I was doing SCCA auto-X about 8 years ago. A guy shows up in an old beige Toyota Camry automatic. A lot of embarrassed people at the end of his session. The guy was an experienced driver and was showing his daughter what just tires could do. …always tires first. Always.
Hey, I raced a Gray Camry Hybrid in an autox one time. Took 2nd in GS to a Fiat with sticky tires by about .2, and I could've found that if the batteries didn't keep overheating! Had to slow down the final few corners for most of the runs due to scary overheating warnings. Still, drove it 5 hours home, and owned it up until this year. Great appliance of a car. Go race what you have.
Unusual cars on track is always a fun time; my first trackday the instructors were giving rides to 5 passengers at a time in a dually F-350 diesel with bench seats front and rear, and dang they were flying! Track cars versus regular cars, the main difference is over sustaining multiple laps usually, plus driver interface as you note with the seats and stuff; nearly any modern vehicle in decent mechanical shape can do a push lap, and might surprise you how quick it can go!
A happy new year from Japan!! I’m willing to spend many fun times with Todd, Paul and Everyday Driver fellows this year as usual. Paul said “we are idiots wearing helmets in Prius”. But I think it is the proof you are true car enthusiasts.
Love it! I was a track side photographer in 2007 and at one of the track days there was a Prius in the driving school sessions. This is now the second Prius I've seen on track. You should do a comparison video between an prev gen Prius and the new one :)
Many years ago while attending the CART race at Pocono my dad and I took a promotional ride in a Starcraft conversion van around the speedway with Roberto Guerrero driving. Van was full of people, Roberto is taking and showing us the racing lines, and the van is leaning so hard it feels almost upright on the banking. Best time ever. I hadn't thought of that experience in so many years, but for some reason this video fired that neuron...
your modified Prius might outgun my back in the day 68 Mercury Cougar GTE (390 HP 427 side oiler) on a road course. That car was a straight line monster, but huge over steering on turns
You guys joke about his whole Prius thing but I think you had it right, track whatever you have if you want (as long as it's safe). I love cars, but I'm my own MOF and will always buy the sensible option, not the fun one (maybe when the kids finish college I'll treat myself, but that's a decade away). I'm sure there are plenty of ppl like me, geek out on cars, love hearing something loud go down the street but drive a mini-van or a Sonata (me) or a Corolla. Have fun with what you got however you can and live vicariously through videos like this!
The cost of the seat/seats+tax and shipping (price may vary) either you install it your self (or know a guy/gal) and any other additional bits or pieces or wiring harness adapter..=$$ out of $$$$$ (depending on your disposable income)
I bought a 2024 Prius XLE AWD last month and the tires concern me but thanks to this video I know they won't explode on me in a turn. GREAT video, thank you!
@@adams1696 I saw a bad review on the 19 inch Michellin tires that came with it on Michellins site that said they both popped by just turning on uneven pavement at 15 mph.
Totally agree that if you’re into cars you should track whatever you drive. I’ve got a Volvo XC70 that I took to an autocross, and no it did not have high performance tires. Regardless, it was incredibly fun and everyone there loved seeing a wagon with terrible suspension on the limit around a track.
Soooooo-sticky tires, lowering springs, Bilstein shocks, sway bars, and some programming potentially that can increase the electric input at certain times (like coming out of corners) and the new Prius could be a legit track monster.
I would love to see the M20A Prius come to life with a 2JRACING manifold, exhaust system, Takeda intake, and Injen Xpedal Pro. 😁 As it shares the same TNGA platform with the E210 (H) / (S) Corolla, the suspension will carry over. Swaybars/ coilovers/ subframe braces/ strut tower braces, and Im guessing even the pitch mount. The only weak point is the CVT.
Any thoughts with how the hybrid system on the prius would hold up tracking in a hot climate? That could be a big hurdle for a GR version from the factory.
The Prime would probably work best because it has a liquid cooled battery. The air cooled traction battery would need additional cooling. I know a Gen 4 was modified with ducting and an air ram for better cooling but that was a custom mod someone did. Not sure how well it actually worked. Liquid cooling is probably necessary so if there is going to be a GR Prius, my money is on it being a Prime variant.
@@kiefershanks4172Based on the recent rumour they're going for a regular hybrid variant because the regular hybrid can be fitted with AWD and the Prime/PHEV will be stuck with FWD because they have no space for another motor (bigger battery)
hoping it wont add power, just make body height lower into a turnkless compact 4 momentum preservation car . would be nice it it had electric assited turbo inline 3 too,. a higher mpg car
I’ve always said the GR86 is as fast as a Prius. Guess I’ve been right all along lol. If Toyota makes another GR86 generation, they’re going to need to put a turbo in that thing.
6:30 Maybe it's my limited experience at Laguna Seca (when they're not booked)....but sure, you can hand-wave any criticism as "as long as you're having fun". I just don't see the fun when a computer is doing all of the work for you and you're just ther as you confuse the computer that specifically program to maximize efficiency....that the ignorance of amateurs who just want to feel the speed, yet they're understeering due that FWD, that gets corrected by the eAWD, gets excited when their MPG is cut in half due to obvious overuse of the engine.
Seems like you missed the entire intention of this series, as well as the car we brought. We know the Prius shouldn't be doing this, and that the car is set up for the opposite of track driving, and that's why we did a series with it on performance wheels and tires to see how much just those elements change the performance. And to encourage everyone to have fun in their car no matter what it is. Also, this Prius is a FWD model. Thanks for the comment anyway.
As a racer I fully understand the importance of sponsors and promoting their products, but the level you guys are taking it to lately is making these videos unwatchable.
Odd reaction. I think they wished to make the point of how aftermarket tires can make a noticeable difference, coming from OEM tires? And they are, by far , not the first car media people to do it ??
"He's not going to tell his Miata friends about that later" Wrong. Miata culture is telling your Miata friends about what other slow cars left you for dead. His Miata friends will get tired of hearing him brag about the time he got dusted by a Prius and it will get even worse when he realizes it made it onto this channel.
@@wingspantt While I agree, I think the main reason 0-60 is the focus is because that is the "real world" racing that most ppl do. Hardly anyone is setting up a meet to do a "touge" in their back roads where they live, or going to the track, but even grandma can get goaded into launching off a red light in her CRV
I mean they are taking the regular hybrid Prius to do Endurance race. Rookie Racing (Akio Toyoda's personal race team & sort of Toyota's experimental team) is gonna bring the car to race in the Super Taikyu endurance series. If we're talking about a full on GR treatment then they actually showed us a concept of it during Le Mans last year and there's been rumors brewing of a proper GR Prius
The new prius is quite a looker--as much as it pains me to say it. Coincidently, I bought a GR86 just over a week ago (hit 180mi worth of break-in today), and that thumbnail had me a bit concerned about my purchase🤣
Unless it's like a Jaguar FType R, or a tuned WRX STI (I loooove that boxer rumble), or many cars that feel special at slow speeds and sound awesome. I'm getting back into one of those super soon. My current 500hp Audi A6 is really fast and feels luxurious for its age, but not that fun at slow speeds.
Everyone being a downer on this takes life too seriously. There are tons of other track videos if you want to see serious track content. These guys are having fun and experimenting with something that no one on youtube has done yet, with Toyota's blessing on top of it. They're having fun and it's fun watching how ridiculous it is.
body height should be decreased into being a compact 4 seater , electic assited turbo inlin 3 , a momentum preservation lotus elise type of driving fun in the name of higher mpg
Go look at the Prius 24H Le Mans Centenary GR Edition (yes, it's a mouthful 😅). It can be a base of what a GR Prius would look like and Toyota also entering the Prius to race in the Super Taikyu Endurance series through Rookie Racing, Akio Toyoda's personal race team and a place where quite a lot of Toyota's recent performance cars get tested on competition like the GR Corolla had its first appearance here (including the Hydrogen ICE version), GR Yaris with the new 8-speed Auto, even a GR86 with a GR Yaris/GR Corolla engine)
If hybrid tech is good enough for Formula 1 it's gotta be good enough for cheap slow track cars too. Boost the pricetag by a little, and Toyota could surely double the horsepower of the Prius Prime, add all wheel drive, and make it competitive on track with a stock STI from 10 or 20 years ago.
I used to take my 2014 PriusV (the station wagon) to race autocross with the Akron sports car club on bone stock tires and never came close to finishing last. I always loved seeing the looks on peoples faces who were laughing at my car during inspection when they realized I was posting faster laps than them! I just picked up a 2024 awd le Prius and I am definitely taking it racing this spring 😁
In the early 90’s, I started running SCCA Solo 2 slalom events in a 1989 Honda Civic. Not the SI mind you, but the budget 1.5 liter CX. Because of the class structure in Canada, I limited my mods to tires, brakes and suspension- no power adders. I was only a md-pack driver in my class, but if you ignored points and classes, and just looked at lap times, I was still mid-pack! Faster than stock 70’s Corvettes, old Volvo’s, Rabbits, early fox-body Mustangs, etc., driven by equally inexperienced drivers. Not only that, but my equipment and repair budget was non-existent. I wasn’t stressing the car enough to break parts, and it was safer and more fun on the street because of the mods.
Sense of humor, hell no. This is exactly what I want to see. Making basic ass cars into good cars. Just wished there was more time and budget for maybe better suspension, some stiffening bits like struts and maybe even go to the whole "making it look sporty" side of modding.
I really wanna get better suspension and tires for our 1liter 3cyl Polo. Because as it is, it drives really fun. Also thinking about shilling 1k for a black roof liner set.
lower body height making it acompact 4 seater no trunk, electric assited turbo inline 3 , a lotus elise style momentum preservation type sporty driving, all in the name of high mpg
I remember taking my 1990 Ford ranger 5spd with all of 100 hp and a bench seat to an autocross and spending the entire time trying to keep myself in front of the steering wheel 😂 It was slow as can be but a total laugh and that’s what track days are really about, fun!
Toyota - rip the band aid off and do a performance trim of the Prius. These guys have practically served up the capabilities to you on a silver platter.
Say 10 years ago, I'm not even sure if the Prius could have kept up on track with a non-sports, common mid-size car. It's come a long way. Thanks for doing this, wish there would have been a parking lot / cone setup to go around.
I have a Prius (an old gen3 one) so I'm sort of biased in favor of this sort of thing. But as someone whose only experience with track driving is from a whole bunch of hours playing driving games, I feel like a Prius is a really good track car for someone like me who doesn't have a huge amount of skill. The lack of power will result in turns and braking spots coming at you a little slower, and whatever mistakes you make will come at a slower speed. Probably a good thing for unskilled drivers
We race everything from a 1995 Pontiac Minivan to a 1993 Saturn SL2 to 1947 Plymouth sedan (heavily modified...but we tracked it stock). The point is, find joy in racing frigging anything! That minivan introduced more than a dozen new people to wheel-to-wheel racing and after incremental development through 6 years, it was fun to race!
Oh man this is great… totally get it from a Prius II owner with Enkei RPF1, Michelin super sports, Tein coilovers, TRD sway bars and strut tower bar. I have an 18mile 1 way trip to work through back roads, Miata’s and low level sport coupes get surprised
Hate to say it but CVTs are fast. The always shifting and always putting power down thing is a pretty useful party trick. eCVTs solve so many issues with CVT design. Personally, I think they are great. If I could not find a manual vehicle, my second choice would be hybrid eCVT hands down.
I will note, one benefit of having gears is being able to instinctively know what speed you're supposed to be at for each corner. Apparently some drivers got faster with the fake gears on Hyundai's N-Ionic because they could very quickly figure out how much they had to slow down with the fake RPM and fake gear position.
I would like to personally thank you guys. It would be an understatement to say I watched every video you guys did on the gr86 and it came convinced me to buy one brand new. Not only did I get a 2023 Gr86 but I got it MT, which I've never driven in my 30 years of living. I risked learning how to drive again during a crucial moment in my career. And it was in my least favorite color, red. I did entertained getting a Prius but Im glad I didn't Everyone keeps asking me why I got a gr86. After teaching myself MT, being scared of it acceleration, and just now getting the hang of hill start. My answer to people is: "It's really fun!" It's sound so simple yet their is so much joy and emotion that it's hard to explain any more than that. So I say to you two. Thank you.
This is simply awesome to hear! We applaud you for taking the chance on a new experience and congratulate you on a great car. Thank you for watching and we're thrilled to know our work was helpful to you in finding a fun car!
I have a 2009 Subaru Forester X 2.5 that I bought it to drive while I worked on my WRX. Three years later the Forester has coilovers, adjustable rear lca's and lateral arms. A 25mm rear swaybar, stiffer front and rear end links, 18x9.5 wheels with Falken Azenis RT615K+ tires and a Sparco race seat. It is so slow but you don't have to slow for corners. So fun......oh and the WRX is still not back together.
Great content, I was waiting for this. Too bad a larger rear anti-roll bar is not available yet. Regarding tracking cars not intended for it, years ago, as a parent with young ones and commute, I drove a Mk4 VW Golf TDI. My car was enhanced a bit with a tune, suspension and wheels/tires. I did autocross and track days with it and surprised the owner of a modded, caged, gutted and track-prepped Civic when he found out the car he was battling with was a 50mpg diesel with a booster seat in the back.
Wonder if anyone yet makes a half decent coilover for it yet. Add in a rear swaybar perhaps if it needs a little extra rotation, and it might be a hoot.
Okay, no, you need to get that Prius back and see how far you can push it. Can we get Brembo brakes? Paddle shifters? Recaro seats? Can we get a carbon fiber hood and add NOS?? The Charger, Challenger and Camaro are all dead, people! If it's still got an ICE in it, we need to know how far it can go!
I once asked my mom if I could borrow her first gen prius for a little road trip. She didn't want me to "use up her tires" but let me borrow the car as long as I swapped my much wider and grippier wheels and tires over from my honda. That thing turned into a little go kart. Obviously not a performance oriented car, but they have epic weight distribution due to the placement of the battery packs! While hooning my moms prius around I also found that if you popped it into B (regenerative braking mode) at just the right time in a turn it would essentially activate electronically controlled left foot braking 😂😂 Later models are also pretty fun and essentially have built in launch control, hold the brake and gas to preload and just let off the brake. I've surprised many people off the line with that and the torque. Fun can be had with these cars!
That’s the secret weapon. You’re almost there, though. Put it in eco mode and leave it in B mode. Econ mode has a more usable throttle response for racing. B gear will not only simulate engine braking but, more importantly, induce trail braking and oversteer throttle lift-off on its own with the smoothness of a CVT. The Prius is specialized for 1-2nd gear type roads. But it also does well at high speed corners. Very easy to control at the limit. Slowly build your way up to familiarity; trail braking can get really sketchy if you're not familiar with it, though. I’ve drifted mine a couple of times, not for show but lightly for maximizing speed. It’d be interesting to try out wider tires. Even the Prius V handles well for its size. I’ve dusted so many sports car in this thing on downhill curves. A local mustang gt driver won’t race me anymore. Killed a 370z recently. There is specifically this three lane, 6 total, downhill curve by my house that I’m very familiar with. So I take up the entire road. That’s where the sports car hunting happens. Also lookup the BGE mirror (wing out method) setup. It’ll make you a much faster driver in traffic. Over took a Porsche 911 one time who was ricing around. The preload, launch is fun. Especially next to stick shift cars. Always gets them nervous at the next light. At best, they beat a Prius. IMO the Prius is spiritually closer to the AE86 than a GR86
Very little in life is as satisfying as watching folks have a blast on a racetrack. Another to notch video. Thanks men, look forward to hearing from you boys again on Tuesday. Your podcast sure makes the work day more palatable.
