arguing to argue.

 

Again, it doesn't matter what you drive if you don't know how to drive it.

 

Yeah.
Right.
I'm sure a guy named Roger Rodas used to think that as well.

 

He wrecked a car he wasn't familiar with... wouldn't that describe exactly what I said?

 

But again... I didn't say that good drivers can't make mistakes. I just said it doesn't matter what you drive if you don't know how to drive. It's simple logic. Quit trying to make C = A. Knowing how to drive doesn't mean you won't wreck.

 

Historically, many large vehicles used size as a substitute for actual safety design, and exercised safety standard exemptions available only to 'niche' vehicle categories long after these vehicles went mainstream. The result was 'battering rams of death' that were 'safer' only to their own occupants, only when tangling with 'smaller' vehicles, i.e. those not exempt from those safety standards. The increased death rate of those on the receiving end the battering exceeded the lives saved inside the rams. And against their peers, or against solid earth, these exempt vehicles were also less safe for their occupants than were most smaller but safety-compliant cars.

Thankfully, those exemptions from safety standards have been very sharply narrowed.

 

Actually the article that I read stated that it was his car but in then end it doesn't really matter, does it?
Professional car drivers ought to know better, but sometimes they think that they know more than they really do, or can do something that they really can't.
BTDT.
They both died from what a pilot friend of mine called a case of "Terminal Stupidity."
Rick actually called it something else, but I'm trying to keep it family friendly.
I think it's more of a case of 'wrong tool for the task' than anything else.
Fortunately, the only two people who were killed were participants.
All too often, it doesn't work out that way.

When I went to my first two MSC classes, hey taught us that many years of saddle time somethings means that you've been doing it wrong for many years, and that there are two types of riders.....those who have gone down on their bikes and those who are going to.
That brings us all the way back around to whether or not the C-type has enough acceleration.
I think it does, and I said so.

Safe?
Well....you may get squashed by sport-ute, but you're probably not going to get turned into a screaming-Alpha because the car got away from you while you were showing your butt.

 

An article I read says it was his, but he had owned it less than 2 years and rarely drove it. A previous owner said it had a tricky clutch. The car had been discontinued in the US due to TCS issues and didn't pass US safety regulations.

 

If only they were driving a Prius, they might have not died, because in the real world you don't need that much power or acceleration anyway

All that power and acceleration should only be on a well maintained, closed off track...or in unrealistic racing hollywood movies...

The American road infrastructure is deteriorating so fast...unless you're driving on some closed off track or toll road that's being maintained topnotch...good luck trying to show off to your friends out on public roads

This thread needs to die already. The Prius C has more than enough acceleration and power for real world driving, it sucks hard when all people want to do all day long is compare it head to head against cars that were made to be fast, handle better, etc..., but IN THE REAL WORLD, even those fast cars can only go as fast as traffic and when they try to outdo traffic, is when there's going to be trouble anyway.