Prius Mileage on the 'ring :)
- Thread starter Epinionator89
- 110 comments
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- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
..Guess nobody can answer this huh?
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- 117
I'm no expert, but it seems that the Prius' (E)CVT is the integral bit that joins everything together into one unit. Without it you don't have a hybrid anymore. So, yes.
Here's a link I found indirectly from a Prius fansite:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hybrid-car7.htm
edit:
I hadn't driven either Prius yet so I figured I'd give it a go. I bought a new '03, outfitted it with S3s and Duck's setup, but I didn't add any power or change the transmission. I did a 22:36.381 and I used 0.118 gallons in the process. I almost made it to Mutkurve using only .003 gallons, but the thing won't let the battery go down more than 2 bars without starting up the petrol burner. You could easily do a lap almost entirely on the battery otherwise. I'm surprised to be posting this, but I think I might give this another go! :0
edit2:
with R5s I did a 26:07.369 using 0.099 gallons of fuel. I stopped for about a minute after the engine started charging the battery, but 0.003 gallons of fuel were used in that period and it didn't even get me 1 bar of battery - and I made the mistake of stopping in the middle of a hill so it was a wasted effort anyway.
edit3:
broke out the '02 Prius and gave it a final go for the day, with R5s I managed to consume only 0.055 gallons of fuel over the course of a 26 minute 3 second lap.
Who'da thunk hypermiling around the 'Ring could be so much fun!
Here's a link I found indirectly from a Prius fansite:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hybrid-car7.htm
edit:
I hadn't driven either Prius yet so I figured I'd give it a go. I bought a new '03, outfitted it with S3s and Duck's setup, but I didn't add any power or change the transmission. I did a 22:36.381 and I used 0.118 gallons in the process. I almost made it to Mutkurve using only .003 gallons, but the thing won't let the battery go down more than 2 bars without starting up the petrol burner. You could easily do a lap almost entirely on the battery otherwise. I'm surprised to be posting this, but I think I might give this another go! :0
edit2:
with R5s I did a 26:07.369 using 0.099 gallons of fuel. I stopped for about a minute after the engine started charging the battery, but 0.003 gallons of fuel were used in that period and it didn't even get me 1 bar of battery - and I made the mistake of stopping in the middle of a hill so it was a wasted effort anyway.
edit3:
broke out the '02 Prius and gave it a final go for the day, with R5s I managed to consume only 0.055 gallons of fuel over the course of a 26 minute 3 second lap.
Who'da thunk hypermiling around the 'Ring could be so much fun!
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- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
Awesome, thanks for the lookup. That was my guess too...install an aftermarket tranny, and the electric-half of the hybrid system becomes null and void. It's still there, but not linked up to the drivetrain anymore, perhaps.
And I agree, tooling around in a Prius (watching the dumb HUD meter) can get quite addictive!
I much prefer driving with the CVT in place. Without it, the Prius becomes just another below-average gas-powered front-drive.
- 117
No problem, thank you for bumping this thread and giving me something fun(go figure eh!) to do in GT4 yesterday(and perhaps on another day or two also) that doesn't involve hunting down the umpteenth lineup to do a race.
I think that's it exactly - there's only one input on a regular gearbox and it's meant to do a single job basically. The Prius' gearbox has something like 4-6 jobs to do and it's sends or recieves power from at least 3 (4 actually, I think) sources.
Exactly!And I agree, tooling around in a Prius (watching the dumb HUD meter) can get quite addictive!
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I can't seem to improve any with the '03. Once I use 2.5 bars of battery it starts charging. When it charges you don't seem to get the same output from accelerator when trying to run just on batteries. To get any momentum you have to use the ICE.
The '02 Prius is another story though! I believe I broke the record - I only used 0.037 gallons over a single 23 minute 12 second lap. 2 bars of battery left over. There's at least a couple thousands less it could be done with I think.
I think there's some kind of bug in the '02 Prius though. When the engine starts to idle at 44MPH, if you keep your foot where it is the petrol engine will start to power the wheels too, but if you let off just a little so that the HUD shows the power only coming from the wheels into the battery, the engine responds as you adjust the throttle in that little window(from no throttle to the point where the engine starts to drive the wheels on the HUD) but it doesn't appear to use any fuel. And when the engine is actually driving the wheels, the HUD only shows that it's charging the battery and that the battery is driving the wheels. Like I said before though, I'm no expert on hybrids so maybe that's exactly right. It's certainly curious thoguh.
Anyway, the fact that the '02 will let you have the same amount of battery power to the wheels regardless of whether the ICE is charging the battery or not, and that it doesn't essentially force you to use the ICE after you've used 2.5 bars of battery, makes it much more efficient, at least over the course of 13 miles.
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- 100
I will have to try this!! I did not know that the prius had the unique quages either. I was almost going to buy a prius earlier but bought another small car instead.
- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
I haven't tried this yet. I'll give it a try.
Hmmm.. I think this is worth a try.
Will give it a shot
Yea, I think you guys should give this a try.
It doesn't?
My guess is Toyota was probably just as adamant about getting this HUD in the game as Kaz & friends. Maybe it had something to do with money or time constraints.That's been my theory for awhile, actually, that Toyota was really trying to advertize the Prius technology. Notice the Prius first appears in GT2. It's just about useless in this game (unless you Shark the hell out of it) so why is it here? You can't modify it at all except tires and traction/stability controls! I think it's in GT2 because back in '99, the Prius was a brand-new model, and Toyota was hungry to advertize it, even if it hasn't got much use as a race car.
I've worked on a lot of Prisues over the years. Mostly small stuff like brakes and tires...not tearing into the high-voltage parts. The hybrid screen sits directly to the right of the steering wheel....it's just as addictive to watch as it is in the game! 
It looks almost identical to the HUD in our game, too.I've never driven an Insight yet, but I've driven a couple Civic sedan hybrids. Their HUD isn't as fun to watch. Perhaps Honda wasn't as eager to get it in the game.
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- 117
I think somewhere earlier in the thread someone explained the Insight's lack of a similar display. IIRC it's because the Insight has a different hybrid system that isn't able to drive the wheels on battery power alone. My memory is miserable though.
If you came to a complete stop, it's possible you'd hear the engine shut off, but I think that's all the evidence of the Insight's unorthodox nature you'll find in GT4.
Newer Honda hybrids have a graphical bush for the HUD. The greener it grows, the greener your driving apparently is. If you drive with a leadfoot though, the bush withers away and turns brown. I do believe Toyota has a similar system now too.
If you came to a complete stop, it's possible you'd hear the engine shut off, but I think that's all the evidence of the Insight's unorthodox nature you'll find in GT4.
Newer Honda hybrids have a graphical bush for the HUD. The greener it grows, the greener your driving apparently is. If you drive with a leadfoot though, the bush withers away and turns brown. I do believe Toyota has a similar system now too.
- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
Haven't driven or worked on any of the newest hybrids from Toyota or Honda, they're all no-doubt still under warranty, which means they can get work done for free and not come to a shop like the one I work in. But I'll be looking for these. Sounds kinda neat.
- 117
I was mistaken there, it's Honda and Ford, not Honda and Toyota (at least as far as the article from a year ago where I read about these new guages is concerned). And Nissan apparently has at least one model with a similar HUD but it's only avaialable in Japan presently (presently, this time last year that is).
There's surely other articles out there about this by now, I hadn't realized how long it's been since I read it, but this is the one I read originally, I pulled it out of my RSS reader:
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2008/12/when-ford-and-h/
There's surely other articles out there about this by now, I hadn't realized how long it's been since I read it, but this is the one I read originally, I pulled it out of my RSS reader:
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2008/12/when-ford-and-h/
- 100
I did a 15 minute lap on the ring and used .284 gallons of gas!! I'll try it again soon.
- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
Interesting. I'd hate to see what it costs to replace that cluster! Possible electrical gremlins and all the stuff that usually happens just as warranties run out....
:highfive:
- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
.068 is pretty good, but the OP managed .04 for the '02 and .045 for the '03. You guys have way more patience than me! 
- 117
It's buried in the middle of a somewhat-lengthy post, but I managed 0.037 of a gallon in the '02(!). It seems like it's easier to wear down the battery only, in the '02.
- 10,557
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
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