Thread: New Prius C
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Old 11-15-2011, 06:28 PM   #68 (permalink)
Daox
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I'll agree the 1st gen Insight is more than likely going to remain king of the highway. I look at the numbers and just can't see the Prius C coming out ahead. Mainly, there is the aerodynamics factor. The Insight has an amazing low CdA of 5.00. Where as if we take the current dimensions (from cmpg), and use the subjective (but seems accurate) Cd I found for the Prius C of .28 we get a CdA of 6.20 which really isn't all that impressive. So, that means the Prius would have to make up that aero penalty in engine efficiency. According to the Insight BSFC chart, it bests the current 1.8L Prius engine by 5-10% (not sure if the BSFC map we have accounts for lean burn mode even). So, I don't see them getting ahead there either. At best they may break even.

This is probably a good example of how the EPA testing isn't all that accurate. Of course it'll be quite interesting to see real world numbers with these cars.
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