2023 Toyota Prius - WOW!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by hayden55

This is what makes me laugh about California trying to ban gasoline cars and forcing everyone to buy EVs.

Considering the amount of energy, often far from "clean", being used to power some expensive, heavy and unaerodynamic all-electric SUV, eventually some smaller and more reasonably-minded car running on ethanol might effectively have a lower carbon footprint. Even corn-based ethanol makes some sense, as it's a byproduct of high-protein concentrates used for cattle feeding. Not to mention nobody complained about the corn ethanol brewing being "inefficient" when it comes to some alcoholic beverages

[hayden55]

Yeah this is true. Its all tough though. The amount of fertilizer we use to grow that corn or milo though cancels it out i bet. It does burn really clean though. Fertilizer increases your crop production by up to about 10x using petroleum derived fert almost entirely. If we didn't use fertilizer we wouldn't even have enough farm land to support the amount of people we have on this earth i bet.
People would be suprised how much we depend on it.

[Phase]

Originally Posted by hayden55

Idk the old one failed the awd test so bad i would say completely avoid the "awd". Maybe its like toyota's cvt transmission, maybe their version of awd means someting different. lol
If it cant at bare minimum unstick itself on the cross test its not awd.
I think the main failure point is it needs some sort of way to simulate a front locker besides the extreme lack of power in the rear. Like how some manufacturers hold the front brake on/off to simulate a diff.

FWD is already pretty sick in snow though so no big deal. I put the hurt on 2wd trucks in my prius when it snows. 63% drive axle weight bias ftw

Honestly to me if you put an opel or vauxhall logo on the new prius i would believe you.

awd is tempting for me but ive never had an issue getting stuck in the snow with fwd in my ioniq with snow tires. only times ive been stuck in snow is ground clearance. too much snow build up stops me around bumps or under body

[freebeard]

Did someone say ground clearance?

jalopnik.com: This Lifted Prius Trolls Jeeps

Kempton even said that the car was fairly decent off-road, and that some of the Prius’ tendency to plow forward with sad-understeer was muted somewhat by really, really big tires:

It’s actually not bad in the dirt! Still has terminal understeer, but with tires that large, getting there takes a lot more effort. We took it to a hike near Mt. Rainier as a shakedown run and pissed off/confused more than a few truck/Subaru owners with the speed we could maintain on a rough, windy forest road. The electric motor and CVT actually made crawling over larger obstacles entirely drama free.

A Prius (Prius!!!) makes a good crawler—who’d have ever expected that?

[Phase]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Did someone say ground clearance?

jalopnik.com: This Lifted Prius Trolls Jeeps

Yeah lifted. I wish I could get an adjustable suspension for my Ioniq. Push a button and it lifts for snow. Push another and it gets really low for better aero

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by Phase

I wish I could get an adjustable suspension for my Ioniq. Push a button and it lifts for snow. Push another and it gets really low for better aero

Right on! That's my dream vehicle. One with adjustable suspension. I like the "sedan" feel of a car, not necesarily on pavement, but on ice and snow. But then I get into the deep snow and wish it were a few inches taller...

Then again, EV's promise low center of gravity with the ability to have a higher ride height. Still, I'm not an SUV fan.

As far as the new Prius goes, it's alright, but not great IMO. Although if my Avalon were to die today, I would seriously consider one.

[redpoint5]

Problem with ground clearance is you're always limited by wheel size. Once a control arm or pumpkin is dragging, that's about it. There's basically no getting around to ground clearance being limited to half the height of the tire, and a little less. Every inch added results in half the ground clearance gained.

Fluffy stuff can be pushed a bit. My buddy Craig with his custom made "Craig Chains" where he replaces the cross links with large diameter chain links can push quite a bit, but it piles up quickly and there's a limit, and clearing that limit takes a lot of effort.

Machines made to handle the snow float it, not penetrate it.

At this point in my life, I think I'm more about low ride height for efficiency and handling, and the right machine for when the snow accumulates. I don't yet have the right machine for accumulated snow.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Wheel well size is effectively a limiting factor to improve ground clearance...

Originally Posted by hayden55

The amount of fertilizer we use to grow that corn or milo though cancels it out i bet. It does burn really clean though. Fertilizer increases your crop production by up to about 10x using petroleum derived fert almost entirely. If we didn't use fertilizer we wouldn't even have enough farm land to support the amount of people we have on this earth i bet.
People would be suprised how much we depend on it.

Have you ever been in a rice farm? Urea, the same compound used to make DEF, is used to replenish the soil with Nitrogen. Farming fish such as tilapia in the soaked areas where rice is cultivated does the same, without the expense of adding some chemicals, and it also keeps some pests under control as the tilapia will eat insects for instance.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Problem with ground clearance is you're always limited by wheel size. Once a control arm or pumpkin is dragging, that's about it. There's basically no getting around to ground clearance being limited to half the height of the tire, and a little less. Every inch added results in half the ground clearance gained.

Fluffy stuff can be pushed a bit. My buddy Craig with his custom made "Craig Chains" where he replaces the cross links with large diameter chain links can push quite a bit, but it piles up quickly and there's a limit, and clearing that limit takes a lot of effort.

Machines made to handle the snow float it, not penetrate it.

At this point in my life, I think I'm more about low ride height for efficiency and handling, and the right machine for when the snow accumulates. I don't yet have the right machine for accumulated snow.

Getting stuck in deep snow in my "low ridding" sedans and hatchbacks only happens about once every 5 years (even with snow tires and chains on), which is why I carry around a shovel in the trunk. There are a few dirt roads it would be nice to not have to scrape bottom every now and then in the summer (even with carefully trying to avoid stuff). A couple inches more might be all that's needed. But then again it's not worth it to me to go get a CUV/SUV/pickup or install adjustable height suspention on the car. Only if someone would trade their Suzuki Samari for my Prius would I be at all interested in the idea.

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Wheel well size is effectively a limiting factor to improve ground clearance...




Have you ever been in a rice farm? Urea, the same compound used to make DEF, is used to replenish the soil with Nitrogen. Farming fish such as tilapia in the soaked areas where rice is cultivated does the same, without the expense of adding some chemicals, and it also keeps some pests under control as the tilapia will eat insects for instance.

Yup im just saying nitrogen fertilizer is still made from oil. I'm fairly certain it was like a german nazi or someone who made the discovery of using oil to create fertilizer which allowed the world population to increase.
I sometimes spray water down def as fertilizer. Its only slightly more expensive that bag fertilizer lol. Or it was. Prices on things are funky now.
Off the top of my head you can make a bermuda pasture grow 10x more mass in a season using the correct amount of fertilizer vs the control of using no fert. 10 times!

I just hate how the green fairys focus on one area and not 99% of the other use.
Extremely off topic though i apologize lmao.