continued long life

Yes but it kills gas mileage and wears at a faster rate.which no one wants to pay for.. tires etc.

 

haven't floored it in 18 years, expect my toyotas to last forever

 

I have driven our 2007 for extended periods (many hours) in the low 70's occasionally going up to 80 to pass a truck. The car is stable at those speeds but on the noisy side. Not enough sound insulation. If you really intend to run at 80 for long periods of time, and still want a hybrid, a hybrid Camry or Accord might be a better choice for you. Either would be less noisy than a Gen 2 Prius and the new models of those cars actually get better gas mileage (EPA anyway) than a Gen 2 Prius. They are also somewhat larger and (possibly) sturdier cars, so might be safer in a high speed crash. (Although realistically, hitting anything at those speeds in any car is likely to be the last thing one does.)

I cannot say if a Gen 4 is quieter, but it would have better MPG than a Gen 2. If you really want to know, ask in that forum.

 

People claim they're getting 50 miles to the gallon in the Gen 3 like my persona with the 17 I can't even imagine 15 possibly my other half can't best 42 or so. And I supposedly perfectly running car with nothing no codes nothing dirty none of it but my Gen 2 sits at 47 and 49 pretty much all the time oh well and the Gen 2 is definitely a more solid car no question about it

 

I commute 2 hours a day in my Gen2 for the past 2+ years. Half state highways and half interstate. Does 50-60 on hilly state roads and 80 on interstates just fine. MPG is low 40's in winter up to 50 in summer (depending on A/C use).

I drive "hard" but not crazy, and brake gently. I put 35k since I got it (has 195k now) and no major problems. The DIY HV battery refurb is holding up fine.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

the gen2 Prius has no sound insulation and the 4cyl is noisy and underpowered. If you've driven a Camry Hybrid, BMW, Mercedes or a Volvo you can feel that it's a night and day difference. My 2008 Chevy Cobalt is even quieter and the engine not struggling at highway speeds than my Prius. It's merely a car for gas saving, not for fun or spirited driving..

 

None, at all? Is that really true?

I don't find the engine to be particularly noisy on the highway, it sounds to me like a mix of wind and tire noise.

Under powered? Well, not for what it was designed to be. If a person drives a lot of two lane highways and needs to be able to pass another vehicle safely, then the Gen 2 Prius is not the car they want. I must admit though that on a four lane highway going up a significant grade I often trundle along behind the trucks in the slow lane rather than try to go around them. While our 2007 can eventually get by them, it does it slowly enough that it pisses off the drivers in cars who pile up behind it while carrying out that maneuver. I don't need the stress, and honestly, these days I'm rarely in a hurry. Our other car is a 1998 Accord (4 cylinder) and in that vehicle I would always go around the trucks in that situation.

 

It's a car, designed to be driven on America's highways, just like any other car.
My "record" is just over 7 minutes continuous at the Gen 2 computer limited speed while going to Atlanta.
Local daily highway traffic flow in the morning and evening is 75-85. 80 is a walk in the park and nothing to worry about as long as the inverter cooling water pump is working.

 

I am going to revise my prior statement. I drove the car up US 5 for several hundred miles and found that, since I was listening for it, the motor noise was indeed quite evident. Once the music was turned up enough to drown out the other noises though, I couldn't hear the motor either.

It was very windy at the start of the trip. Like, there is semi on its side on the other side of the highway blocking all the lanes, windy. The Prius makes noises like a bad flute when wind blows across it. It is also really touchy in cross winds, more than happy to jump a lane left or right if the wind hits it hard. All cars do this to some extent, but the only other car I have owned which was this twitchy was a 1980 Corolla. That had much lower sides, but it only weighed ~2000 pounds, and F=ma.

 

I do not know where you live, but in certain states in the US the speed limit on rural freeways/interstates is 75 mph, and one would expect the cars to be driven at 80 to 82 mph on those freeways. The Prius could handle 80 mph, without a problem. One tip though, put it in the cruise on the freeways, for a better gas mileage.

 

Cruise control was engaged almost the entire trip, aiming for 72 mph, when possible. The car says it did 50.5 MPG on the return trip of ~350 miles. There was a fair amount of construction going on, which slowed the traffic down to ~65 mph for miles at a time. That did wonders for the MPG, especially when stuck behind a semi. However, driving that slow on interstate 5 in the central valley under normal conditions will guarantee an endless supply of cars and heavy vehicles closing from behind with a large delta V, which is not a safe way to drive. It is interesting to watch the instantaneous MPG go up and down with the slight tilts of the roadway. Many times I could not say for sure whether the road was going up or down from looking at it, but it was clear from the MPG readings.

The posted speeds are 55 for trucks/trailers and 70 for cars. Observed most trucks right at 70 and most cars, when the road was open enough to support it, at 75-80. Most. At one point while passing a semi I glanced in the mirror and saw a pickup closing from quite a way back. Looked again 10 seconds later and the entire mirror was filled with BroDozer grill. Once past the semi and safely in the right lane that big Ram was observed accelerating away at a remarkably high speed - while towing a trailer. I estimate he was doing at least 90 as he sped off into the distance. Well, at least until he ran into the next clump of cars and trucks not too much further down the road.

 

And re-revise. Part of that sound was the driver's side front bearing going out. Like the frog in the pot, the noise increased so gradually that it wasn't obvious for a while what was going on. It wasn't until it started also making noise at lower speeds that I realized there was an issue. The car is much quieter on the highway since that bearing was replaced. That said, it is still not all that quiet.