ozziesironmanoffroad

this thought came to me today at work when i had to test drive a prius to make the check engine light come on. what if i put this engine in my truck and had around 45mpg? they have some power too. would the engine be strong enough to move a METAL vehicle with the aerodynamics of a brick? lets get some thoughts, this ought to be a good thread

Jay351

The engine would cost 10x more then the trucks worth hahaha

abecedarian

horsepower doesn't move bricks... torque does... and left-over torque makes horsepower
so do the math and plot the torque curve of the prius hybrid configuration against the torque curve of a 22RE.
I'm interested in seeing....

ozziesironmanoffroad

i never said it would be worth it to anyone else. but how cool would it be to be the only toyota TRUCK owner with a good lookin truck, old, metal, designed well, and be HYBRID? that alone, plus the mileage, would be worth it to me. any other thoughts?

ozziesironmanoffroad

sorry, when i took physics my girlfriend did my homework, but i learned just enough to pass the tests, then i forgot it. math aint my strong point.

Jay351

I would go pure electric. The conversion is not that hard and the upkeep is super simple.. You dont get the sound a combustion engine gives (that really sucks to me) but they can be VERY VERY powerfull..

It would be kinda cool to offroad with a silent truck... well except all the squeaking

NicCantDecide

your gas mileage will be nowhere near 45.

You have to realize half the reason it gets 45mpg is because the car weighs about as much as a piece of paper. The other half is the voodoo magic under the hood.

Also, a prius at wide open throttle (which you will be doing if you put it in a truck) gets 17mpg. Top Gear did this test a few episodes ago, it was quite funny. Now put that behind a big old truck and you'll probably be pushing a little less mileage per the gallon. But not much, maybe not any at all.
But when you're cruising on the freeway, hey, maybe you can get more. There's really no reason to do it, especially considering the money you'd spend ON it wouldn't be recouped by the gas you saved (if any at all) for years.

NwRunner

just put Hydrogen On Demand Cells in there!

haha, JUST KIDDING! i promise.

Jay351

Could you amagin the wiring? Just thinking of it scares me...

abecedarian

well, I wasn't trying to get you to pawn the math off to someone else...
just trying to get you think about it.

abecedarian

on the other hand... with that bed space... maybe going full electric would be better, no?
and then you could look like you care about the environment since your truck is electric

<sarcasm>
but you don't really have to care since the electricity coming through the wall outlet is produced by coal or nuclear power....

right on!!!

</sarcasm>

by the way, .1 lbs of CO2 were created during the making of this post.

91Toyota

Funny. my brothers car gets almost the same gas mileage as a prius. And its faster. Also has a 1.5l engine

I hate prius's. Look ghey...and are big bricks. I would take an insight over that any day. lol.

NicCantDecide

I would also take a honda insight over a prius...they're pretty sleek, looks a lot like my integra (yeah, I'm biased).

I guess it was ahead of its time though, gas prices hadn't gone up enough for people to care for it.

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

im guessing either an Scion xB or an xA???

Bogo

Do a series hybrid. Slap in a motor each for front and rear. The motor controller needs to know how to do regenerative braking to be worth it. Put a bank of batteries in the back and engine compartment. Also put a generator in the engine compartment. The generator only needs to put out about 2 to 3 times level ground driving @ 65MPH. Excess is used to charge the batteries. When they get to 80% full it shuts off and when they drop to 65% it turns on again. Use Li-Ion, NiMH, or NiCd battereis. Lead-acid won't cut it.

Elvota

My GF has a '08 Highlander Hybrid.

It seriously screams.

Point...

The torque is crazy. Being AWD it has electric motors at the front and rear axle. When you gas it... it goes. 100% torque right off the bat. I was amazed. It pulls hills like they are nothing and is a blast to drive. When you are passing on 2 lane you literally have to hold on to the wheel as it just pulls instantly when you floor it. Nothing seems to slow it down either. Shuttle box on top, 4 big DH mountain bikes on the back with 4 people absolutely stuffed with gear and not even a hesitation on the highway.

Counterpoint...

In all honesty, the MPG is probably only marginally better than a full gas SUV, but there is a fair increase. So far I have found the only really advantage to the thing to be unbridled power on demand. Oh, plus it's fun to sneak around the parking lot under 5MPH in dead silent mode.

Point...

To me, hybrids on the trail have a problem with water and batteries. On the Highlander, they are huge and very low. Water crossings might get sketchy. It's my understanding they had to train services such as fire and paramedics on how to deal with these hybrids after an accident. Cutting into the wrong part during extraction can result in some major issues.

Counterpoint...

One other problem is the lack of gearing. There is no "L" even though it's an auto. Just . "D" and "R" and one marked "B". "B" is supposed to allow the unit to recharge and slow down the vehicle on hills.... but it's all but useless when things get long and steep like in CO. Mind you, I haven't read the manual, so I might be missing a few of the finer points of the vehicle.

Point...

Then again, there is no rear driveshaft on the Highalnder, even though it is 4WD. So, no clearance issues, gas tank where ever you want and you could link the bejesus out of it without even thinking about driveline restrictions.

Counterpoint...

If you could do a swap... I think the controllable and instant torque would be sweet on the trails. I don't think the MPG would really go up all that much though. Like others have said, it's the unit as a whole that saves gas. The Prius actually has a lot of aerodynamic refinements... even down to the hubcaps.

SuperPoint...

Actually... maybe the swap is infeasible... maybe the thing to do is figure out how to stuff 37's under the Highlander. Wonder if the GF would understand it had to be done for the quest of YT knowledge.

Maybe she will...... just maybe she will.... she just has to understand.

stormin94

Team420

^^LOL^^ I have a 96 vw golf that is in need of a manual trans(no reverse...go figure), and my gf, keeps tellin me I should make it a 4x4, and throw some huge tires on it...ha, now that a good gf...although, I think its just cuz I threatened to lift her truck, and make her keep driving the intrepid...lol, we all hate that thing.

zlathim

I thought that the hybrids would be gutless novelty cars up until the entity I work for bought a couple of them and put them in the motorpool.

I have taken them on several 200+ mile roadtrips and I was really surprised at how well they did both on the interstate and winding mountain roads.

That being said, they get good mileage, but not a whole lot better than some conventionally powered vehicles. A point has been made that the energy used and the environmental impact of production outweighs any gains made in the "green" movement. A good start though, and with time and development, they may very well lead to something that will be worthwhile.

Retrofitting the system into an older 4x4 pickup would be a waste of time and resources in my opinion. If a guy has the money, time, and knowledge to make it work it might make an intereting conversation piece, but not much more. That is my $0.02.

X-AWDriver

What 1.5L gas engine get 57mpg in the city and 46 on the hwy? This is what my friend's mom get in her Prius.

Our xB is getting 30 city and 37hwy but it is a much more practical car for more than two adults.