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PRIUS

 
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Henry



Joined: 03 Apr 2001
Posts: 2878
Location: NYC

PostPosted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:54 am    Post subject: PRIUS Reply with quote

A friend just purchased a Prius. Brought his '84 Suburban in (sitting in yard for years) and walked out with a brand new Prius for 18K.

Some observations.

1. Well made. Very well made. Doors close perfectly, paint exceptional, beautiful alloy wheels beneath those plastic hub caps, fit and finish and quality of materials is of the highest quality. Period.

2. I didn't drive vehicle. Will do so soon.

3. Started vehicle. Fantastic. When the electric motor is on you do not hear a sound. Actually, if you think you'll miss the sound of, let's say, and Abarth exhaust (I date myself from my tii days) I surely did not. And I like the sound of an engine. However, I really liked the sound of no engine.

4. Big criticism. Really big. The driver is unable to see any and I mean any of the corners of the vehicle. In fact, from the windshield forward it is impossible to see the hood. Or the rear end. You see NOTHING. And you can be tall and still see NOTHING. If I owned this I would have to measure each corner back to the windshield or the rear glass.

What kind or a-hole did this is beyond me.
What kind of motor critic who never, to my knowledge, mentions this is beyond me.

5. Easy solution: Let a German or an Italian auto manufacturer design this body.

Otherwise, it's a great vehicle.

6. And...I thought about bmw and about the gas/diesel engine.
For my money a self charging electric vehicle is the way to go.
I was in Germany 4 yrs ago and there was a Solar Fair in Marionplatz, Munich. I seem to recall the concept if not proof of concept of paint that acts as a solar collector. In conjunction with a supplementary petrol charging engine this should do just fine.

7. After the engine started I was a believer. And if bmw, in my opinion, wants a future they should stick their collective head into this technology.

8. You can play a digital recording of engine sounds. Perhaps even select an engine. Something like the artificial sound of a shutter going off in a digital camera kind of artificial sound.

9. And this way bmw will have a good reason for deleting the dip stick.
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tncean



Joined: 26 Feb 2005
Posts: 1652
Location: Chattanooga, Tn.

PostPosted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A soundtrack for when the engine is on? Hmmm. Today, I feel like... Ferrari?
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Henry



Joined: 03 Apr 2001
Posts: 2878
Location: NYC

PostPosted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I really do not like the fact that the corners of the vehicle are absolutely invisible.

And I have not read this minor detail as a criticism.

Am old fashioned. Like to see where I am going.
Perhaps I can stick flag poles on the corners.
Kind like a Grosser Mercedes Landau.
Yah.
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Henry



Joined: 03 Apr 2001
Posts: 2878
Location: NYC

PostPosted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I really do not like the fact that the corners of the vehicle are absolutely invisible.

And I have not read this minor detail as a criticism.

Am old fashioned. Like to see where I am going.
Perhaps I can stick flag poles on the corners.
Kind like a Grosser Mercedes Landau.
Yah.
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idanity



Joined: 21 May 2005
Posts: 3097
Location: N.W.U.S.A.

PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:28 pm    Post subject: Re: PRIUS Reply with quote

Henry wrote:


Some observations.

1. Well made. Very well made. Doors close perfectly, paint exceptional, beautiful alloy wheels beneath those plastic hub caps, fit and finish and quality of materials is of the highest quality. Period.



3. Started vehicle. Fantastic. When the electric motor is on you do not hear a sound.

.


hmm.... the "doors work perfectly"....i don't understand this... (any really, i don't shop for american cars, ) but ...the doors are expected to work perfectly... Rolling Eyes no ?
im really confused by this...
what cars have crappy doors ?

and to point out,
every electric car i've seen, are silent..and some gasoline cars are silent too. (depends on how my hearing is i guess).

but i just had to chime in, on the doors.
sort of made me laugh, than ponder.
since you were impressed by the doors,
did the tires not roll perfectly,
are the headlights mis-aligned
is the glove box broken,
is there really nothing else that was perfect....( im just being sarcastic now)

btw...my 88 yota 4x4 has perfect doors, and my cabrio's doors are flawless too....


but im not yet impressed with the electric cars (maybe the Tesla's)

i watched a tire commercial recently, stating that using the tires (which cost about 2k) would save enough gas to drive 2600 miles..
yet, if i drove 2,600 miles, i would only spend about 400 dollars on fuel...and lose 1600 dollars on rubber.

if this thread is about the greatness of *NEW* vs. OLD....i have to say this.

old is often not the best,
but new is often NOT better either. (e36 anyone)
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Henry



Joined: 03 Apr 2001
Posts: 2878
Location: NYC

PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Look...I like fit and finish. You're right. Robots make cars and they treat all cars equally.

Saw a video on You Tube showing how bmw's are constructed. Almost no people involved.

So whether it's a mr toyota robot or a mr bmw robot it all comes together.

My main gripe is how in the world can anyone drive a car when they can't see the corners of the vehicle?

Yup. It was eerily soundless.

And, whether we're old guys like myself or young guys like some others I personally don't see the future of automobiles being in the gasoline engine.

Look...in 1973, when I was 26, the handwriting was on the wall. Now, it's 36 yrs later and there's improvement. However, we'd have fewer problems if oil wasn't on the front burner.

And, frankly, if I've got another 36 years I kinda question whether I'll be driving my bmw. For whatever and wherever that goes.

Though my Uncle Lou is 94 and gets himself around Miami really well. He has, though, agreed to give it up when he turns 95...in a few weeks.

That'll be tough. He has this relatively new Cadillac...that followed his 5.7 litre Corvette engined Chevy.

I once met a guy in Escalante Utah who was driving his SUV around the back woods at age 94. He was tack sharp.

Who the hell knows...? Well, we're not supposed to know.

However, if I'm lucid 36 years from now and we're still using petro than it will be a damn shame.
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