I had a thought that occurred to me. Say you're driving the TCH up a long mountain grade, say 20 miles. The hybrid battery isn't going to be recharging. Does that mean that you'll do part of the climb with 187 hp and the last part with only 147, as you're pretty much tapping the battery?

Donald

 

I REALLY think if you are looking for a car for mostly mountain driving you should be looking at something other than the Hybrid Camry. Even if it does negotiate the mountain roads you fuel effency is going to suffer immensely.

I am waiting for reports on how the integrated vehicle stability system handles slippery upslopes.

On the Prius it reduces power to the driving wheels to prevent slippage. It will reduce the power right down to "zero" and you are stuck. You can't spin the wheels on ice and slush or even gravel for that matter. That would bother me more in a mountain or steep hill environment more than a loss of horsepower.

J

 

You are never using all the HP available unless you are flooring it all the time. But yes... there will be times were you don't have access to all the HP available at the moment in time.

 

20 miles up WHICH mountain road Theoritcally possible. I have heard it can happen in a Prius in Colorodo going over Angel Pass - could happen in a TCH as well. However, consider that 147 HP is PLENTY to maintain 65 MPH on that road. I could hold 55 MPH on mountain roads in my '69 VW automatic squareback (had to drop to 2nd on the steeper parts) with a 65 HP fuel injected 1.6L engine. It didn't have any reserve if I happened to get behind someone going slower so I had to make sure I was in the passing lane before I caught up to them. Think CA 395 through Bishop.

The Prius weighs 900 pounds more and I have never noticed a lack of power (110 net HP) but then I've not done any long 'only up' mountain roads either. Most roads have some leveling in places and the hybrid system will charge the battery whenever possible.

My sister lives in So. Cal and drives from the beach to Big Bear in her Prius, no issues.

People put WAY too much importance on BIG HP (ignoring lower MPG) which is not necessary on anything other than a race car and in 99% of 'consumer' cars, never used other than hot rodding light to light. Gas engines at low revs have low torque so you need a LOT more high rev HP to make up for the lack of torque at low revs. The only time it might be used is in towing where you need torque to get moving. In those cases, a turbo diesel is a better choice anyway.

That is one reason the hybrids shine - the electric motor has high torque at low revs where the (smaller than in similar sized ICE only vehicle) gas engine is lacking and the reverse happens at high revs. It yields a much more constant power curve than a gas only car.

 

We have driven my wife's Mitsubishi Outlander SUV (2.4L-I4 140hp, 3240lb curb weight) to Lake Tahoe and to Flagstaff, AZ this summer, both of which are at 7000+ ft. While we were not flying up the mountains, we had no problem maintaining 65-70mph during the incline, although the engine was working harder than usual (~4500-5000rpm). A good 4cyl engine will have no problem going up long inclines, so with the 147hp ICE, I doubt the TCH will have any kind of problems with this sort of driving.

 

I just got back from a great vacation in Colorado. I did the very long climbs up I70 west of Denver (and I25) that are killers. I'd probably gotten a automatic hybrid over a 5-speed if I lived in the mountains. While I learned to manage with my Insight, you have to be very careful up the killer I70 segment from I70 and I470 to Idaho Springs, CO.

In short, I'd be very happy driving a hybrid Camery on these mountain roads.