Current Prius owners. Did any buy a Prius to replace a fast car?

I traded in a 5.4 DOHC Navigator on my Prius a few weeks ago. So far, I have not missed the difference in acceleration one bit, nor have I missed the $400-600 a month in gas. Sadly, my Mustang doesn't feel faster than usual after driving the Prius either - my speed perceptions must be busted or something. LOL

 

First you have to change your driving habits or technique to minimize the change. Before Prius, I had all BMW with more than enough power. I do miss it but in 99% of the driving situations, you really don't need to "shoot the gap". If you planned ahead and know your route, you can prevent that. So all together, you can eliminate the need for the power and no longer miss it as you no longer need to. Of course, those are places where I drive.

I do miss the power but also accepted the fact of being green and MPG incentives. Can't have it all. At the same time, there are other vehicles in this of power-mpg ratio spectrum.

 

'Purchasing a Prius is the easy part... Driving the speed limit would be the real test of discipline and endurance'.

Good luck..!

 

Sure did.

A 2000 C5 Corvette and a 719rwhp twin-turbo 2001 GMC 4wd truck.

Only thing I miss is being able to haul gear offroad. I don't miss the power/speed at all.

 

On this forum, you'll be finding all of us who did decided to go the Prius route..

 

Just traded in my 2007 Mercedes for a 2012 Prius 2 and I am loving it! Do I miss the power? Yeah but I don't miss the premium gas guzzling juggernaut ...I am averaging 48mpg on regular gas. The only regret I have is not making the switch sooner.
This morning I had to ask my wife to slow down... She got up to 80 mph without too much effort....the car does move albeit not as quickly as the GL. You will get used to it very quickly .
Today is day 3 since I got mine and I am hooked.
Go get one and enjoy!

 

I had several Porsche's before the v. I do find I have to be mindful that I don't have a pocket-rocket under my right foot but, after a few months, the planning ahead has come naturally and I find I'm even driving less than the speed limit on the interstates (where safe and non-impeding) by choice. I have seen 80 when passing. I don't miss the acceleration. I've used the PWR button maybe 5 times to accelerate into traffic.

 

that's what I did.. I rented a trim level 5 for a day. good to see you're being honest with yourself.

 

The Prius C has a smaller engine than the GenIII liftback ("normal" Prius shape). The "C" is for "city" and it is a 1.5L instead of 1.8L.

If you liked the C and found it adequate, the Prius Liftback or Prius V will be better. The interiors are totally different though between the C, V, and Liftback. Personally I dislike the bridge, but that is a personal option.

It sounds like you know your cars, or at least know you like them fast and ride them hard. I have no problem maintaining any speed in the Prius. The fastest maintained long distance speed has been 110mph. I was in a pack of cars somewhere between Vegas and the Utah border on boring interstate. Pack of 10 or so cars including myself hauling a$$. The Prius kept up. The mileage TANKED to high 30's. Keep in mind "tanked" is tongue in cheek. 38mpg in any vehicle is repsectable. On normal driving 90mph is easy, even up and down mountain passes. If I want to pass, I can. The only time is when the battery is exhausted. On I-70 there are sections I routinely drive that are the steepest parts of any interstate in the country. And it is steep up, then steep down, rinse/wash/repeat over and over. The battery will get down to 40% (1 bar) and then become sluggish but still maintains.

The Prius has no transmission in the normal sense. It has no torque converter. It has no clutch. It has 2 electric motors and an engine directly coupled together. This means that when you press the go-pedal, it goes. No waiting for anything. Off the line, it will beat most other cars in the 0-5mph category

Also because of the electric motors, you get a bunch of torque at low RPM. So accelerating from a stop has lots of umph if you pound the pedal.
The regenerative braking added to the friction braking means that it brakes better than most other passenger vehicles out there. You can accelerate hard and brake hard if you want. Your FE will suffer because you aren't recouperating any of that kinetic energy loss. If you want to corner, you will need a stiffening brace for the underbody. Otherwise it rolls, and rolls badly. I have pushed the Prius to its limits with my grippier Michelin XICE2 winter tires and it will understeer at higher speeds in the corners but not too badly. It is real easy to feather the edge because when you request power it is immediately there and when you release the pedal it immediately releases. No lag or delay in either direction. You can keep it on the edge of safety for a long time with real ease and you are always in the correct "gear" when exiting a corner because there are no gears!

The Prius won't beat people racing, but when driving it normally you can keep up with everyone else if you choose to drive that slowly. And with my jackrabbit starts, grippy winter tires, and high speeds, my average for this past tank was 48.9mpg.

 

I never drove a Prius C or Prius V.

Yes the same as far as driving in all electric mode.

The Prius may be a heavier car handles different than a C. When you take a turn in a Prius going 40 MPH or faster you feel the car struggling to make a tight turn. It just leans to one side. You get used to it and adjust your driving. Perhaps the first mod people make is the anti sway bars.

 

The spring rates vary but most kits won't cause you to scrape on speed bumps. Steep driveways will require you to take an angled approach. For ease of ingress/egress I would use the TRD or Eibach springs. They don't drop the front as much as the H&R or Teins. You can always do a coilover kit which is the best approach.

As you can see from the video, the TRD springs don't drop the car much. It's about 1" all around. Skip the Prius Plus ground effects and you have even more clearance in the front.

 

Oops, I forgot to mention that even with the lowering springs you'll still have more clearance than a Volt. Those things are low!

 

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Lol Bmr4life, I think I fit directly into your subject of interest... I went from the modding community of Subies into the environmentally-aware Prius! It wasn't ever dynoed but it was a pretty fast 2006 WRX - stage 2 ecu, turboback exhaust, various suspension mods, etc (~240whp/305tq). Here is a link to what someone dyno'd with the exact same mods as me:



I definitely miss the thrill, but I felt it was time to grow up ~_~
However I'll eventually look for something more confusing during my quarter/mid-life crisis (ie, porsche)
And, would I recommend the Prius? Definitely.
Did my friends make fun of me for dumping my beast for this beauty? Definitely.
Am I happy? Absolutely.

 

I say keep your Mustang and have the Prius as your daily. I kept my Mercedes and just drive it on the weekend. You will love not spending so much time at the gas station!


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