Please create a new forum for performance mods

The targeted subjects would be mods such as replacement springs, shocks, anti-roll bars, wheels & tires (with regard to performance, not appearance), brake pads, etc. They might extend to engine and exhaust mods, sport seats (Recaro etc.), defeat switches for the stability control, etc. Also, comparisons with non-USA-spec cars, and info regarding availability in the USA/Canada of parts sold elsewhere (such as stiffer springs) would be germane. Perhaps this may apply in reverse, too, if the American cars are better in any way.

There seems to be no natural forum centered on these topics. And I'd much rather this material be posted to PriusChat (an excellent site :lol than to the Yahoo boards with their many annoyances.

 

Here are some of the reasons I'm interested in "performance mods":

1) Safety - Accident avoidance is a critical element of safety for car drivers in a world of SUV's. Consider what your options are if a car coming from a cross-street fails to stop on time and ends up in your path. The newer of our current pair of cars is a Passat V6 wagon, also in the mid-size category, and just a couple of $k more than a Prius with Nav. According to Consumer Reports, the VW Passat V6 sedan can execute an accident avoidance maneuver at 54.5 mph, while the Prius manages just 50.5. There could be a critical difference even in a 35-mph situation. Statistically, the safest subcompact seems to be the VW Jetta, known for its good handling. For a reference, see http://eetd.lbl.gov/EAP/teepa/pub.html (scroll down to "Vehicle Fuel Economy and Safety" and click on the link next to "Big and Bad: How the S.U.V. ran over automotive safety"; the link above it is interesting too).

2) Comfort (and perhaps good citizenship) - a car that leans a lot on turns tends to make many, including my wife and to some degree me, uncomfortable. When we commute together and I am driving my '99 Passat 4-cyl wagon (the car we are replacing), I have to drive somewhat slowly on the winding part of the trip. Cars sometimes line up behind us and there are few turnouts. That didn't happen with our old '90 Acura Legend coupe. The Prius that I tested felt much like my '99: predictable and devoid of real faults, but with excessive body roll. With flatter cornering we'd both be more comfortable and could go a bit more quickly.

3) Comfort again - some performance items (like Recaro seats) are also comfort items.

4) Fuel economy (population-wide) - I look forward to a time when there are hybrid sports cars, pickups, etc., all with performance the same as, or better than, the cars they replace. Then more people will buy them. If we can show that the Prius can be made nimble, those that would have rejected the car because of its soft nature (in U.S. trim) will buy it.

5) Driving pleasure. A crisp handling car just feels good.

 

Interesting arguments.

But I just looked up the tests in Consumer Reports (May 2004 for Prius, May 2003 for Passat GLX) that I had cited in my earlier message, and it seems to be the other way around. The Prius was $22,052 as tested, with major options listed as "Side and head-protection air bags." The Passat V6 was $30,680 list, and it _did_ have stability control.

Furthermore, CR lists the emergency handling of the Passat as "very good" while the Prius rates just a "good."

Perhaps you saw a different set of tests. But at least in CR there is no evidence that the Passat "spins out." Nor any evidence that the Prius was limited by VSC rather than by traction.

Tires may be part of the difference: 205/55R16 vs. 185/65R15, Conti vs. Goodyear Integrity. But part of it is that the Prius is softer. That is, or will be, changeable.

 

Thanks, Danny. I think that your description, "Discuss all of the performance possibilities that pertain to the Prius," is fine (if perhaps a bit heavy on words that begin with "p").

And I see that there is already some traffic.