Probably still not possible with the 2010 car: the fuel tank will still be 45 litres, where the BMW 5 series has a 70 litre tank, 55% larger. Numbers from here (linked from Wikipedia:Gasoline) give Diesel as having 10.9% more energy than 87 Octane petrol. I'd ignore their stated Premium gasoline number: it's not cited and my understanding is that premium has little more energy content than 87 AKI 'regular' gas. This link says less than 1% difference (quoted from an email from Chevron). The difference in output power from using higher octane fuels, in engines designed for it, is due to the compressibility of the fuel, permitting a larger stroke in an Otto-cycle engine (i.e. more of the energy in the fuel is usefully extracted). The Prius is designed to compress only as much as regular fuel permits and doesn't benefit from premium petrol.
btw, still wondering basic curb weight for the 2010 Prius. Or do they still need to get a production unit off the line to measure? Honda posted up Insight's curb weight early.
Do we know the empty weight increase? The Gross Vehicle Weight seems to have increased by about 200 lbs (~90 kg). Thanks, Bob Wilson
So people who live in 65 MPH states AND don't speed, won't see much, if any, improvement in highway mileage.
I seriously doubt that. My cruise yesterday on a straight, flat, windless highway driving 65 MPH with the temp at 19°F resulted in a solid 30-min display of 45 MPG. Watching the RPM, I could easily see how being able to reduce it would yield higher efficiency. .
Hi Bob, Following is preliminary data for Japanese model in kg. model .. NHW20 ZVW30 L ......... n/a ... 1310 S ........ 1260 .. 1350 S Turing 1280 .. 1380 G ........ 1280 .. 1350 G Turing 1300 .. 1380 Ken@Japan
wow, that's actually not too bad! The Canadian model is 1,330kg for the NHW20. There's an L model now?
Yes, but no detail yet. It seems the L model is very basic one with 185/65R16 tires and is for volume customers. Ken@Japan
