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New Speed Record For Hybrid Cars
prostoalex writes "According to CarPages, Toyota Prius set a new world record for hybrid vehicles. It 'set the mark at 130.794 mph on the three-mile short course using a standard Hybrid Synergy Drive power-train - a mixture of 1.5 litre petrol engine and an electric motor.'"
a mixture of 1.5 litre petrol engine and an electric motor.
The great thing with the hybrid cars slowly but surely replacing standard cars is that the rice boy scene is likely to disappear, which means no more bumblebee-like 4-banger revving at the red light, no more huge exhaust tip, no more huge hood scoop, and best of all, the full and complete ridiculing of anybody who keeps butchering grocery-getters that way.
And best of all, all these posers might actually stand a chance to get real perfs out of small engines like that with hybrids, with some simple electronic parts or battery swapping.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
I think the car companies are full of it. These hybrids are nothing but expensive ways to showcase technlogical superiority. What do I mean? Well my roomate has a 1997? Jetta TDI. In the back of the window he has a big sign that says "50 MPG highway, 38 MPG city. Take your #$^& hybrid and drive off a cliff"! Most people don't beleive it. Last trip home over 1300 miles we got 52.3 mpg. He takes care of the car, keeps it tuned, and it runs clean. The REAL way to get better gas milegage isn't by using some fancy, impossible-to-service hybrid POS, but by building better cars and *gasp* ENGINEERING them better. Car companies just want people to think better gas mileage is impossible because then THEY DON"T HAVE TO DESIGN GOOD CARS and can charge more $$$ for "high technology fuel efficient vehicles". The time may come when hybrids are the way to increase fuel economy, but why not put more R&D budget into fuel cells or something.