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Why would the 1.8L Engine only be 100HP

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Slovewell, Apr 21, 2010.

  1. Slovewell

    Slovewell New Member

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    A 1.8L engine with only 98 horse power seems kinda weak to me. I would expect it to be closer to 150 horse power. You would think with the combination of the electric motor and a 1.8L engine this thing would be much faster. After all, there a cars out there that have a 1.8L engine and can out run the Prius. The Celica GT has 180 horse power and 130 pounds of torque. I guess the engine is designed solely for MPG. It's a shame because I think this could easily be a 6 or 7 second to 60 car. I'll bet they could figure out how to get good mileage and power too.
     
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  2. Stratospaly

    Stratospaly New Member

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    I am waiting for someone to mod out a Prius, including Nos.
     
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  3. johalareewi

    johalareewi Member

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    The Prius 1.8L engine runs on an Atkinson cycle.

    [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkinson_cycle]Atkinson cycle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

    Better fuel efficiency!
     
  4. bigdog1234

    bigdog1234 New Member

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    As per post #3...certainly a 1.8liter engine can be made to produce more HP/Torque. But that's not the intent of the G3. The primary design intent was mpg's and not hp's. :eek:

    Overall, however, when you add in the electric motor, the car has what, something like 135hp's?
     
  5. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    I was hoping the fully controlled valve angle and duration might show up in the ZVW30, eliminating the throttle. That technology is in some Lexus vehicles but it provides a way to get a wide power range while retaining high efficiency and with cooled-exhaust, low emissions. Perhaps that may show up in the 2015 or 2017 Prius.

    There are two, unpowered wheels at the rear . . . go for it.

    Bob Wilson
     
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  6. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    The Otto cycle tends to use 25% of the available energy to propel the car, whilst the Atkinson cycle uses more like 37% (Diesels use as much as 40%)
    You get more power from Otto, more torque from Diesel, but Atkinson provides near Diesel efficiency on readily available gasoline.

    The Miller cycle adds a supercharger to the Atkinson cycle.
    [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_cycle]Miller cycle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
     
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  7. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    I have not read of a NOS Prius but some Australian gentleman has both supercharged and turbocharged his.

    Browser Warning
    Browser Warning

    (they are both multi-part articles)
     
  8. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    For a given engine displacement, high power output and high efficiency are mutually exclusive. Getting that last once of horsepower involves design choices that are bad for efficiency, for example, running rich and allowing a lot of unburned fuel to go through the system.

    The current Prius design represents the very best that Toyota could do at the time to satisfy the three requirements of cost, performance, and efficiency. You can improve any one of these factors at the expense of the other two.

    Presumably Toyota will think of even more clever ways to wring out a bit more performance and efficiency, but it gets harder and harder as you approach the theoretical limits of any given technology.

    Tom
     
  9. Slovewell

    Slovewell New Member

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    Thank you for the link, I now know more about the different engines than I did. The question now is, because everything on our cars is electric, could they use an electric Supercharger for more power that would turn on when in "power mode"? It would run off the battery and give a person the choice to give up a little fuel economy for climbing a steep hill at the speed limit or better acceleration. They could put it on a Sport version that comes with ground effects and performance parts like the WRX.
     
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  10. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    The problem is you can easily overheat the battery. Think about it. To get "leisurely" acceleration we can see as much as 200 Amps drawn from the battery. To get "brisk" acceleration I could imagine 500 and up Amps of current.

    You -can- get more power if you are willing to pay for it. Just make a trip to your local Lexus dealer. Their hybrids are tuned as you want, for more power, not necessarily better mileage.
     
  11. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Yes. You could use a larger motor/generator (MG) and a bigger battery to get higher performance. Several hybrid cars have been designed with this philosophy, emphasizing power over economy.

    The current Prius is designed for low emissions, and secondly, good fuel economy. A bigger MG and battery for "turbo mode" goes against this philosophy. You can expect higher performance hybrids from Toyota as they move the hybrid system into other platforms.

    Tom
     
  12. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    I would not expect that car to be named Prius, but in time one could have a Toyota Supra or Lexus 180SH with a HV electric Supercharger. If you study today's electric superchargers, they try to run at 12v, so need huge amperages. The high voltage choices in HSD offer better voltages.

    I expect the Prius name to remain focused on emmisions and mileage.
     
  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    given the choice of more hp or mpg in future improvements, put me down for more mpg. in fact, i would prefer it in the gen III, but i do see that the roomier, faster III has proved popular with more buyers which is a good thing!
     
  14. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Wouldn't a V10 under the hatch be awesome? :D
     
  15. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    given the choice of more hp or mpg, put me down for mpg. but i can see that larger and faster has made the gen III a more popular car which is a good thing!
     
  16. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    The engine block is the same as in the corola where is it produces 132 hp. Adding the electric motors would still make the car around 8 seconds. Ford will be making a hybrid focus, and there is a ecoboost (turbo) 1.6 liter engine making 180 hp on the standard focus. I wonder if they will make a 200hp hybrid focus out of that.
     
  17. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    The 2010 uses a 1.8 Liter engine, the 2ZR-FE is the Otto cycle version in the Corolla, the 2ZR-FXE is the Atkinson cycle version in the Prius.


    Toyota ZR engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    In the Speed Record Prius they swapped the Prius engine for a Echo engine, same 1.5 liter displacement.

    Got Hybrid? - Sport - Auto Reviews - Car and Driver
     
  18. bedrock8x

    bedrock8x Senior Member

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    The Prius 1.8L Atkinson cycle engine has a mechanically determined compressing ratio of 14:1. But the effective compression ratio is ~ 10:1 by using late intake valve timing and also to allow the use of 87 octane gas.
    Then the effective size is = 1.8L/(14/10) = 1.28L.
    So 98HP for a 1.3L engine is not that bad.
     
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  19. TheSpoils

    TheSpoils Member

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  20. lolder

    lolder New Member

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    Toyota wanted a five passenger family car that got 50 mpg! They got it. And it does it ALL THE TIME!!!. All these other non hybrids that advertise similar highway mileage have average mileage much less.