The Prius – A Screaming Teenager Incredibly hot Rod or Hybrid for the Granola Crunching Crowd?

It was the vehicle, a Prius, not the movie star offender, that grabbed the lime gentle and had all people abuzz. A short while ago, Al Gore III, son of former Vice President Al Gore, was arrested for possessing marijuana and speeding around 100 mph on the San Diego Freeway in his Toyota Prius.

Ho hum yet another celebrity in hassle with the regulation. What is actually new? A hybrid caught dashing around 100 mph that’s what.

Velocity checks have demonstrated that the new Prius can attain speeds up 103 mph. When in contrast with other Toyotas such as a Camry which can go up to 130 mph, that is not too fast. Even the Hybrid Camry can go 117 mph.

On the other hand, the Prius is not the slowest automobile on the road possibly. Vehicle and Driver journal complied stats which present that the AM Normal Hummer H1 has the major pace of only 88 mph.

The equalizer, however, is the velocity governor that most American autos must have for legal responsibility factors. The governor insures that a car will not go too rapidly for its tires. While Pruis tops 103 mph, the governor limits both of those the Prius and the Corolla to 112 mph.

There are numerous variables that restrict the Prius hybrid to 103 mph.

Initial, Toyota built a acutely aware final decision to limit the Prius speed to 103 mph. Mike Michels, spokesman for Toyota, said that the Prius hybrid is able of heading even a lot quicker. But the motor vehicle is pace confined to 103 mph to prevent using up its battery.

He stated that “It can go 103 mph indefinitely.” Right up until the fuel operates out that is.

Second, Toyota created the Prius to be fuel productive which sales opportunities to it having less horsepower than a regular car. A vehicle with less horsepower will not eat as a great deal gas, but will also have considerably less velocity.

Hybrids will not always have to have fewer horsepower. The fuel motor and electric motor of a hybrid can be mixed to generate as a lot horsepower as a traditional vehicle. For case in point, the standard, four-cylinder Toyota Camry has 158 horsepower. Whilst the four-cylinder, Hybrid Camry has 187 horsepower. So, not all hybrid are developed for fuel efficiency.

But, how can the Hybrid Prius achieve 103 mph?

Serveral variables occur into enjoy. Very first, automotive technological innovation has elevated the speed limit for all cars in general. Russ Rader, spokesman for Coverage Institute for Freeway Protection, mentioned that if he tried to go 100 mph in his 1983 Oldsmobile Delta 88, “It would probably shakes its bolts free.”

2nd, the globalized automobile sector has resulted in higher driver anticipations that the Prius has to fulfill. Some European countries have no velocity restrict though the rest have larger velocity restrictions than the US.

Third, for Prius advocates, “Performance is just a different way to spell general performance.” In otherwords, Toyota optimized the Prius hybrid to have a superior velocity performance. They achieved this by aerodynamically coming up with the auto to have reduced drag, light fat, and have tires with reduced rolling resistance which lowers the friction among the rubber and the street.

Michels states that the car or truck has every little thing that a hotrodder desires “from aero resistance to rolling resistance, cooling units and the powertrain by itself.”

While it is no help to Gore, his arrest has display cased the Prius as a high pace auto to be reckoned with. A poster on Priuschat.com wrote “At minimum the bashers won’t be able to say the vehicle is pokey or gradual.”