Prius vs. Dodge Charger

I am not playing with numbers. Those smaller cars don't even get as good MPG as Prius. We were just comparing acceleration. The two major things matter for acceleration which is weight and power. The more power the faster. The less weight, the faster. How is that playing with numbers? I used the same car (Civic hybrid) to make a point.

Obviously, you haven't driven Prius on the hilly highway. Prius drives and pass with ease on those mountainous highways. I would say, it is incredible considering it is ultimately power by the 76hp gas engine!

In the same condition, those automatic 4 cyl economy cars would be confused finding the right gear or locking into/out of overdrive.

The Iconic Prius came to market more than 5 years ago. If you want to compare, the new 2010 would be closer. Both have 1.8l gas engine and similar peak hp (134hp Prius vs. 140hp Civic). The 2010 Prius may be ~300 lbs heavier than the Civic and larger (mid-size vs. compact). Both car's passing performance should be about the same.

I am keeping mpg out of this comparison.

 

Good. I agree with you, let's leave mpg, HP/weight and 2010 models out. The best objective criteria to represent highway passing power is the 45-65mph test.

45-65mph acceleration
07 Fit 7.1secs
Civic Hybrid 6.1secs
Prius 5.8secs
08 Vue 5.8secs
Yaris 5.6secs
Versa 5.1secs
08 RAV4 5.0secs
Civic EX 4.8secs
'08 CR-V 4.8secs
'08 Focus 4.7secs
07 TCH 3.8secs
05 Accord Hybrid 3.4secs

 

It all depends on your perspective. I traded off a 1989 Honda Civic wagon for my 2004 Prius. The Prius is a Lear jet compared to my old Civic. Not only acceleration from a standstill, but acceleration from highway speed, the Prius blows away my old Civic.

Now, if your previous car was a Mustang, your perception will be very different.

Perspective. I'm very happy with the acceleration of my Prius, and I gather the 2010 will improve a little bit on that (though I don't need more than what my 2004 Prius has got). But if you feel the need for speed, the Prius might not be the car for you.

 

my sis has a Civic, dont know what year or trim (2003 i think) and my personal experiences dont jive with your stats so i will chalk it up to MY diff's...

here Civic is pretty decent off the line (but we have often wondered if it was a mind trick caused by engine noise)... but at highway speeds, its a dog...no other way to describe it... it is WAAAY slower at passing speeds than my Pri

*edit**
oh she has a 5 speed...

 

It is much easier passing in my CTS-V! As long as it is not snowing or icy!

 

I would expect a Cadillac to be overpowered. I guess there have to be cars for people who need to compensate. But at that price I'm surprised it cannot handle snow and ice. :mod:

 

For 20 mph acceleration, the sweet range for Prius is 30-50 mph. It will be interesting to see how the Civic EX perform for that test. We'll see if the gearing was optimized for 45-65 mph test.

 

highway passing at 30-50mph?

 

More like merging into highway. Speed limit on LIE (I-495) is 55 mph but the cops don't mind 15mph over the limit.

 

Well, it's probably a flawed logic, but if we look at the 0-30 time, and the 0-50 time, maybe substracting the 0-30 from the 0-50 might give an idea about the 30-50?
08 Civic 0-30 3.2 secs, 0-50 7.0 secs... 30-50 = 7.0 - 3.2 = 3.8secs
06 Prius 0-30 3.4 secs, 0-50 7.6 secs... 30-50 = 7.6 - 3.4 = 4.2 secs

Pretty close. In an actual 30-50 the 5 speed automatic Civic would suffer from having to downshift, so adding half a second on the 3.8secs makes both about similar.

Not scientific, but gives a ballpark figure

the challenge is to find what a Charger is like. I couldn't find any specs for the V6 Dodge Charger. Actually, Motor Trend (where I took most of the numbers I posted here) is one of the few that publishes lots of accel numbers, but they rarely test entry-level cars. I couldn't even find the regular Corolla, they only had the XRS.

Which reminds me, this weekend I'll take a stopwatch and time a few 45-65mph runs on the highway.

 

the prius just probably responds faster, giving the perception of feeling faster. i think its mediocre on the highway, but put 1 friend in the passenger seat and instantly i can feel the car having a harder time. 2 friends and i'll be near flooring it just to get on the highway.

i was driving in indiana and they have some 2 lane highways and sometimes there are drivers going 60 and i'll try to pass on the left if it's clear.. I had another friend with me (girl, probably doesn't weigh much), but I had to floor the car for sure to pass the car in front. And even then, it was pretty scary, didn't know for sure if I'd make it.

so no, i really honestly don't think the passing power is as phenomenal as some of you make it out to be. and even if it does seem faster than a civic, it's not like a civic's passing power is considered great in the first place.

 

You know how I check overtaking performance?
I go for a drive on one of our major highways which has road trains on it. Unlike most of the USA where there are multi-lane freeways everywhere, here the roads are one lane each way, the speed limit is 110km/h (about 70mph) and you pass by driving on the wrong side of the road when nothing is coming the other way. There are some passing lanes but not enough.

In this environment my Prius performs very well,, I feel it is better than the 3.6 litre V6 I drive during my work days. The Prius seems to have stronger initial acceleration which tapers off predictably, where the Commodore hesitates while down shifting.
Both cars accelerate from 100km/h to about 140km/h (about 60 to 90mph) while passing a 36 metre long road train traveling at 100km/h.

 

It's all subjective. When you floor the pedal it does not mean the car is under-powered, it just means you want more power than it has. If you have to floor the pedal to pass, you didn't have enough room to pass safely. I met a guy who had the most expensive BMW and then had a custom engine installed so it would be even more powerful. Why? So he could pass in less space than anyone else. He claimed his car was the most powerful thing on the highway. For a guy like that, no car is powerful enough. But if you are willing to sit back and relax, and you don't need to shave every last minute off your travel time, then even my little 1989 Civic was powerful enough, because it's just a matter of waiting until it's safe to pass in the car you have.

When you say the Prius is not powerful enough for passing, what you are really saying is that you want to be able to pass in less space because you are too impatient to wait for a bigger opening.

I don't think anyone has called the Prius's passing power "phenomenal." I think "perfectly adequate" would be the consensus of most Prius drivers, unless they also drive a muscle car. I've driven more powerful cars when I had to rent a car. I thought their power unnecessary and wasteful. Like I said, it's all subjective.

 

At what point did "too much" become "just right" in terms of automotive horsepower? I understand that there will always be muscle car enthusiasts that like big engines, but why the normal family car "needs" 400 hp is beyond me. We have given leave to our collective senses.

Tom

 

Agreed. My initial post was triggered by someone who said the Prius passing power was "incredible".
It's adequate for me, and it's not "incredible". I don't want incredible passing power anyway, I want incredible fuel economy.

 

That would be me. I just reread my comment 14 months ago. You quoted me out of context.

My reference of "incredible" came from the experience with the loaner car (Corolla automatic) that I drove. I think it was a 2007 model year because I remember being disappointed because I didn't get the redesigned model.

 

it is all subjective. all it means is that i can't safely pass.. relative to the power of the Prius. it's subjective to the car you own, is it not? Do you think I would purposely put myself in a dangerous situation because I'm too impatient to pass? I waited for a good opportunity to pass, I just overestimated what the Prius is able to do.

phenomenal, incredible, word choice technicalities. if you want to get technical, then i also didn't say that the prius wasn't powerful enough for passing. my main point is, the prius isn't as "incredible" in passing as people make it out to be.

 

No, the Prius just wasn't powerful enough to pass in the distance that you wanted it to. It can pass in much less distance than my Civic could, so for me it's a rocket.

 

Sorry about that.
/me slaps his own hand.

Corolla automatic... eeesshhh... yep, the Prius is less slow than a 1.8L Corolla automatic.

 

I thought they built them cause they were gangsta? :hat: