2017 R3T alive and well

[Joesmoe]

Hybrid drive chain could be an answer. With the electric drive having enough torque to drive the machine, the designers of the gasoline engine have the flexibility to run it at a few specific RPM settings that are sweet spots in the power/emissions curves. This is how Toyota designed the Prius.

Of course, the Prius has a 272V battery that also allows the designers to keep the Prius from idling. At the touch of the accelerator, the engine jumps to life, immediately headed for that sweet spot, while the electric motor gets the vehicle moving.

 

[rocketjohn]

Basically a CVT, trouble prone, soulless, and absolutely antithetical to everything a motorhead should hold dear....An abomination!

 

[El Toro Rosso]

I've put well over 100,000 miles on Prii and have never had a single unscheduled maintenance issue.

They're incredibly interesting to a technically savvy motorhead. What neat trick to be able to control power splitting on the fly with an epicyclic gear train.

Might be pretty cool in a motorcycle too.

 

[Joesmoe]

Ayep, we had over 100,000 miles on our 2004. Did have the main controller go TU - was replaced under warranty.

 

[rocketjohn]

Nope, in my search for my next vehicle I realized my short list got shorter because of extensive use of CVT's by one particular brand. Sorry, I won't have them. No, never not all. I must have actual gears, slushy planetaries or a stirring stick but I must have gears.

 

[Joesmoe]

I could see a hybrid setup with my Honda CTX700D -- that way you'd have a 6-speed DCT with econo, sport, and manual options.

 

[El Toro Rosso]

Maybe you don't know how the cvts in the Toyota power trains work.

There are three gears. A sun gear. A planet gear. And a ring gear.

This is a common configuration in many machines. Usually one is "fixed," one is the input, and one is the output.

What is cool about this one is that instead of fixing one, they define its speed as a control variable.

Toyota did not invent this system. They bought the rights to it. I think it was invented over 50 years ago possibly at TRW.

In any event, the computer is smarter than 99% of the human operators. Want it to jump? Punch it.

I've had all three of their hybrid power trains. The V-6 in the Highlander Hybrid, along with its bigger electric motor and battery, will really zip.

 

[Joesmoe]

My thoughts exactly . . .

 

[Joesmoe]

But to John's point -- the Toyota hybrid design gained performance at the cost of increased complexity and weight.

We got rid of our two thinking we had made enough rolls on the craps table to take our money and run.

There were other cars around that got better mileage than the Prius, but with my sister working for Toyota we got the employee discount and the cool factor and extended 8-year warranty that came with the 2004 models, it was worth the gamble.

And we humans are amazing creatures -- I expect to see some amazing tech out there that will continue to improve performance both at the rear wheel and the exhaust. I just hope they don't take too long and I get to enjoy it before they send me to the old folks' home.

 

[ThingKing]

Only if it is not two stroke!

Vespa shock Milan with Elettrica scooter

Vespa is preparing already...

It looks like ALL the best engines are doomed in the long run. V8's have already become rare in Europe.
My other bike, the rare V2K has been out of production since 2010. The biggest V2 in motorcycling was not clean enough for the nerds in Brussels.
It's a shame they kill the most fascinating engines, I'm really pissed.