torque: can numbers capture the driving experience?

There must be an App for that.
Smartphones have accelerometers.

 

Electric motors offer 100% of their torque at 0rpm.
Internal combustion engines may have an impressive torque at their peak rpm but they can't deliver it at slow speeds typically.

The torque curve of an electric motor is basically flat, at 100% throughout typical driving speeds around town. Perhaps a couple points below.
This is one of the reasons the Prime gives such a good around town driving experience

 

Very few people graph the torque curve of the Prime. If you google, you may find one, I couldn't with a cursory search.
In general this is what the EV vs ICE torque curves look like.

If your friend has an ICE, he has 0 Torque at idle.
You may have better luck comparing 0-20, 0-30 or 0-60 times.
Unless he has a very exotic ICE, most EVs would just embarrass him off the line.
In a longer race, he may win, depending upon what he is up against and what he is driving.

 

torque: can numbers capture the driving experience?
Uh.....
No.
Only the driving experience can capture the driving experience.
But numbers are important in an apples-to-apples comparison, which is why brochures are full of things like skid-pad and slalom numbers, 0-60 accelerations, 60-0 braking times, and other performance metrics.
They are to the automotive industry what player stats are to pro sports.
They capture some important information, but as everyone knows or should know, there is much more to the overall driving experience than numbers.
One of my very favorite cars was a 1996 Geo Metro Xfi, which was a complete piece of garbage, automotively speaking, but it was a blast to drive - as was my Miata, which had just about as much brake horsepower and torque as a Prius Prime does now.......but a VERY VERY different driving experience.

The Prime JUST ISN'T isn't what you would call a 'sporty car.'
Otherwise the 0-60mph times for the G4 Priuses would not be over 10-seconds.
When you mash down on the fun pedal in a Prime, you're ONLY throwing all of 121BHP and 151 ft/lb of torque into the power splitter and once all of the energy is divided, transferred, and distributed the car lumbers its way up to speed quite well for what it is, and what it is built for.
From 0 to about 20mph, a Prius can "feel" rather more spirited than it really is because as mentioned above, electric motors are basically binary devices....but they're not magic.
After all....one does not expect to yank one of the cheerleaders off of the sidelines, jam him or her into pads and cleats, and score very many touchdowns - even though they are participating in the same sport, on the same field.

Tesla 3's on the other hand have a much different driving experience because they have adult sized tires, a more efficient drivetrain, and the Tesla brings about 330 more ponies to the party....along with enough torque (470+ Ft/Lbs) to blur one's vision if you're not careful with the throttle.
VERY different driving experience.....as one should expect from a roughly $55,000 car.
Actually....to be fair, Teslas punch above their weight in straight-line performance, and on a good road.....but a Prius Prime will beat it in a coast-to-coast race, for now, .....and do so more cheaply....for now.
The dependability part is pretty much a fanboy argument until statistics assert themselves.
YMMV......

FOR now?
Primes are efficient, cheap, dependable, and available without waiting in line....which is another kind of driving experience.
Again....
YMMV.

 

I love this analogy!
To the OP, think of trying to get an idea of what it feels to return a kickoff for a winning touchdown, by looking to the stats. It just doesn't work.

ETC(SS) is quite correct when it comes to high levels of performance. However, if you are talking about day to day around town performance, the Prime can be quite spritely.
That electric motor counts for a lot

 

The current CTS-Vs are all automatics. Not sure when GM last sold a manual version, could be a year ago, could have been several.
The newest runs 0-60 in 3.8s, at a $73k price tag.
For performance, he would do better with with an electric car.

However, car purchases have an emotional component for most. I can’t stand the large, blocky styling of Cadillac. Sounds like your friend enjoys it, but it certainly isn’t the performance alone

 

2018 Cruze had a clutch, but it's been deleted in the 2019 model IIRC.

Others exist....

Manual transmission is not dead yet: A list of new cars that offer it - Autoblog

 

Thanks for that correction!
After doing some more research, it appears an ICE needs to produce enough torque at idle to run the alternator and other workloads. The percentage of torque at 0 rpm I would think is minor, but perhaps your friend can tell you.
In short, any EV produces 100% of its available torque at 0 RPM. That is what an ICE can’t compete with.

For new versions of each car, the performance Model 3 beats the CTS-V by over 1/2 second. The CTS-V has a much higher top speed.
And of course, the launch process in the Model 3 is vastly simpler, yet more effective. However, while it is more effective, your friend may have an emotional attachment to the process in a stick shift and so prefer that.
In addition, the Performance Model 3 is cheaper, starting at $64k vs $72k for a new CTS-V

The best way to convince your friend is to have him test drive a performance Model 3.

But again, any EV will be more spiritedly on city streets.

 

The Prius is slow. Torque and all. Who's kidding who?

And what kind of idiot wants to drive a Prius fast?!

Now if you're talking Tesla, those things are rockets. But where (and why) are you going to use, or even need, all that speed? Complete waste of money. And Tesla shouldnt make those vehicles so fast.

For all the jet jockeys out there, who race their cars from red light to red light, have fun paying $300 a month for gas. Makes no sense to me. Or go blow $100K on a Model S. Both are stupid decisions.

Who cares about torque. The nuts in America need to slow the hell down!

Don't analyze it. Just drive it.

 

To some, performance is desired. To others it is drive quality/handling.
EVs, including the Prime, give a wonderful experience in city traffic. If that is what someone is looking for, I see nothing wrong with pointing out the advantages plugin vehicles offer.

 

Use a time plot from the app to see how quickly the engine hits peak torque. You already know that the electric motor has peak torque from a standstill.

The time-to-peak is what you are feeling. It's affected by engine design, ECU programming, transmission gearing & shift logic and more.

A sport bike can rev to 11k RPM in around a third of a second, because it's so small. Very low mass.

A large diesel truck engine can get there quickly because its peak torque is at low RPM- not much delta required despite high mass.

A supercar can do it insanely fast, because now they all have a launch mode that raises the idle- you guessed it- closer to that required for peak torque.

 

No, there is simply no comparison.
If your friend is spending $70k+ on cars, ask him to go with you to test drive a Tesla performance model 3. When you get there, have him try as well. Same cost (before any rebates) and far better performance. There is simply no comparison.
Idling at a higher RPM will make it better, but still not in the same ballpark.

 

yeah it'll be closer, but you'd still know the difference. And yes, it completely savages your MPG, not just a dip.

I'm just going to suggest that you work on evangelizing the 0-10MPH time metric among automotive journals. Alternately a 1-meter drag race.