Are We having FUN yet? (Was Are You having FUN yet?)

[gudy]

Have you ever turned the traction control off? If so does the car accelerate faster off the line at full throttle.

Yes, but not scientifically. I do think that you can gain a fair bit though with traction control off once you know the car / motor.
The car is limiting torque a lot up to 15 mph or so, so you could save quite a bit at the beginning.

If I find the time, I'll try and measure it ... would be easier with someone next to me though, and my wife is clearly not into this kind of things.

 

[LEAFfan]

Have you ever turned the traction control off? If so does the car accelerate faster off the line at full throttle.

I squealed the tires two separate times off the line during the test drive with the tc on (once in D, and once in ECO), so I'm sure you could spin them pretty good without it.

 

[DeaneG]

I forgot to try during the test drives: is there much torque steer (mash accelerator from a stop; car pulls left or right due to unequal-length half-shafts)?

 

[sproqitman]

I forgot to try during the test drives: is there much torque steer (mash accelerator from a stop; car pulls left or right due to unequal-length half-shafts)?

This was covered in a couple of earlier posts, but several of us noted less-than-expected amounts of torque steer during acceleration. I specifically mashed the throttle going around a curve without any pull to either side.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I forgot to try during the test drives: is there much torque steer (mash accelerator from a stop; car pulls left or right due to unequal-length half-shafts)?

This was covered in a couple of earlier posts, but several of us noted less-than-expected amounts of torque steer during acceleration. I specifically mashed the throttle going around a curve without any pull to either side.

That's interesting, my FWD EV had significantly more torque and HP than the LEAF and I had no issues in this regard.

 

[TomT]

Remember that FWD cars are always bad candidates for maximum acceleration due to weight shift. One thing that I am curious about - if I opened the service manual it's probably in there - is how Leaf TC works. On some cars it is a combination of lightly braking the spinning wheel (on a car with an open differential like the Leaf, one wheel will always spin before the other) along with throttling back power, and on others they simply throttle it back alone...

Have you ever turned the traction control off? If so does the car accelerate faster off the line at full throttle.

 

[ruimegas]

- What are some other ways that you are finding the LEAF to be fun?

My wife and I went home following each other one night, and she had to stop at a gas station ... That was fun ! Her car will usually only take like 8 gallons, but it was enough for me to complain about how expensive gas is, how it smells really bad, how I've driven 500 miles for $6 so far ... all that fairly loud while some guy was filling up his SUV

:lol: :mrgreen: :lol: :mrgreen: I would like to see other guys faces looking at you :lol: :mrgreen: :lol: :mrgreen:

 

[malloryk]

I'm still getting used to driving an EV. Yesterday while out running errands, I drove past an intersection of gas stations and for a split second, I thought "oh I should probably stop and get gas since I'm here..." and then was so happy when I remembered I no longer have to! Then I was stopped at a light and a man walking his dog was crossing the street in front of me. He gave me a big smile, pointed at my car, and gave me a thumbs up and "good job!" Was so surprising and fun to get that reaction. I had an incident happen where a huge Escalade with dark tinted windows pulled up right alongside me at a red light. I couldn't see in their car but I had the feeling they were checking out my car because they had about two car lengths open in front of them. When the light turned green, they peeled out, tires screeching.... and then only went about a block where there was another red light. I just thought, "well, good job, moron! You really showed me!" :roll:

 

[Boomer23]

I just thought, "well, good job, moron! You really showed me!" :roll:

Pretty funny, Mal. What a jerk.

 

[Boomer23]

Today I decided to drive for fun more than for efficiency.

Like many, I've spent the first month learning about my LEAF's range and how to get the most distance out of a charge. That's important information to have and it will come in very useful for our longer drives, when I will be driving for efficiency.

But some days, I drive just for fun. When the family is doing other things, I get to drive to the beach or into the countryside by myself, and on those days, I decided it makes no sense for me to concentrate on conserving energy. I've always enjoyed cars and driving, and cars are one of my hobbies. I admit it, I like G forces. One thing that led me to getting an EV was that I wanted to eliminate the pollution and waste from my fun driving. I have excess solar power to burn and it's going to make very little difference to the world if I get less energy economy on some of the days when I drive for fun. (I know, I know, I get it that even though I have excess solar power, every kWh that I send back to the grid eliminates a kWh that is produced in a way that pollutes. But I think I'm "doing my part" enough that I can have a little fun sometimes and waste some of my solar kWh by driving more aggressively if it makes me happier about my EV purchase)

Sooo, I had a little fun today. And the answer to the question in this thread's title is YES, we are having fun yet. My route to and from my favorite beach cafe includes lots of hills and curves that can be taken a little faster than the posted speed limit. The LEAF is a willing partner for this kind of fun. It felt good to push the accelerator hard and ignore the power "bubbles" on the right side of the dash display. The LEAF can leave most ICE cars in its wake when a light turns green (at least, when you haven't challenged them to a race. :lol: ). No drama, just a whoosh of satisfying power and away you go from everyone else. Taking a downhill curve a little faster than the posted recommended speed is fun in the LEAF, too. The tires grip well and, yes, the G forces are satisfying.

I realized some time ago that the fun factor in any car is blunted when it's driven for smoothness and economy, or in boring commutes in traffic. Even cars that are the most fun to drive are wasted in those settings. So yes, the LEAF is quiet and economical, but not much fun when you are commuting to work and trying to get that last mile/kWh so that you won't see the dreaded turtle ever again. But the LEAF can also be a fun and willing companion when you're in the mood for fun driving.

I started this thread before I got my LEAF to try to find out whether any of the early owners found the car fun. Most of them didn't, but I know that was mostly because they needed their LEAFs mostly for commuting. Now I know that the LEAF can work as a green car for some fun driving as well. Most of our focus on this forum is on energy savings, range and saving money compared to ICE driving. But some potential owners are going to be interested in whether the LEAF is a bland and weak or a wobbly handler like the Prius. Hopefully this will help them with the answer to that question.

By the way, even with all of that fun, at the end of my drive, my dash display showed 3.2 mi/kWh and 3.3 mi/kWh on the central display, and I grew most of a tree, so I didn't feel too bad. :lol:

 

[IBELEAF]

By the way, even with all of that fun, at the end of my drive, my dash display showed 3.2 mi/kWh and 3.3 mi/kWh on the central display, and I grew most of a tree, so I didn't feel too bad. :lol:

Really? 3.2 mi/kWh is when I drive carefully...

I've had some fun yesterday too, I decided to dare cornering as I was entering on the freeway. Something I tried before in Sentra and was highly disappointed. The suggested curve speed is 25 mph and I was pushing over 50 mph. Leaf felt like it was glued to the ground, no tire screeching or unstable feeling. Fun!

 

[Fishleafer]

I have had the car fro 6 days now, and have put 400 miles on it, mostly 80 miles round trip on 280 (lots of up and downs, 200-450-200-700-150-700-8 ft in elevations), mostly in 55-60 mph range, and was able to get 4.3mi/kwh on the dash board.

This morning, I did let myself off the ECO mode, and "raced" with a Volt on the highway. Fun to drive this LEAF.

 

[sparky]

No need to apologize Boomer! Just keep the shiny side up.
Since Feb. my wife has taken over this car for 90% of the kWh. She has the longest commute.
She has gone from agnostic to a fervent believer. I don't know if I'll ever get her to put gas in a car again.

The other 10% is mine and I do not use ECO. Just wish it was convertible. Where's that Nismo?

 

[Boomer23]

No need to apologize Boomer! Just keep the shiny side up.
Since Feb. my wife has taken over this car for 90% of the kWh. She has the longest commute.
She has gone from agnostic to a fervent believer. I don't know if I'll ever get her to put gas in a car again.

The other 10% is mine and I do not use ECO. Just wish it was convertible. Where's that Nismo?

Sparky, sounds like you guys should be in the market for a second EV.

 

[tbleakne]

Today I decided to drive for fun more than for efficiency.

Great to hear Leaf delivers good performance on hilly curves.

Best part of my 3 days with the borrowed Leaf was giving some friends 4 seconds of "Back to the Future" acceleration. There were 4 of us, yet I estimate we averaged perhaps .4 to .5g. With just you in the car, your could probably do better. Beat the ICE out of the traffic light without the noise. Just be sure the car next to you is not a Tesla .

As others have suggested, why don't you see if you do better without Traction Control ?

 

[Bassman]

Last Friday, I was off work and had a full charge, so I decided to drive around the hills near my home. Kept the LEAF in D, much more fun to drive than in ECO, which is the mode I commute to work in. My home is on a country road that is 12 miles long and very twisty. What a blast. Didn't have to worry about battery capacity, so I wasn't shy about putting the accelerator pedal to the floor. Chirped the wheels quite a few times. Just as much fun as driving my Honda CRX on the road.

 

[lemketron]

My wife and I went home following each other one night, and she had to stop at a gas station ... That was fun ! Her car will usually only take like 8 gallons, but it was enough for me to complain about how expensive gas is, how it smells really bad, how I've driven 500 miles for $6 so far ... all that fairly loud while some guy was filling up his SUV

When my wife and I went to "test drive" our Leaf before taking it home this past Tuesday, I pulled into a gas station so we could trade places. My wife grabbed the camera as she jumped out of the car, and I reached for a gas pump just for grins, as we thought it would make a fun picture...

In any case, I haven't had this much fun driving since I had my 1990 Acura Integra (one of the very first ones, which I bought 22 years ago next week). I put about 150K miles on that car, driving all over California, parts of Nevada, Arizona, and Utah (on various 15 hour Monte Carlo road ralleys, etc.) and enjoyed every mile.

After everything I had heard about how "blah" the Prius was, I was really concerned about whether the LEAF would be "fun" to drive. No worries, it is a BLAST to drive! My Prius-owning friends have confirmed that the LEAF is very different (handling, acceleration, etc.) as compared to a Prius.

I used to hate just missing a green light, but now I love getting "stuck" at a red light, as it's so fun to "launch" when the light turns green. As I'm crossing the other side of the intersection, I look back and see that most of the cars have barely started rolling. Plus, with the low COG, the car handles (corners) remarkably well. Could it be faster? Sure, the Tesla Roadster is, but it also cost 5x as much. For what I spent, I couldn't be happier.

This car is "the future" but it's here today. As others have mentioned, I also love that I can get in the car, with my (webOS) Palm Pre in my pocket, turn the car on, start driving, and my phone wirelessly connects to the car for any incoming calls, and also resumes playing the same music right where it left off when I last got out of the car (bluetooth audio). When I'm not listening to music, I'm just loving how quiet the car is, whether driving or stopped at a light. It totally makes gas cars seem so "last century".

 

[mgoleta]

Have had nothing but fun with the car. I have 2 friends who have now ordered LEAFs in the second round of reservations. They have already received their RAQs and placed orders. I am showing the car at a green car show next Friday at UCSB. The car has performed better than I expected. I have given far more test rides and drives than I expected. The response I have had from everyone has been overwhelmingly positive. Solar comes later this summer. I hope everyone is enjoying their car as much as I am.

 

[JohnnySebring]

With a 30 mile round trip commute, I have bars to burn and like to do that commute as quick as I can. More fun than I ever imagined!

 

[OilFreedom]

... and I reached for a gas pump just for grins, as we thought it would make a fun picture...

lemketron, I love the photo! :mrgreen: Thanks for posting.

It's like teaching a young Leaf a little history... "Leaf, this is where 20th century cars get something called gasoline. It's Satan's energy drink, and you'll never need to drink it!"