Got passed uphill by a 2nd gen Prius today?

[Pool Runner]

So I got passed yesterday like I was sittling still going up hill on the freeway by a gen II Prius? I had to climb this resonably long stretch of highway to pick up my car last night, and as we were approaching my wife was like so.. why are we doing almost 75 mph. I told her because in the Insight I need a runnning start to maintain freeway speeds on this hill.

Well anyway as I hit the hill obviously the car slowed and started struggling to maintain 64 mph .I turned the A/C off, car was out of Econ mode and I had shifted into sport and geard downed to 4th. Just as I look behind I got a middle aged lady passing me like I'm a big-Rig hogging the slow lane, she looked like she had the A/C on and the car wasn't breaking a sweat.

Shouldn't the I2 be ble to at least keep pace or match performance of the old Prius? I know this isn't a speed machine but some situations are down right scary.

[Rainsux]

I got passed by a Smart in my I1. Of course I was getting twice his MPG at the time.

Sam

[runtohel121]

That's why you rev your car to 6k rpm going up hill ^^.. I've past a lot of cars going to Vegas on I-15 in my I2 :P

[jdstew]

Hehe - I run high RPMs in my Gen1 and pass many people when I'm in a hurry. I've gone up hills at 80, straights near 100 - all about the revs...

We own two Valentine One's as well - best $ we ever spent.

[Willie Williford]

Correct me If I'm wrong.
The P has a 2.0 engine and the G2 has a 1.3? engine. It's the difference in the engine size mainly.

Willie

[carniver]

Originally Posted by Willie Williford

Correct me If I'm wrong.
The P has a 2.0 engine and the G2 has a 1.3? engine. It's the difference in the engine size mainly.

Willie

Last gen prius has a 1.5L engine, latest gen has a 1.8L

[Zwolfe]

Having just driven from WV to SC and back across Appalachia over the past few days I highly recommend cruise control to take the guess-work out of mountain climbing. I had ECON off and A/C on most of the time through the mountains. I'd turn ECON back on going through slow sections.

4 people and the hatch loaded down with stuff blocking the rear window and I had no problem maintaining speed and passed 90% of the cars I encountered and got from 'West' West Virginia to South Carolina on 1 tank of gas, about 44 estimated MPG by the time I got down to the state line.

Say I had cruise set for 75 MPH, it would dip down to 72 and climb up to 76 and generally stay at about 75 the rest of the way up. The car does have a competent cruise system.

What I found was if I did it myself w/o cruise, my RPM's were generally higher. If I let cruise do the work itself, my RPM's were a little lower. Still high regardless in like 4 to 5 K territory, but I don't recall 6k being reached.

I had to get in the slow lane to get around some cars. Every time I verbally noted "That has got to suck being passed by a hybrid in the slow lane."

Fortunately I never had a regen occur going up the mountains. The car seems to know it shouldn't sap engine juice under high RPM situations.

Another thing I noticed is that it would not go into full regen even with touching your brake pedal -- I suspect the car was aware the battery pack was hot and didn't want to fry the cells with too much electricity. After parking and the car cooling down it would allow full recharge afterward. Speculation but that's my best guess.

[Pool Runner]

Originally Posted by carniver

Last gen prius has a 1.5L engine, latest gen has a 1.8L

Yeah but the I2 just seems like it is lighter, smaller and more aerodynamic than the 2nd gen Prius. Trust me guys this is both a long at least two mile grade that is also steep. Even my old 265hp '08 Nissan Frontier V6 would struggle a little to pull this grade. Like I said I had my foot to the floor, my wife in the car and using all availible power. This Prius litterally went by with what I must assume the A/C blasting and not breaking a sweat.

I have easily passed traffic in the valley and done 85 even 90 in the car with ease. But this hill is a killer.

[circa1986]

No matter how you stack it, the Insight is one of the slowest new cars on the road. It has enough pep for most situations, but for more demanding situations like merging uphill on a big highway, or making passes (as you said), it is just not enough. Then again, I wouldn't want more power at the expense of fuel economy in this vehicle.

[circa1986]

Originally Posted by Rainsux

I got passed by a Smart in my I1. Of course I was getting twice his MPG at the time.

Sam

Wow, that is a new low! Hahhaha!