Treehugger Hell!

Thanks for the edit.

Over all, I approve. It might not get 40+mpg, but it should be a hoot to tool around town in.

I love the idea of it as a sleeper but for the price tag the cars usually have you'd probably have to find one stripped of all the drivetrain and batteries in a salvage yard to even make it mildly practical from a cost stand point. At that point I would just you know, use that money to build the motor in my f-body or vette that the motor came in.

On the other hand sticking a quiet exhaust on that with an electric cutoff to an open dump header so when you sheepishly pulled up to a stop light with a prius covered in hippie stickers on the back and then did a massive burnout when the light turned green would be flat out awesome! I'd want to do forced induction too and shoot for like 700 HP so the whole thing was as flat out ridiculous as possible.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote:

amg_rx7 wrote: total waste of an engine in a crap chassis total waste of time as well...

Not true since the owner probably likes the Prius. And even if the owner didn't like the engine swap, they could take it out and put it in a better car. But it did look like the steering wheel and steering column may need to be relocated. The floor also looks like it would be cramped when putting the new pedals in it.

Since the tranny column now appears to be practically rubbing on where the brake pedal was, I'd guess it won't have the best seating position... It might end up pretty close to the knee-bruises I used to get from my wife's VW Golf.

Naw, if you really wanted to be anti-green, a rank of 2 stroke smoking leaf blower motors would do the trick. Should be able to build an easy V12 with them under there.

In reply to wspohn:

I love the idea of it as a sleeper but for the price tag the cars usually have you'd probably have to find one stripped of all the drivetrain and batteries in a salvage yard to even make it mildly practical from a cost stand point.

Just to point out: It would be cheaper to start with the absolute nicest perfect Prius you could find, than it would be to pay a shop to do the conversion. So really, if you're not doing your own work, you're gonna blow loads of money on it no matter what. The difference between a nice and a crappy 2g prius is only like 4k. By the time this car is done that will be a drop in the bucket.

Vigo wrote:

I love the idea of it as a sleeper but for the price tag the cars usually have you'd probably have to find one stripped of all the drivetrain and batteries in a salvage yard to even make it mildly practical from a cost stand point.

Just to point out: It would be cheaper to start with the absolute nicest perfect Prius you could find, than it would be to pay a shop to do the conversion. So really, if you're not doing your own work, you're gonna blow loads of money on it no matter what. The difference between a nice and a crappy 2g prius is only like 4k. By the time this car is done that will be a drop in the bucket.

Yup. That's probably true.

JoeyM wrote: It may not be successful, and probably WON'T be cost effective, but that's not really the point of a hobby.

amg_rx7 wrote:

JoeyM wrote:

amg_rx7 wrote: total waste of an engine in a crap chassis total waste of time as well...

Yup, because it would never work to take a lightweight fuel sipping body and shove more engine in it. (Note: the second pic was previously used by Alan Caesar in the what cars will never be raced thread) FWIW, taking a lightweight body and shoving more engine in it than sane people think it ought to have is perfectly reasonable, fun, and is the entire basis of hot rodding. It may not be successful, and probably WON'T be cost effective, but that's not really the point of a hobby.

I guess if going straight for a few seconds is your thing, you are correct that it could make a decent drag race car. The chassis is still crap for anything else. I like hot rods but I'd at least start with a nicer looking car than a Prius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiWG6zb-pDc