Prius newbie question

I've had no problems with passing or merging and everyone who has driven my car has been impressed with the acceleration. Test drive one and decide for yourself.

(Also, before you commit to the Forester, do a web search with the keywords: Forester wheel bearings)

 

rav4's dont have rear bumpers. prius do!
plus prius has sooooooo much cool stuff inside! test drive one and PLAY WITH IT!! you'll be impressed. plus, gas and brake are electric so imo it feels much more responsive that normal cars.

 

I live in Northern NJ (Morris County) where it is much hillier than where you are. Never a problem climbing hills and I live on Route 287 and Route 80 - no problem merging. Drove into NYC last night and car was great. Mine is new to me, but is an '02 and I got 54mpg on that trip. You will be happy with the car in this area.

I drove one stretch in traffic yesterday on 287 from route 10 to route 80 where it was stop and go with a maximum speed of 25 mph. It was so much fun seeing the engine only go on for one small stretch. When I was at a stop the car was silent, and I kept seeing the gas mileage go up as I sat in traffic!

 

I bought my Prius in a relatively flat part of Virginia and live in the NC mountains. The first thing I did when I returned home with it was to go "down the mountain", turn around, and come back up. I had been driving a 3.0 liter 6 speed Audi. While the Prius is no Audi, Prius has no problem handling the grade. I can pass freely and maintain speed easily.

I think I can safely say the grades around here are steeper and longer than where you are located.

 

No contest among these three; the Prius wins hands down, unless you're actually planning to go off road.

 

If at all possible, try to rent, at least for a weekend. You won't have the pressure of the sales person and you'll get to see how one holds up after several people have driven it. I rented one for 2 weeks and tried all types of driving.

 

I've only got about 2000 miles on mine so far, but unless you want to drive like those road rage maniacs doing 80 on the sholder while traffic is backed up due to an accident, you'll find the Prius is at its best in the 35-55 stop and go cruising common to Bergen County. I'm only averaging 45 mpg, but I get my best mileage going to and from Manhattan! Just watch out for wet brakes when going through flooded streets... touching the brakes does not dry them in the prius, it just charges the battery.

Speaking of which... how do you dry the brakes when they get wet on a rain flooded streets? It's really squirelly when slowing down and you go from regenerative braking to wet pads. In a normal car, its enough to just touch the brakes, but that doesn't work in the Prius unless you're already crawling along.

V.Jones

 

Since the friction brakes only operate under 8 mph or during a panic stop I think the only way to dry them is to apply them when you are going slowly. I guess you could ride the "gas" and the brake at the same time at sub-8mpgh speed to dry them although I have never tried it.

 

I believe that the application of the friction brakes is based on brake pedal travel, and not vehicle speed. Press lightly and you get regeneration, press a little further and you get more regeneration, press further still and you get the friction brakes to start working (in addition to the regenerative brakes). Panic stops do not apply the friction brakes any faster, but the car will boost the power brake assist if you hit the brake pedal suddenly.

 

I just got mine 2 weeks ago and was not able to test drive it on the highway beforehand, but I've been pleased with the power available when you need it.

jdkuehne

 

I've had no problems with acceleration and entering freeway ramps...i can be with the flow easily as we merge...
As far as comparing, the RAV4 seats i did not like, the prius seats are much nicer, and the prius will flow through the wind better than the RAV... you will get a rougher ride with the RAV...

 

My sister has a 2004 RAV4. It's a fun car, plenty of power, averaging 22-24mpg... but the engine is loud.

@ 22,000 miles w/ proper maintenance it just doesn't sound right. It sounds a little old, but it works flawlessly.

Prius or RAV4? Prius all the way. It's not faster, but more gas efficient plus it is paving the way of the future.

 

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I drive on 287/80/280 every day, and the Prius is fairly adequate. You do have to be careful where tractor trailers are concerned because there isn't much (really, anything) in reserve if you need an extra boost while merging, but generally you'll do OK.

 

I'm from northern NJ and the car is perfectly powerful enough for highway driving. In fact it's particularly well-suited for there because opportunities to accelerate are rare; rotting away in traffic is very common, as you know, and it's there that the Prius outperforms every other car, including other hybrids.

 

HA! The Prius has a 0-60 time of 10.2 seconds according to most sources. According to this link the RAV4 has a 0-60 of 11.7 seconds, making it FAR worse than the Prius and evidence of an irrational fear of hybrids and faith in SUVs. The Subaru Forester they reported as having a 0-60 time of 9.6 seconds, making it insignificantly faster than the Prius.

That means the Prius is at least as fast as the other cars you are considering while also being a hell of a lot more fuel-efficient. It is, in other words, a Better Car.