Prius V vs CMAX Hybrid Drag Race.

[ptjones]

It was bound to happen someday, it took 4.5 yrs :) for me. Stopped at traffic light on 4 lane divided road with 45 mph speed limit and the road has only one straight ahead lane in about half mile with stop sign. I was planning to EV to 15mph and 2 Bar accelerate like normal and I should end up in front of Prius V for the single lane ahead.  Apparently the Prius V driver misinterpreted my quick EV start, Prius V is sluggish from start so he floored it and started to pull ahead of me. Not what I expected, then I'm thinking are you kidding me, so I floored MADMAX  and blew by the V almost like he was standing still, WOW when you see the difference acceleration side by side it's amazing. :yahoo:

 

Paul

Edited April 24, 2017 by ptjones

[SnowStorm]

:lol: Awesome!  Hey folks, watch for Paul's next video - "How to blow away a Prius V and still get Great Gas Mileage!"

(Too bad your camera wasn't rolling at the time!)  Nothin' like blowing the carbon out o' the cylinders AND the stale ions out o' the battery! :shift:

[plus 3 golfer]

LOL

 

My only "run-in" with a Prius was on I40 heading West from Albuquerque in very light traffic about 6 months after I bought my C-Max.  I had my cruise set at about 78 mph (speed limit 75 mph).  While going down a long grade, a Prius blew by me in the passing lane.  And, then we had to go up hill at which time he pulled back in the slow lane.  It didn't take long before I caught him and passed him.  He had slowed down considerably (probably to 65 mph) going up hill.  I didn't think too much of it until a mile or so later going down hill he goes flying by me again.  This happened several more times over maybe 10 miles.   Finally, as he was going to pass again near the bottom of a long hill, I floored it and continued up the hill leaving him in my exhaust fumes, waving as I passed.  He was not seen again in the next 20 miles as that's where I got off I40 to head South to Phoenix.  What a nuisance (the Prius). ;)   

 

Why would one want a Prius? (rhetorical)  It just doesn't have the power for me to maintain speed going up hills or accelerate quickly when one needs to. Before I bought my C-Max when looking for a new car, a Phoenix neighbor (Prius owner) "warned" me about the lack of performance of a Prius when driving in mountainous terrain when leaving the Valley of the Sun.  I expierenced it second hand (and glad it wasn't first hand).  :)

[ptjones]

Great Story. LOL :lol2:  

 

Paul

[fbov]

...going down a long grade, a Prius blew by me in the passing lane.  ...

...to go up hill at which time he pulled back in the slow lane. ......

...going down hill he goes flying by me again.  This happened several more times over maybe 10 miles....

Sounds like constant throttle operation, a common hypermiling technique. I do it on hills all the time... OK, 10' is hardly a hill, but you take what you can get around here. 

 

The more I look at the Prius, I see a car that's incapable of poor fuel mileage. Consumer Reports agrees:

"The 52 mpg overall we garnered in the redesigned 2016 Toyota Prius is a phenomenal achievement, especially viewed against the previous car's impressive 44 mpg overall."

 

Frank

[ptjones]

I'm wondering if Toyota programmed the New Prius to take advantage of CR testing. In the short test drive I did of 2016 Prius it didn't seem much different from my Daughter's 2011 Prius. :headscratch: 

 

Paul 

[C-MaxSea]

Paul, that was almost mean - but must have been ohhhh so fun & rewarding squishing the V ! 

 

Gaming CR ?  Certo, as they say in the old country, that's all that has ever mattered to Toyota.  I think the whole premise behind the Priiuuus has been to be dull, boring, no fun, weird, ugly, go slow, no go slower, hope you don't get hit in an emergency situation ........................ how many years did it take for them to get beyond velour; eeeeeeeeeek, get me out of this bad dream !  (Nevertheless always & forever indebted to them for just that, and there long tenure reducing air pollution - thank you Toyota :hat_tip: - and thank you Ford for ending the bad dream :hat_tip: :hat_tip: :hat_tip:) 

 

Having fun,

Nick 

Edited April 28, 2017 by C-MaxSea

[ptjones]

Paul, that was almost mean - but must have been ohhhh so fun & rewarding !

Ya! He won't do that again. :)

 

Paul

[jestevens]

There is no comparison between the C-MAX and the Prius V in my opinion.  Toyota seemingly took the same Prius drivetrain (which is great on the sedan) and just added another ~ 1800 lbs?  I test drove one before I bought the C-MAX and it was probably one of the worst rides I've ever had in my life with respect to power.  They even have a cute little button near the shifter that says "ECO" or "POWER" but as far as I could tell mine must've been left disconnected at the factory.  Ford did a smart thing with the slightly more up-market fit and finish too, the Prius V seemed almost as bad a Chevy with all those plastics in the interior.

 

I absolutely loved my Prius sedan, 45-50MPG with just a little bit of effort, decent power and you could haul stuff with the hatchback/split seat design but I got tired of having two cars so I traded both the HHR and Prius on the C-MAX and I'm still happy. 

 

The only thing I miss is the HHR also let you fold down the front passenger seatback too - I hauled a set of bifold doors in that sucker, with the back closed and everything no problem - the cheap plastics were at home in that car because it was designed for utility.

Edited May 16, 2017 by jestevens

[SnowStorm]

Ditto the desire for a fold-flat front seat - I would use that so many times...

As to plastics, I don't see why car makers don't spend a little more money on interiors.  I know its a competitive market, but really, is the incremental cost for better seats and materials all that great?  The interior is what we see, sit on, touch, feel 99% of the time we're around our cars.  Way too much attention is given to a cars exterior looks.

[derh2o]

Why all the Prius Bashing.  A little defensive?  I bought my first Prius in 2017, put 115K miles on it and the only service I had done were oil changes.  My history with Ford has been problematic.  I bought a 2012 Focus because I can flat tow it behind my motorhome which is on an E450 chassis.  The focus has had major transmission clutch work done 3 times and my motorhome had it's engine removed to replace valve guides due to service bulletin about excessive oil consumption.  Then, the transmission blew.  I never did like the Focus, but there are not many options that are automatics you can flat tow behind a motorhome.  I recently found out that you can flat tow a C-Max, so I bought one that was in route to Montana from Michigan.  That was the first week of March and I am still waiting it's arrival.  Now I am being told it will arrive toward the end of the month.  We will see.

[ptjones]

Why all the Prius Bashing.  A little defensive?  I bought my first Prius in 2017, put 115K miles on it and the only service I had done were oil changes.  My history with Ford has been problematic.  I bought a 2012 Focus because I can flat tow it behind my motorhome which is on an E450 chassis.  The focus has had major transmission clutch work done 3 times and my motorhome had it's engine removed to replace valve guides due to service bulletin about excessive oil consumption.  Then, the transmission blew.  I never did like the Focus, but there are not many options that are automatics you can flat tow behind a motorhome.  I recently found out that you can flat tow a C-Max, so I bought one that was in route to Montana from Michigan.  That was the first week of March and I am still waiting it's arrival.  Now I am being told it will arrive toward the end of the month.  We will see.

You couldn't pickup one in Montana?  I Wasn't Prius bashing exactly, more pointing out the big difference between FORD's Hybrid system and Toyota's. I have driven my daughter's 2011 Prius a number of times on trips with her as well as test drove 2016 Prius. When you drive a CMAX as compared to a Prius the first thing is the CMAX is very responsive to the accelerator pedal. The Prius is very sluggish, we have many previous Prius Owners on this Forum and this is the number one reason people changed, plus CMAX is a nicer car all the way around. :) Let us know how things workout and we have a thread towing CMAX's.

 

Paul

[jestevens]

I love the Prius Sedan, it is an example of technology that just works.  For all the reasons I stated above I hate the Prius v wagon.. and I really wanted wagon/crossover so I traded in the HHR -and- the Prius Sedan and bought the C-MAX instead.

[ptjones]

Well it kind of happen again, a Lexus CT 200h tried to race me going the opposite direction at the same intersection as the Prius V, what are the chances of that happening.  I wasn't even thinking about racing, he floored it and started to go so he got a jump on me so it took about 3 - 4 seconds to just blow by him. When will they ever learn. LOL :) 

It has to be embarrassing to have a FORD CMAX just blow by you(" Linda Ronstadt" ). :lol:  :lol2:   

 

Paul

[derh2o]

I have not spent a lot of time on this  forum, but yes, I did pick up the C-Max (Titanium) in Montana last May. I must say that I love the car.  The visibility is one big advantage.  I must also add that my other car is a 2017 PriusV.  I am to old to be hot rodder, so how quick a car is off the line is not important to me.  Both cars have ample power in my book.  I prefer driving the C-Max, but that might be because of all the technology the C-Max has.  I should have ordered the Prius the same way.  Never too old to learn.