The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

characterize a hybrid vehicle.
Muramatsu could not decide, and asked Uchiyamada.
"Uchiyamada-san, what shall we do with the gas pedal feel?"
"Let's not make it too strange so that a driver won't feel
uncomfortable switching from a conventional car. We would
like to give it some character within that framework."
"When turbo cars were first introduced, people were
intrigued by the sudden thrust of acceleration. It had that
powerful turbo character. I wonder if we can create something
that can leave an impression like that."
"Turbo, huh? That shocked me, too, but I never felt
comfortable with it. I guess young people liked it, but the turbo
was eventually adjusted to accelerate less abruptly."
"Well, we should at least let it have the same feeling of
acceleration as the Corolla. We can't let Prius get a reputation
for being slow or sluggish."
"Hmm. Okay, let's aim at creating the same feeling of
acceleration as a 1,500cc Corolla. If we do that on a hybrid
vehicle, people will find it sensational."
Thus, Muramatsu set the "drive feel" of a 1,500cc AT
Corolla as the target. After that, the decisions were more
subjective and answers could not be calculated. How a person
feels about something is completely subjective and reactions
are diverse. Muramatsu ran one test after another while
slightly changing the resistance of the pedal
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