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Maintaining Speed on grade and CVT

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Mobalized, Sep 16, 2013.

  1. Mobalized

    Mobalized Member

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    So I knew the prius was doggy before buying, and it has more get up and go on hills then my 94 Honda Del Slow. But... It struggles to maintain speed over small inclines in the road without constant pedal adjustment. Obviously climbing a hill I expect to ease into the gas more. But even at 50 mph over a short rise the cars speed falls quickly and requires the pedal to be depressed more and more. This is the only car I've owned that has required this much adjustment. Is this because of the cvt?
     
    #1 Mobalized, Sep 16, 2013
  2. cary1952

    cary1952 Member

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    welcome to the world of the prius. So many owners learn the value of the cruise control on the prius. Try to use it as much as possible.
     
    #2 cary1952, Sep 16, 2013
  3. Mobalized

    Mobalized Member

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    Aka the only way to maintain speed without hawk eyeing the speedo
     
    #3 Mobalized, Sep 16, 2013
  4. drysider

    drysider Active Member

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    Keep in mind that you will almost always sacrifice mileage using cruise control.
     
    #4 drysider, Sep 16, 2013
  5. mmmodem

    mmmodem Senior Taste Tester

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    I think that's a quirk of the Prius and not necessarily of a CVT. That's why there is PWR mode. That'll save you some foot pressure. Hondas are usually light touches while Toyotas need a heavier foot. That's been my experience anyway.


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    #5 mmmodem, Sep 16, 2013
  6. xpcman

    xpcman Senior Member

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    Every car I have ever driven needed more gas to go up a hill. If you have your Prius in ECO setting then you will need even more pedal travel to maintain speed. Try the power setting if you want to have less pedal travel.
     
    #6 xpcman, Sep 16, 2013
  7. hlunde

    hlunde Member

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    Since the Prius engine speed and road speed are completely unrelated, cruise control is your friend. In "conventional" vehicles with either a manual transmission or a locked torque converter, a change is road speed can often be detected by a change in engine tone. The Prius engine is fairly noisy and its tone means nothing.
     
    #7 hlunde, Sep 16, 2013
  8. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Perchance, have the other cars you've owned (except the Del Slow) had 6 or 8 cylinder engines?

    If you try to push a car up and down the hill, you should find that it takes far more power to maintain a given speed uphill than down. With an engine that efficiently produces power with little wastage, this means considerable adjustment to the pedal.

    Old style engines are very wasteful, and that waste is quite variable, depending on conditions. That variable waste filters out some of need for pedal adjustment, more so with larger engines. A consequence of Prius' much greater efficiency is far less natural filtering.
     
    #8 fuzzy1, Sep 16, 2013
    ftl likes this.
  9. Mobalized

    Mobalized Member

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    Every car I am comparing it to is a 4 cylinder, I won't compare to my Sti because that isn't fair. But the 100 HP Del slow seems fair.
     
    #9 Mobalized, Sep 16, 2013
  10. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    But if they are all Atkinson cycle engines, they still have that wasteful and variable drag that causes some load filtering.
     
    #10 fuzzy1, Sep 16, 2013
  11. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    I would floor my Mazda GLC about a mile before the Peasley Canyon on Washington State 18, and be doing 80 MPH at the base, but once I was 2/3 up I had to shift to 3rd and never got above 35 again until I5.[​IMG]

    The Prius is way more powerful.
     
    #11 JimboPalmer, Sep 16, 2013
  12. Mobalized

    Mobalized Member

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    I'm not even venturing into talking about large hill climbs, because quite honestly it's a prius I knew what I was getting into on hills. Plus it's no worse than the Del Sol there. However, I'm talking about small short sections of increased grade. It's the only car I've encountered that can hit a small knoll and require constantly more pedal. On inclines I'm either accelerating or decelerating no constant speed.
     
    #12 Mobalized, Sep 16, 2013
  13. drysider

    drysider Active Member

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    Which is why I do not watch RPM's but I do watch MPH. Cruise is a good thing but it will cut 10% or so off of your mileage...especially in hilly terrain. Most of the driving methods are easy vs. higher mileage.
     
    #13 drysider, Sep 16, 2013
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