prius performance

I'll be surprised if anyone else on this forum is trying to make their Prius faster, unless the mod will also improve mpgs somehow. But I'll be interested to see what others write. I have wondered if anyone uses a K&N filter though.

Regards,
Dave

 

I have actually dyno tested my car at something like 787whp to the front 2 wheels. The trick is to ditch the electricity and dump a huge 8.8 liter gas-sucking V8 monster engine in there instead.

Just kidding.

Really though, I have a friend who has tricked out a Prius. He said you basically have to multiply the drag co-efficient to project ample power to the thermodynamic revolutions limiter. I know that's a little crazy sounding, but basically I guess he has produced some form of new capacitors to discharge 10x the amount of electricity already being produced. Of course, if you do that you have to upgrade the transmission to be able to handle that power output. You can usually find that at the Toyota Racing Development website.

 

There was a five section article published in 2005 on the web where a classic Prius (NHW10 - early Japanese version) was given a turbo charger. It was a difficult installation, the boost had to be limited to about 5 psi, and the improvements were small. here is a link to the concluding article:
http://autospeed.com/cms/A_2664/article.html
to see the earlier articles, use the search field at autospeed "Turbo Prius"
JeffD

 

I come from an agricultural background & have several thousand hours of left seat, so when I purchased my Prius, I looked at purchasing a turbo & didn't find much on the net. I figured it would improve mileage & a little extra kick if & when needed.

Since then it looks like Toyota is thinking along the same lines. So it is not so crazy.

I did see problems with fit after looking under the hood. I would rather have the hp there & not need it than to need it & not be there. I'm more interested in a turbo than hypermiling or a scan guage (other than water temp which should be std anyway). I am more of a gun & glide type guy I guess, but my worst tank ever from day one was 48+ mpg. I have a lot of wind, hills & probably 80/20 highway/city. Currently averaging 51+ mpg on last two tanks.

I don't see a practical kit coming. Mutltiple reasons.

 

Really the Prius zips out there fast enough for the traffic stoplight to stoplight. I sags a littel in the mid range, but aggressive enough at highway speeds. I just have one car & use it for everything. I live on a farm & have a Z71, extended cab, but I pull flatbed & stock trailers. 4 WD isn't for show at my place.

I do plan a trip through the Rockies & Grand Canyon this year or the next. I'm think my poor little pri is going to have a significant asthma attack. Most four wheelers do, but I am really wondering how this is going to go. A little concerned as I've zig-zagged across the mountains in/on many different vehicles. My Harely's always zipped through in style. Any car I've seen struggles at times. Prius ? We'll see. I'd turbo in a heartbeat if a classy kit could be found without mortgaging everything you own. Wishful thinking I guess.

 

a turbo charged Prius?

 

Man you should try owning a Prius up here in the mountains of Colorado. It blows monkey chunks in the snow let me tell you!

 

UNDER the hood?!

Either you're not strolling down memory lane, or you're too young to have seen these...

Check these cars out (hint - it's called a "blower", and you stick it up THROUGH the hood ...):

Showdown Muscle Cars - Metro Detroit's leading Muscle Car Dealer

1970 Pontiac GTO with Twin Blower - Muscle Car Videos - Illegal Street Racing Videos, Burnout Videos, and Car Show Videos

1969 Dodge Charger with a blower - Muscle Car Videos - Illegal Street Racing Videos, Burnout Videos, and Car Show Videos

 

Having spent several years wrenching on Porsches as a hobby (including maintaining a dedicated track car for a few years), anything you do to the Prius drivetrain to try to get more power and speed is going to be to the detriment of gas mileage. If you want a small efficient Toyota to play with I would suggest the Yaris - similear engine and no complex hybrid stuff to get in the way.

But if you insist on making your Prius more responsive, I would focus on 2 things and leave the engine alone:

1) lighten the car as much as possible - I am sure there are lost of things you can remove - carpet, rear seats, even the front seats if you want ot lose the airbags and go to light weight racing seats, etc.

2) Improve the suspension - better springs and shocks will make the car feel a lot more responsive.

3) Add a larger hybrid battery.

Here is an article from Car and Driver about a Prius that Toyota modfieid for track duty: Toyota Prius Race Car - Car News/Car News/News/Car and Driver - Car And Driver

 

I don't see how a turbo would improve mpg since the point of it is to pressurize the air intake so that more fuel can be injected and a greater amount ends up in the combustion chambers to be consumed. However, I've driven my Prius up to 9,000 ft elevation and had no problems keeping up with prevailing traffic.

I think that an effort to make the Prius more powerful is like trying to make a beauty queen out of Ugly Betty. While either project might be possible, the effort, cost & time involved is such that you'd be better off starting with more promising raw material. If you want a performance hybrid car, why not start with a used Honda Accord Hybrid?

This is totally contrary to the Prius design philosophy, which is to install a small Atkinson cycle gasoline engine for the sake of efficiency and economy, supplemented by power from the traction battery when more power is needed. So once the engine and the battery are tapped out, you are done. No one would claim that Prius has large reserves of excess hp.

 

I've driven our fully loaded 2006 Prius through a 12,000 foot pass out west, and it did as well as any of the other cars. You aren't going to set any hill climbing records at that altitude, but you won't have trouble either.

Tom

 

One thing I thought about while driving here in Colorado is that a naturally aspirated car loses 3 percent horsepower per thousand feet of altitude. So here at a Mile High that's a 15 percent loss. However, the Prius gets most of its torque from the electric motor (when it needs it). Electric motors aren't affected by altitude. So I figure we lose less HP and torque at altitude than a naturally aspirated engine. That means we close the gap performance wise at altitude.

Another thing to think about. The Prius has a lot of torque but not a lot of horsepower. To me it drives a lot like a diesel. It's pretty nice off the line but peters out at higher revs. That's indicative of a high torque, low HP engine (like a diesel).

I think it would be fun for Toyota to program the electric motor to feel like a turbo. You'd get that small lag then a real kick from the electrics. But it would play heck on the mileage.

 

I've seen how elevation can affect vehicles & personally driven from a motorcycle to an 18 wheeler through the mountains many miles. I find it hard to believe my Prius will not struggle a bit at times. We'll see. I've had some reasonably zippy cars that bit the bullet in the mountains.

I guess Toyota is abandoning the Prius concept with the new larger engine & turbo. My major experience with turbos are in the agricultural arena & aircraft.

Once I bought my Prius, it was mine. Whatever Toyota's concept or intent was, it is now mine to do with as I wish. I don't have the time or inclination to tinker, just thought if a simple & effective kit was offered, I would consider it. I've made some additions to mine & will probably continue. Most are to make the vehicle more comfortable, reliable & driveable for me. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't get hung up on 0.1 mpg changes. I don't have the time or inclination to worry about minute changes in mileage. I want to get from point A to point B as efficiently as possible, with time & money being my biggest motivation. To each his own.

 

I'm wondering what is your source of info regarding a Prius turbo? Toyota has not installed this component on any Prius engine.

The point of the larger displacement engine is to provide better mpg at freeway speeds since engine RPM can be lower for a given vehicle speed.

There's no dispute that you may do with your vehicle as you wish. I am just trying to point out that a vehicle designed for optimal fuel economy is not the easiest place to start if your desire is to maximize horsepower.

 

MY goodness. why buy a prius for performance? the car is specifically manufactured for being EXTREMELY economical. not a hint of performance is mentioned.

if you all want a faster car, get a faster car with a turbo, blower, or whatever you want to add. the prius is the WRONG car to start these modifications with, IMHO.

i would stand to say that the VAST MAJORITY of the prius owners want to save fuel. NOT to claim 10-teens in the quarter mile.

 

For the record, AutoSpeed installed a turbo in a Gen I Prius back in 2005:

Autospeed Issue 351

This is the final of 5 articles. Those seriously interested can dig up the rest.

Oops, JeffD reported this back in post #4.

 

Most people buy for performance. How you define it may be different from person to person. It seems odd that it appears more people modify their Prius than any vehicle I know of with possibly the Harley bunch. I mean, many posters even list them !

Yes, I do think Toyota has considered a turbo on the Prius.

Yes I think many Prius owners are stuffy & I understand how they might have problems with other drivers. Some of us don't care to be in any clique. I simply asked for information not criticism or your opinion. You don't have a clue if or why I might need to alter anything in my life. Shees, I always thought there was a god but didn't expect it on a prius forum.