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Old Jul 10, 2025 | 02:11 PM
  #1186  
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Originally Posted by SW17LS
Sorry, your video doesn't negate my experience having had the car for 2 years . Try driving some yourself.

I know exactly what you are talking about because I HATED the Prius, and it made me avoid hybrids in general for a long time. But in regular driving or even accelerating to merge onto the highway you do not get the droning type engine sound and feel you are describing. I have never experienced that in my vehicle even one time.
When hustled my Prius drones but I think it’s largely due to fact it only has 134hp. Any car with 134hp is going to moan and groan if you floor it. But just normal driving it behaves like any other vehicle with an engine. Hustle I mean 75-100% throttle.

Also I went back and looked at a video review on the Rav4 prime from the Topher and he praised the acceleration and power and didn’t complain about any droning unless I missed it.
But hey what do I know about hybrids. I only put 32k miles on our PHEV Rav, 163k miles on our Prius, 47k miles on our RX 450h and 43k miles on our RAV4 hybrid.


Originally Posted by Oro
I have a good friend/family member who has one of these, the GV70. He loves it and goes on about it; I think his is a 2023 model. He’s a “car” guy and knows what he’s talking about. He’s also extremely technically-focused and researches his decisions deeply, so I am eager to see what’s up with it when i can drive it soon. He just moved back from a stint in Fla so I haven’t had the chance yet, I will in the next two weeks.

And circling back to that BMW 3.0, I got an email from Cars and Bids highlighting it the other day.

Wow must be a gem!! I’m new to the BMW world.

Originally Posted by Striker223
Congrats. You’re the Audi collector!!
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 02:39 PM
  #1187  
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Originally Posted by BayeauxLex
When hustled my Prius drones but I think it’s largely due to fact it only has 134hp. Any car with 134hp is going to moan and groan if you floor it. But just normal driving it behaves like any other vehicle with an engine. Hustle I mean 75-100% throttle.

Also I went back and looked at a video review on the Rav4 prime from the Topher and he praised the acceleration and power and didn’t complain about any droning unless I missed it.
But hey what do I know about hybrids. I only put 32k miles on our PHEV Rav, 163k miles on our Prius, 47k miles on our RX 450h and 43k miles on our RAV4 hybrid.
Right? Who are we to argue with somebody who watched a video?!

That's the thing with the Pacifica vs the Prius, you rarely need full throttle acceleration and if you do its only for a couple of seconds, so you never have that full throttle drone...in the Prius (we had a 2nd gen vs your 3rd gen, I have only driven a 3rd gen briefly) I would need full throttle acceleration for a long period when accelerating with any hurry at all, so you had constant drone.

I also drove recently a TX550h+ with the 3.5 V6 and didnt feel or hear any droning. The S580e hybrid I drove also had no drone, but that has the 9 speed transmission. What causes the droning is the CVT not the hybrid system itself and when you have enough power that you don't need to drive with your foot to the floor its really not an issue
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 03:41 PM
  #1188  
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Originally Posted by SW17LS
Right?

That's the thing with the Pacifica vs the Prius, you rarely need full throttle acceleration and if you do its only for a couple of seconds, so you never have that full throttle drone...in the Prius (we had a 2nd gen vs your 3rd gen, I have only driven a 3rd gen briefly) I would need full throttle acceleration for a long period when accelerating with any hurry at all, so you had constant drone.

I also drove recently a TX550h+ with the 3.5 V6 and didnt feel or hear any droning. The S580e hybrid I drove also had no drone, but that has the 9 speed transmission. What causes the droning is the CVT not the hybrid system itself and when you have enough power that you don't need to drive with your foot to the floor its really not an issue
A heavy right foot also puts a lot of stress on a CVT.....that is one reason why they were initially limited to relatively low-power drivetrains...and still are somewhat limited in that respect. You already know this, but, for those who do not, a CVT essentially runs off of two infinite-ratio cones (hence the name Continuously-Variable) pointing in opposite directions, connected by a drive-belt system. A conventional stepped-gear transmission has relatively durable metal gears, torque-converter, input/output-shafts, and a supporting structure...but, in a CVT, most or all of the stress of acceleration is basically concentrated through the drive-belt, although the belt materials themselves now are better then they were years ago when CVTs were new. Even so, CVTs are still somewhat more prone to failure than conventional automatics, mostly from worn drive belts. The ones made by Jatco, and used in some Nissans and Subarus, had an especially bad reputations.
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 04:11 PM
  #1189  
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Originally Posted by mmarshall
A heavy right foot also puts a lot of stress on a CVT.....that is one reason why they were initially limited to relatively low-power drivetrains...and still are somewhat limited in that respect. You already know this, but, for those who do not, a CVT essentially runs off of two infinite-ratio cones (hence the name Continuously-Variable) pointing in opposite directions, connected by a drive-belt system. A conventional stepped-gear transmission has relatively durable metal gears, torque-converter, input/output-shafts, and a supporting structure...but, in a CVT, most or all of the stress of acceleration is basically concentrated through the drive-belt, although the belt materials themselves now are better then they were years ago when CVTs were new. Even so, CVTs are still somewhat more prone to failure than conventional automatics, mostly from worn drive belts. The ones made by Jatco, and used in some Nissans and Subarus, had an especially bad reputations.
Thats how Nissan and Subaru's CVTs work but not the eCVT in a Toyota hybrid or in the Pacifica. There are no belts, they use a planetary gear set.


Last edited by SW17LS; Jul 10, 2025 at 04:13 PM.
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 04:19 PM
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Our daughter has the same Pacific Hybrid and it drives exactly as you describe, Steve. It doesn't drone and it drives fine even if the battery is low.
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 04:21 PM
  #1191  
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Originally Posted by swajames
Our daughter has the same Pacific Hybrid and it drives exactly as you describe, Steve. It doesn't drone and it drives fine even if the battery is low.
Our experiences must be wrong. What do we know? lol

Last edited by SW17LS; Jul 10, 2025 at 04:22 PM.
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 04:37 PM
  #1192  
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Dad wanted to stop again so obligatory pictures, it's not swirled too badly thankfully
Dad wanted to stop again so obligatory pictures, it's not swirled too badly thankfully

Turns out I have the original window sticker as well!
Turns out I have the original window sticker as well!
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 04:44 PM
  #1193  
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Originally Posted by Striker223
Just shy of 70? Must be in a residential area 🤓
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 05:08 PM
  #1194  
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Originally Posted by SW17LS
Thats how Nissan and Subaru's CVTs work but not the eCVT in a Toyota hybrid or in the Pacifica. There are no belts, they use a planetary gear set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDPwQefY2KY

Yes, I sampled the ECVT a few years ago, when it first came out on the high-trim levels of the Corolla. Very interesting.....it used a regular first-gear, like in a stepped-transmission, to start from rest without the (usual) CVT motorboating/rubber-banding, then switched to the CVT for more efficiency once you actually got rolling. Nifty idea.....but, like with DCT dual-clutch transmissions, it does add complexity and difficulty of repair.
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 05:09 PM
  #1195  
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Originally Posted by SW17LS
Right? Who are we to argue with somebody who watched a video?!

That's the thing with the Pacifica vs the Prius, you rarely need full throttle acceleration and if you do its only for a couple of seconds, so you never have that full throttle drone...in the Prius (we had a 2nd gen vs your 3rd gen, I have only driven a 3rd gen briefly) I would need full throttle acceleration for a long period when accelerating with any hurry at all, so you had constant drone.

I also drove recently a TX550h+ with the 3.5 V6 and didnt feel or hear any droning. The S580e hybrid I drove also had no drone, but that has the 9 speed transmission. What causes the droning is the CVT not the hybrid system itself and when you have enough power that you don't need to drive with your foot to the floor its really not an issue
You hit it on the head. The Prius drones when you’re laying in the throttle because prior to the current 5th gen, the Prius only had 120-134hp. My PHEV Rav had 302hp. It drones when I floor it but rarely did I have to floor it. I drove 100% in sport mode so the tip didn’t require a lot of throttle to merge/accelerate.

Originally Posted by SW17LS
Thats how Nissan and Subaru's CVTs work but not the eCVT in a Toyota hybrid or in the Pacifica. There are no belts, they use a planetary gear set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDPwQefY2KY
This is what I like about Toyota/Lexus hybrid systems. And impressive the Pacifica is similar.

Originally Posted by link13
Just shy of 70? Must be in a residential area 🤓
🤣🤣🤣
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 05:11 PM
  #1196  
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Originally Posted by mmarshall
Yes, I sampled the ECVT a few years ago, when it first came out on the high-trim levels of the Corolla. Very interesting.....it used a regular first-gear, like in a stepped-transmission, to start from rest without the (usual) CVT motorboating/rubber-banding, then switched to the CVT for more efficiency once you actually got rolling. Nifty idea.....but, like with DCT dual-clutch transmissions, it does add complexity and difficulty of repair.
How often have you heard/read a Toyota ECVT needing repair?

Remember a CT200h went 1 million miles. No mention of the ECVT needing repairs.
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 05:25 PM
  #1197  
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Originally Posted by BayeauxLex
How often have you heard/read a Toyota ECVT needing repair?

Remember a CT200h went 1 million miles. No mention of the ECVT needing repairs.
Yes, I understand what you are getting it.....it is likely to be reliable, and not need many, if any, repairs. But my point was that the more complexity, the more potential difficulty if a problem DOES occur. VW/Audi technicians, for example, intensely disliked that company's DCT because of its difficulty of service/repair, even though, from a driver's point of view, it operated flawlessly and was arguably the most refined DCT ever done.

And as for a million miles on any ORIGINAL engine/transmission combo?...I've seen and heard a number of wild-goose stories of that.......but, no offense, without a lot of documentation, I simply have a hard time believing them. 300 or 400K?....maybe, under the most exceptional conditions.
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 05:35 PM
  #1198  
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There are actually a lot of documented cars that have over 1M miles on original engines and transmissions.

The eCVT is not really any more complex than a 8 or 9 speed automatic transmission. I also can’t remember a story about a failed Toyota eCVT
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 05:39 PM
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In other news Maryland has passed a law that effective Oct 1 30+ over the speed limit is reckless driving with similar penalties to VA
Old Jul 10, 2025 | 05:58 PM
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Originally Posted by BayeauxLex
How often have you heard/read a Toyota ECVT needing repair?

Remember a CT200h went 1 million miles. No mention of the ECVT needing repairs.
Never, they are amazingly good



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