I took my Prius on the expressway for the first

If you are comparing it to a car that had 260 HP, I'm sure you will be disappointed. For me, my previous car was a Toyota Celica. While the Celica was slightly spunkier, I have never found myself wanting for horsepower with my Prius.

 

Vespasian:

I'm not being contentious, but did you really "stick your foot in it"?

I've always been surprised by Prius acceleration (not Gen 1 so much as 2), especially above 60, as when passing.

Are you sure you don't back off a bit when you hear the ICE rev so high?

 

I agree. I've never found it to a problem. And my previous vehicle was a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which had plenty of get up and go.

If you nail it, the Prius does just fine.

 

Be careful when you floor it. I got mad and passed someone (the only time in this car) and noticed I was going 85mph. Didn't feel like it though.

 

I've been quite impressed by the Prius's passing power. Flooring it is definitely the way to wake up the engine(s), and it doesn't take long to be moving deceptively quickly. I've seen an indicated 153 KMH (nearly 100 mph) without having enough room to really wring it out. (It felt like it could go faster) Most cars slow immediately, especially at that speed, the instant you lift your foot. Yet another fascinating aspect of the Prius is how well it coasts along at high speed. The ICE turns off when you lift, and the Prius just sails along quickly and quietly like a stealth bullet, hardly slowing at all. It motors surprisingly quickly up hills, too. Turn off the MFD, forget you're not driving a sports car, and drive like Mario. I think you'll be impressed. But don't tell anybody I told you to, and don't complain about the mileage.

 

At least my Prius has plenty of zip up to about 130 km/h, which I have rarely touched.

Especially around Winnipeg, my Prius has surprised quite a few drivers. It's easy to trick them at a green light, even more so in winter when the winter tires are on.

 

Vespasian:

Yes---and you may find you won't need to floor it and leave your foot there. Just enough (4-6 seconds?, depending on what top speed you're shooting for) to "activate" the incredible torque afforded by the electric motor.

If you haven't REALLY let 'er loose before, why don't you report back here after you've done it once or twice?

 

Especially around Winnipeg, my Prius has surprised quite a few drivers. It's easy to trick them at a green light, even more so in winter when the winter tires are on.

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Ah yes, jayman, guilty pleasures

 

I also have been impressed with the acceleration (see other posts.) I have no trouble at all merging on the freeway, and when I need to change lanes and accelerate quckly, the Prius responds fast.

When I first got it, and showed it off, I could accelerate on city streets fast enough to rock peoples head back.

So, I don't see this is as a problem.

(I drive on the LA freeways, if that means anything. Peole here normally drive 70 yto 80 mph.)

 

But only up to the legal speed limit.

On snow and ice, I've left quite a few 4x4 drivers sitting in my snow dust. Then when they finally catch up to me at the next red light, their look says it all:

"What the heck is THAT thing??"

 

My Prius does OK. It was not the Sunbeam Tiger my friend from Collage drove but few cars can compare to that.

 

I have to agree w/the OP. I am considering buying a Prius myself. From my test drive of an 04, I found it was perfectly adequate for <=40 mph and around the city. On the highway, not surprisingly, it's very gutless compared to my 255 hp Nissan Maxima and 287 hp 350Z. When I took it on the freeway up to ~50 mph, I floored it... man, the acceleration was SLOOWWWW. By the time I hit 65 mph, I'm guessing that if I floored my Max or Z, they'd have hit 85+ mph in the same time (along w/torque steer on the Max).

The Prius is definitely no sports car, nor was it mean to be. Too bad there are no drag strips that close by. I'd love to legally drag race my Z against a Prius. It can get pretty funny if 1 car has a 2+ second advantage in the 1/4 mile. (I've taken my Z and Max drag racing at a track several times in the past).

 

No offense meant but racing either of those vehicles against a Prius is pretty gutless too. I'd bet they'd beat my 3 year old on his tricycle too.

 

Just put your foot into it the car is no "Z" but I have never found it wanting for acceleration even with 4 people and a trunk full of stuff.

 

I drive on expressway all the time and I am NOT a timid driver. I floor it on a regular basis to pass at 70 mph or higher and have no complaints. Yesterday I did a long hard acceleration and took the battery from 5 bars down to 2 pink. First time I have noticed that. No problem though. Even with cruising 70-85 mph I get about 44mpg overall driving about 100 miles per day so the cost isn't that bad. Wish the car had an angrier sounding horn though.

 

I have noticed that harsh acceleration can drop the battery down pretty quick too, although the most I have ever noticed mine was a 2 bar drop when passing about 5 cars on the highway.

Every now and then when someone is riding my butt for driving the speed limit on the access road before I get on the local interstate loop, I get irritated and floor it up to 65 just watch them fall way behind.

It is interesting to hear/notice people being afraid of flooring it when the engine revs up. I don't like to do it and drop my mpg, but I did notice on a trip through colorado that my sister-in-law seemed hesitant to maintain our speed through mountain passes. Until I told how about my limited understanding of the CVT and how it can automatically rev up high with little or no gears in between. When it does this it can sound like it is struggling (I admit I don't like to hear it revving up either) but really isn't. After that she didn't have any problem with keeping it at 80-85 .

BTW: Vespasian we haven't heard an update yet!

 

I've had no problems with traffic. The Prius has been very responsive.

I used to own a 1967 Mercedes 200D diesel and that took time to get up to speed.