Talk about torque.

I guess it kind of depends on what torque you want to measure.

If what you care about at the end of the day is what torque the car can deliver to the wheels, why, measuring that torque at the wheels is a cinch.

If the answers you're trying to get are about various internal torques that are involved in making that happen, and those answers are important to you, then it could be a little more work making sure the questions are well-posed and planning ways to answer them.

 

Maybe I don't understand the way a dynomometer works. I though the math that produced a torque reading at various engine speeds begins with the wheels rotating a drum, then takes into account gearing (which on a conventional transmission is constant in any gear), and measures the force it takes to accelerate rotation of that drum.

It sounds much harder to constantly revise the gear ratio on the fly. I once wasted some time looking for a test on a Gen V Prius, but didn't run across anything. I did find instances of other cars with CVT that mimic geared transmissions being tested, but those were tested in a fixed gear mode.

A manufacturer can publish peak numbers measured at a stand, but the story for the Prius may be less transparent. The car has very soft launch characteristics, but seems almost peppy above 70 mph. My WAG is that the system is software limited at lower speeds.