Reason why a Toyota prius scared me shitless

[floppypeter]

If you are on a snowy entrance ramp of a highway going 4 mph in a Toyota Prius (that weighs about as much as a Sandy Duncan triscuit) and spin out and need to go from reverse to forward gear you will be confounded as the transmission takes it time to greenly switch gears.

You will not have time to get out of the way of a tractor trailer that slides into you and smushes the prius into a green spot against the guardrail all a slow motion 5 mph.

If the driver would have had a 10 year old hyundai* with a manual gear box he could have gotten gotten the F($% out of there in plenty of time. I wonder how many people have gotten into accidents cause the thing wouldn't go into gear quick enough ? its really ironic....

*based on true events

[Mermaidia]

I hope everyone involved was ok.

[TVCasualty]

Wow, that's something I haven't heard about before; hope everyone was ok. I wonder why a transmission would be designed like that?

From what I've seen, it's still a little too early for me to consider buying a hybrid. The mileage is pretty good, but mileage isn't worth trading the ability to quickly get out of the way of big heavy things like trucks. That, and I'm still not sure what to make of the tradeoff of a regular internal combustion engine for the lead and acid battery bank. Lead mining is among the worst in terms of pollution, so hybrids are not yet a solution to our transportation problems.


BTW, how long did it take to shift?

[floppypeter]

prolly took around 5 seconds or so from drivel to R then another 5 seconds from R to drive. Its an eternity in an emergency.

I can make a manual transmission move a light speed in comparisson to this death trap

[TVCasualty]

Originally Posted by floppypeter

prolly took around 5 seconds or so from drive to R then another 5 seconds from R to drive.

Wow. That's not just slow, that sounds like a defect or design flaw.

[dizzydank]

damn floopy i can picture u screaming like a little gulr tryn to escape. lmao . well im glad to see u wenrt eliminated in a toyota of all things. miadas are like that 2. my friend almost got smoked in highsklew for the same type of shit.

[dial8]

Man I bet your asshole was tight enough to turn coal into diamonds.

[floppypeter]

i can picture u screaming like a little gulr tryn to escape. lmao .

your compassion is overwhelming lol

[dizzydank]

Originally Posted by floppypeter

your compassion is overwhelming lol

muahahaha i said after that i was glad u didnt get eliminated like ur about to be in cod 4.

[drtask]

and that is the whole reason i only purchase vehicles older than i am. may be old, but those old cars can MOVE! sorry to hear about such a pricey investment being destroyed due to new technology..

[Beastmaster]

Yep, I remember the dealer telling me that the automatic transmission in my truck was better than a manual one. It would save gas, and etc. I totally called him on it. I save more gas by coasting in neutral than some sort of slow ass mechanical shifter. I've had plenty of laggy shifts from that thing too. Stomp on gas, lean forward a big in anticipation of physics, then have a chance to look around and wonder why nothing is happening, then WHAM WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. fucking thing. Manual transmission is where its at.

if you want to save on gas, get a small vehicle with a 4 cylinder engine. All these people driving around in giant trucks and suvs with thier big MANLY V8 engines really just seem like they're trying to compensate for something.

[mydarling]

as horsepower increases, so does gas consumption, yes? and every car coming out these days is boasting about its damn horsepower and v8 engines... i don't know much about car mechanics, but it sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me. i like old used lightweight cars.

oh & fp, glad to hear you survived your near-death incident, now i can continue sending you cupcakes through usb

[fedshtkpndrk]

Prius' have a CVT (continuously variable transmission) I dont know about everyone else but those things dont instill a sense of control over the car for me. Always felt like I was never connected to the engine.

-feds

[bobdolerson]

This is why i drive a 69' muscle car. i'd rather pay 4 bucks a gallon to go 5 miles fast than 4 dollars to go 60 miles slow, but that's just me. I like to feel in total control of my vehicle. I also spent about 30k less on the hardware :-)

[dial8]

You got pics of that bad ass? I'd like to see it.

[Beastmaster]

Its not the engine, but the transmission, IMHO.

Mainly its just getting used to the difference between driving an analog vehicle vs a digital one.

If you have to wait for it to log into the internet or contact a gps satellite b4 going anywhere you're gonna have to expect that delay.

So far, if I'm putting my life on the line: analog is where its at.