To my eyes, the Toyota Prius looks like an Area 51 reject: an ungainly sci fi fantasy devoid of charm or beauty. To its admirers’ eyes, the Prius is the latter day equivalent of a Model T or a VW Bug: an automobile whose virtues– and virtuousness– transcend the normal dictates of style. And THEN there’s the debate about propulsion, premiums and politics. It’s hard to think of another car that’s been this polarizing– for both manufacturer (Maximum Bob) and the end user (a.k.a. car buyer). And yet, just as sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, sometimes a car is just a car. Ah, but is the Prius a good car?
The current Toyota Prius (NHW20) hit American showrooms in 2004. The exterior shape hides the black skirts, integrated (vision robbing) rear spoiler and aero wipers that give the Synergy-driven sedan a slippery .26Cd. Clean, smooth and strangely attractive in Spectra Blue Mica, the Prius is still unique enough to stand out. “The” Prius has become “a Prius” without losing its identity.
And yet, for observers who know that “Dino” isn’t just the name of an annoying cartoon house pet, the word “ungainly” springs to mind. For others, “Toyota” is beginning to resonate; the Prius' shape is slowly fading into the masses of Yarii, Fits, and Versas. A refresh is overdue.
The Prius’ interior reeks of cost savings. Toyota hid all the really nasty plastic where fingers rarely dwell (lost parking tickets and french fries excepted). Strangely rippled soft touch materials resembling burnt Ruffles potato chips cover half of the dash, steering wheel and door panels. While it looks “interesting,” a close encounter of the third kind is like caressing a hairless cat. And the lack of beauty was more than skin deep; the center console shook more violently than a crack addict at the Western Casino and Bingo Hall.
The Prius places all the important driving info at the base of the windshield. After a few days, it was no biggie– unlike the gigantic ode to geekdom rising out of the dash like an electronic Kilimanjaro. The LCD information display that controls the car’s auxiliary functions is not so functional (Mr. Bond). The combination of buttons and touch-screen interface makes every adjustment– from the air-conditioner to changing radio stations– a tiresome two or three press affair. [Note: I fly AWACS for a living.]
At least the Prius gives drivers a choice between green and orange tones on the display, depending on whether you’ve got spring or autumn skin tones.
The Prius is motivated by a 76bhp 1.5-liter gas engine married to a 67bhp electric motor, a battery-powered powerplant that stumps-up an astounding 295ft-lbs of torque at 0 rpm. Around town, the Prius could not be easier to drive. It’s quick on its feet, nimble and almost tossable. In Las Vegas traffic, the Prius returned a laudable, affordable 40.5mpg. In stop-and-go traffic, the family-sized golf cart is in its natural element. Magic.
It’s an entirely different story on the open road. Find a slightly hilly/curvaceous piece of interstate and the Prius is more out of place than a gay pride parade at a West Texas football game. On level ground, the Prius easily attains 80, even 90mph (as the Clark County Police pointed out). Introduce a small incline, let alone a mountainous circuit, and the Prius huffs, and puffs, and gets blown off the road by any other vehicle, down to and including a Smart ForTwo.
Climbing the road to the summit of Mt. Charleston, the Prius quickly drained its batteries. It could groan no faster than a pathetic 57mph. Once the battery boost ceased to exist, the CVT transmission buzzed louder, and louder, reducing fuel consumption to 17.5mpg. Throttle response ceased to exist, and momentum became the name of the game.
If the Prius handled like a Honda Civic, you could dismiss its Pinto-like performance with the old “a slow car driven fast can be fun" argument. Nope. The Prius washed out into drastic understeer on every curve. In fact, the battery pack in the rear caused the back end to sway outwards when I lifted off the throttle. Who knew you could have a ‘moment’ in a Prius?
The more I pushed the Prius– and I mean that in the “I want to get home in time for dinner” sense of the word– the more it resembled a four-wheeled Lean Pocket. (“Remove from box, place directly in InSinkErator.”)
As a driving enthusiast, I’d describe the Prius as a funky Corolla with a big battery and bad handling. As an observer of the automotive scene, I’d call the Prius the uber-Toyota: inexpensive, efficient, reliable transportation that makes you feel good about not driving anything else. I’m not damning the car with faint praise; it’s what makes the Prius the people’s car of our time.
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Nice review. I’ve always thought Toyota cheaped out a bit on the interior plastics to save some money that went into the hybrid drive. Hopefully now that they are making money on these they can improve that quality a bit.
I put forth that the car itself isn’t polarizing, it’s the cars’ owners that are, in fact, the group that brings controversy to this piece of transportation.
Politics, smugness…you name it; the owners are the polarizers.
I heard this car is back order.
A lot of people are buying Prius.
I wonder how much this car cost?
I recommend 6 stars on this.
it is really worth it. the review speaks for itself.
I interviewed 5 Master Tech and they all recommend Prius for durablity and dependability.
TTAC is tatak
Mike Solowiow, Thanks for the review. If you would answer a couple questions…
Considering the handling… did it have some sort of electronic stabilization?
Also, Mt. Charleston where? And from which side of it did you approach? I intend to look up the change in elevation to get an idea for how dramatic that incline would be. I’ve only taken a short drive in one on flat ground, so your remarks on that were pretty interesting. Slowing down uphill aren’t necessariliy a deal-breaker but if this hill was very moderate, that would be cause for concern.
Uh, my bad. I misread Mike’s star rating. He gives it a 3. Seriously, I apologize to both Mike and our readers for the editorial SNAFU.
Now why would you give this car 5 stars (scratch that- 3 stars)?
You admit it’s horrid to drive, we all can see that it’s supremely ugly and if you’ve been in one you know it’s interior is underwhelming. From from a size perspective, it’s a a reverse tardis. Small on the inside and mid-sized on the outside (well at least for the non-US audience).
‘Hybrid’ engineering is, sadly, a reasonable solution to an intractable problem.
The intractable problem is, of course, energy density. Petrol has about 13,000 Wh/kg (watt hours per kilo). Lithium ion batteries currently manage something like 200 Wh/kg in development environments and 120 Wh/kg in real life (figures taken from the internet and no-where near checked for validity but the comparison probably remains valid even if the numbers aren’t exact). There is no battery technology (well at least not one that I’ve heard of publicly) that has more than something like 400 Wh/kg and currently there are charging / cycling issues with those.
Despite the fact that to achieve both range and efficiency ‘hybrid’ makes sense, the Prius is simply a horrid car. 40-odd miles per gallon is not that hard to achieve now (well at least everywhere except the US) with small, small-engined, sensible cars. You don’t have to drag around a lot of batteries and massive engineering complexity to do it.
In what sense is the Prius a (five) three-star car then?
In the sense that Toyota is a leader in this is space and a has version 1.0 hybrid that they sell effectively to gullible people? Well perhaps.
But I would have given it a 1 star rating on the basis that a Toyota Aygo, with a 1 litre engine, gets better fuel economy and in a smarter package too. If one is to believe the internet, the Aygo diesel gets 69 miles to the US gallon…
Geography lesson, Olympus is in Greece, the Serengeti in Tanzania; not a lot of “rising above” is going on between them. Speaking of mountains, I had never heard of that issue of poor uphill performance before, but it makes sense. That >2L motor lugging the dead weight of all those batteries uphill. Interesting. That plus the poor handling should have knocked a star off the rating, no?
–chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org
I agree with SpinningAround — the Prius appears to be more impressive than it is, only because fuel prices are so high and there is no 40mpg alternative in the U.S. at the moment. Who gave the Prius a second thought when gas prices were low 5 years ago? That’s right, almost no one.
After reading the review it has kind of pushed me over the edge to go take a Prius for a test drive. My wife is a community health nurse, on the road all day in the city. Shuttling patients to hospitals etc. Here in Southwestern Ontario we have no mountains unless I want to go look for the hill on Hamilton Mountain so hill climbing is not a consideration. We are looking to replace her Hyundai Excel which has served her well. As sh eis paid mileage for her job, we have been thinking perhaps leasing one would be a smart move. Anyone have a similar circumstance and could tell me how it has worked out?
I have driven the Prius on a few occasions as my mother-in-law owns one. She gushes about it constantly and I just keep my mouth shut. I can understand giving the Prius 5 stars if your only criteria is getting from point A to point B in an efficient manner. But I know that is not the criteria you guys use, so I have to call shenanigans.
The Prius interior is awful, simply awful, materials are terrible, fit and finish isnt that good, even the seats are uncomfortable. I cannot complain about the acceleration, I always thought it adequate for this type of car. Handling is horrible, just horrible. Then again, that isnt really that important for this type of vehicle until you need to do an emergency maneuver. Then get ready for serious understeer, body lean and brake dive. Another unfortunate saftey lapse is rear visibility, forget about it. Last, the exterior is….well….you’ve seen it. Its ugly. There is no reason for this car to be ugly with the exception of appeasing wannabee environmentalists who desperately need to stand out and wear their politics on their sleeves.
I applaud any manufacturer for bringing new technology to the market, in that sense, Toyota deserves props. But lets not kid ourselves, with the exception of efficiency, the Prius sucks in every other objective measurement of a good car. 5 stars it is certainly not. Thankfully, the environmentalists can sleep at night knowing their purchase of a Prius almost counter balances the environmental impact of that full sized Tundra that can get 0-60 in 6 seconds flat that sold in nearly equal numbers as the Prius last year. Almost.
chuckgoolsbee :
Geography lesson, Olympus is in Greece, the Serengeti in Tanzania; not a lot of “rising above” is going on between them.
True dat. Text amended.
very nice review. – very well written!
I can see it getting 3 or 4 stars. just because it’s not a ‘pocket rocket’ with room for a family of 4, doesn’t mean it isn’t a good piece of automotive engineering. It can handle 90+% of ‘appliance’ driving situations just as good as any other automobile…
your description of driving up an incline reminded me of my dad’s geo metro 1.0L 3 cylinder. like the prius, that was a 5 door hatch. though, it did get better mileage than a prius. over the first 5 years or so, it AVERAGED ~ 50-55 mpg over all miles driven. of course, it was purchased new in 1991.
the metro’s redeeming quality was that it had a 5 speed and could be picked up by 6 people…
going up ‘long’ hills in an interstate setting with 1 passenger would see the car lose momentum like a loaded tractor trailer….
gamper:
That is the problem. It’s a horrid car and it doesn’t even achieve the ‘exception’ of efficiency. Everywhere in the world but (of course) the US, you can go out tomorrow and buy cars that are far more efficient for half (or less) of the price.
Anyone know if the handling is any better on the “Touring Edition” Prius? And versus the Civic Hybrid?
Its actually going to be fun watching all the haters fidget and squirm over the next few years as Toyota Hybrid sales go up exponentially over the next few years as Toyota goes after their own target of 1 million annual sales by the early 2010’s. For most consumers it’s not about saving the environment it’s about saving money.
I wouldn’t drive a Prius, as the Civic hybrid does virtually the same task without the weird interplanetary module looks. Yet I do have to applaud Toyota for the packaging job, started with the Echo. As a transportation device, the Prius works very well and is easily capable of 40+ mpg when the 1800 lb two-seat smart gets a mere 32. Four people fit in relative comfort; in a car smaller than a 3-series, they have given the rear-seat passenger more legroom than the 5-series. And whether or not the hybrid concept is an interim step, the technology is pretty awesome in a 23,000 car. Nonetheless, it’s disappointing that Toyota made the same stupid mistake made by BMW in creating menu-based features for simple tasks.
Thanks for a good review, Mike.
Edgett:
So you don’t think a Civic exhibits “weird interplanetary module” characteristics? Have you ever been inside one?
The “peoples car”
Don’t think so.
Didn’t crack the top 10 in 07.
So far so good for 08, but not considering all the hype and the false oil crisis.
http://blog.pricewheels.com/2008/05/02/2008s-top-20-selling-vehicles-in-us-through-april/
And then there is the reality that back when I lived in the States my 2002 ‘Vette with its teeny tiny 5.7 litre, old-school pushrod, V8 lump with 0-60 times that made your eyes bleed and a about the same level of interior quality as a Prius used to return something over 30 miles per US gallon on nice long runs up the freeway in sixth gear lollaping along at 1500 rpm.
Going up hills in that thing was not particularly stressful, either.
In town, you would rather stress as you could hear the gurgle of the petrol leaving the tank to keep those 8 cylinders lit and you dropped down to single digit efficiencies. But, frankly, you could have solved a lot of that problem with fairly simple stop-start engine technology.
Much of the handling/ride woes of the non-Touring Prius can be attributed to the miserable ‘mpg-at-all-costs’ OEM Goodyear Integrity tires. Switching to virtually any other tire will improve handling/ride significantly (particularly in wet weather) with a relatively small mpg penalty.
Thanks for the review Mike. Even though there was more info about the Prius than I ever cared to know.
The Prius is motivated by a 76bhp 1.5-liter gas engine married to a 67bhp electric motor, a battery-powered powerplant that stumps-up an astounding 295ft-lbs of torque at 0 rpm.
I’m not trying to be sarcastic here, as my technical knowledge of electric motors is quite limited, but – am I to understand that the motor produces 295ft-lbs of torque while it’s not spinning at all?
SpinningAround,
Sure, except limit two on the ‘Vette. People do get very high MPGs in their Prius with four on board and gear in the rear.
That stop-start idea is a fine one and it’s one GM has introduced in their mild hybrids (Vue Green Line, Aura Green Line, Malibu hybrid) but their lackluster efforts to build it and the premium they want for it conspire to keep it out of the hands of people. It’s also compromised in the GM vehicle by the need to run the engine to keep the A/C going, so it’s not in effect for a good part of the year, depending on where you live.
Done right, stop-start should be inexpensive to build, inexpensive as an option, reliable and make a significant difference in city fuel economy but in the GM vehicles people aren’t seeing much improvement. At it is, it’s very disappointing.
@ Dynamic88 – electric motors are cool like that. personally I can’t wait for a real electric sports car. one day…
Hey Toyota: Put this drive train in a Corolla, fix the stupid dash display (ie, give us a normal speedo display & gauge package) and keep it under $20K. Then, I would definately buy one.
My last go-round debate about buying a hybrid pretty much ommitted the Prius because I hated the styling…little tires, Pep Boys-esque cheapo Alteeza tail lamps, blind spot from Hades. In fact, I was poised to buy a Civic hybrid, even though by most accounts, it’s the lesser hybrid. Why? Because it looked like a normal car! (Except those gawd-awful wheel covers). Alas, $23K for a Civic was a stretch…thus, no sale.
I would most definately pay a modest mileage penalty to have this drive-train in something besides that sloth-like shape…and please, don’t make the Camry the only other option.
Picard234 – Point taken. I have driven the Civic and agree I could do without the bi-level dashboard. The exterior of the Civic looks to me though timely if understated.
In the more “classic” interior of my 3-series, however, it still drives me nuts that tilting the wheel down to a position that I find comfortable thus means I miss out on the top of the tach and speedo. And the “gosh, it’s just like a Camry” expanse of bland sweeping across the dash doesn’t do much for me either.
Frankly, the Honda interior didn’t bother me.
SpinningAround I drive 25,000 miles a year. I currently get 31 real world miles per gallon in an Xb 1st generation. I got 29 miles per gallon in a Corolla and 21 miles per gallon in a V6 Accord. I can guarantee if I drive in a Corvette 25,000 miles a year on my commute, I won’t get close to what the Prius gets or even approach the Corolla. Not knocking the Corvette (it’s a fantastic car) and I believe it to be very fuel efficient for what it is but please the way to compare fuel efficiency is not to look at your best highway trip but to look at your real actual total fuel use versus mileage in the long run.
Great review Mike!
the more it resembled a four-wheeled Lean Pocket. (“Remove from box, place directly in InSinkErator.”)
Sounds like we have a Jim Gaffigan fan in TTAC’s ranks!
KixStart
You are of course right. The Vette was rather deficient in many ways when compared to a 4 seater. But I bring it up because the Vette’s engine was knocking on for 4 times bigger in terms of displacement,its 0-60 time was under half the Prius’s and yet its fuel economy on the motorway, at least in my experience and in a six-speed, was maybe 15-20 miles per gallon worse. Now that may seem pretty horrid, but no one has ever complained that their Vette slowed down to 50 miles an hour going up a hill. Unless the hill was vertical, one would think.
I don’t understand why, given that nearly every US car is automatic, they don’t all have a bigger battery, a better starter motor and stop-start technology. Not so sure it would work well in a three pedal car somehow.
My mom drives one. Interior is of impeccable quality, so I don’t know what you’re griping about. It’s not supposed to be a fun car to drive, that’s not the point, it’s a car for the masses that revolutionizes the standards for automotive transport.
Wow, did my Prius get trashed here. Each to their own.
Did you hear that oil just went up to 3 pennies short of $127.50 a barrel, by the way? Locally, gas is $3.98 a gallon or more. Back when gas cost $3.89 a gallon during the aftermath of Katrina, oil was at what, $80 a barrel? So by all rights, given the cost of crude, will we see $6.34 a gallon for gas in the United States, soon?
As for the car being a “reverse tardis” (big on the outside, small on the inside), I’m sorry, but I can’t see how anyone could even think that IF they’ve taken the time to sit in a Prius.
The car is as long as a Honda Civic Hybrid, which is rated as a compact, and the Prius is rated as a mid-sized car by the EPA, due to it’s interior room, which is significantly larger than Civic, and even the trunk space is about 60% more than a Civic (Hybrid). Plus the flexibility of the hatchback. I’ve had a 27″ cathode ray tube HDTV in the box, in my Prius. Hatch (and rear seat) both down. Also, a Honda snowblower, hatch and rear seat down. Did have to leave the hatch up to carry a massive, boxed, new barbeque the other week…
As for handling, well, around where I live, most folks drive SUVs and pickup trucks and I so easily out-handle them, that it is laughable.
As for the “massive weight” of the battery, well, only if you consider 150 pounds “massive”. Of course, the car lacks a 60 pound low energy lead-acid battery, but hey, who cares about accuracy, eh?
Overall, would I rate my car as 5 stars? Maybe
4 1/2. It’s not perfect, it’s not for everybody. I’ve driven a Civic Hybrid and liked it well enough that I would have bought one, even with its disadvantages (which are evident when you compare the sales figures against Prius). In fact, I priced one, was contemplating it, and my ordered 2008 Prius came in the next day. I only waited 6 weeks (for my first car in 2005, I waited 9 1/2 months). Waiting lists are back in place for Prii, BTW. I bought mine last September and the only reason I waited, was that I wanted a 2008 instead of 2007. May as well go for the new model year. I had a 2 week window of opportunity to get both a 2008 car AND a $788 reduction in my Federal Taxes. Got lucky (or was it, got smart?)
But this review just trashes Prius. But it is what it is. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.
I personally like the looks (I’m on #2 of this style of Prius – the other car had virtually no problems over 2 1/2 years and 48,000 miles). I actually like the interior on my 2008 better than the 2005, they’ve improved the look of the plastics and they actually feel better to me.
In other news, did anyone else see the statement made that if this energy bill goes through the Democratic congress early in June, that gas prices in the United States will GO UP ANOTHER $1.50 TO $5.00 PER GALLON? $5.48 a gallon to potentially worst case scenario $11.34 a gallon?! (See above re: crude oil costs vs. current gas prices again). That’s gonna leave a mark.
http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20080515172437.aspx
I think that if the Democrat congress does that, they’ll sign their own death-sentence. Quite literally. Because, the American economy will simply collapse on their “watch.” And people will WALK to DC with nooses. And guns.
Also, in case you hadn’t noticed, oil production is actually going down while demand is going uppity up up up worldwide. Pay special attention to the price chart. It’s an eye opener.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/05/15/bcnoil115.xml
Yes the Prius (and other electric motors) do produce maximum torque at 0 rpm. Torque is “twisting force” which translates into accelerative force.
Electric motors and steam engines are similar in this way, hence no real need for gearboxes in either electric vehicles or steam vehicles.
Those who keep claiming that other cars do better in mileage are FUDding, pure and simple – every time such a comparison ends up being run head to head by somebody reputable, the Prius either wins, or the other car turns out to be a much smaller vehicle.
Yes, even the diesel ones.
Car for the masses?
Revolutionized automotive transport?
Oh, my. Please lighten up.
I am sorry, but for all you city folk…you need to get out more.
You need to drive around the hills in Southern Mo.
Then tell me how much this car means to The People.
Tell me…how does it sell in Europe?
I agree with some of the other commentators that the owners of these cars are the polarizing issue. South Park really got it right. Last weekend, I saw a new Civic Hybrid cruising down I-25 with US Marine Corps and NRA decals in the corners of the rear window. You don’t see that type of personal expression on Priora very often. If I had to choose between the two, I’d take the Civic because it looks more like a car and is much more anonymous than the Prius. It’s a Honda, too.
M1EK
I am sorry, but you are simply wrong.
It doesn’t out perform all comers.
In fact, the diesels do get better, or similar MPG, and another added benefit…
Reliability and strength.
No hybrid is going out last a diesel engine.
It simply will not…ever.
A car simply must offer more than city commuting.
We need to carry more than just lattes.
I actually have more hwy miles than city miles in my world.
Again, compare to Europe sales and performance, since we don’t allow diesels here…and then here is an interesting link;
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/23/bmw-520d-beats-prius-in-gas-mileage/
menno
Yes the Prius (and other electric motors) do produce maximum torque at 0 rpm. Torque is “twisting force” which translates into accelerative force.
Thank you for attempting to educate me (many others have tried and failed :-)
I’m still confused though. If the motor isn’t spinning how can it be producing torque? Wouldn’t it be correct to say that it produces max torque at “point something” rpm up to some maximum rpm? Say a fraction of 1 rpm up to let’s say 1200 rpm? To put it another way, doesn’t it start to produce torque when it starts to spin?
On an intellectual level, I can understand the 3 stars, but on an emotional level, this car would get one star (at best). I thought the Prius would be my next car, it had a couple of things I was looking for: great gas mileage and a hatch (Yeah, yeah I have a hatch fetish). The looks were funky, but it’s a Prius? Right? Funky looks can be forgiven.
We both test drove this car, and while I cannot speak for my wife, I really wanted to like it. We both HATED the car! For starters, the looks resembles a video game more than a car dash. We’ve talked about generational differences before and maybe this is one of them. But I hate busy dashes. I’m trying to drive, not commandeer the Starship Enterprise. Second, I have to take issue with the author’s claims of brisk acceleration around town. I thought the car was dangerous due to the lack of brisk acceleration. That lack of oomph is compounded by truly awful rear vision on this car. I had trouble getting out of the way of faster traffic, not that I could see them in the first place!
This car may be better than walking, but not by much.
I read that a poll concluded that 60% of Prius drivers were Democrat and 40% Republican, not 99% Democrat as some would believe. I suspect that the pollster only gave the two choices. I’m neither.
Actually, I also read that Prius drivers:
Have an average age of about 50.
Are more highly educated (college/university) than the general US population. (Given that a huge proportion of universities “swing left” this also could explain the leftie swing in politics of the demographics).
Have an income some 30% higher than the US average.
Are safer drivers by a significant amount than the average US driver.
Most insurance companies would bend themselves into a pretzel for demographics like these (the politial part being non-relevant to them of course).
As for the so-called smug factor, perhaps that is evident in California but here in “fly-over country” I’ve simply never seen it.
I do see tons of “rainbow” bumper stickers on Subarus locally, however…. but that’s another story alltogether.
Climbing the road to the summit of Mt. Charleston, the Prius quickly drained its batteries. It could groan no faster than a pathetic 57mph. Once the battery boost ceased to exist, the CVT transmission buzzed louder, and louder, reducing fuel consumption to 17.5mpg.
Did the 17.5mpg happen while climbing? Or is that what it gets on flat roads when the battery is drained?
If that is the climbing-with-out-batteries rate, is that any worse than any other small car will get while climbing? I suspect not.
My point is, this is not any worse than any other normal small car in those conditions.
Any chance you can now review a Touring version, Mike, to see how it compares? It’s something I’ve been meaning to do, but have never quite gotten around to.
Reliabiity on these is exceptional, even without considering how much could go wrong. TrueDelta has results for all years from 2004 on, and even the 2004s with an average of 63000 miles on them require few repairs.
Many bits will start to fail at some point, but we haven’t arrived at that point yet. When we do, TrueDelta will report it first.
http://www.truedelta.com/reliability.php
Hi, Dynamic.
I think technically speaking, twisting force can be measured at 0 rpm by resistance, as accelerative potential.
All I can say is this; when test-driving a rental 2004 Prius (before buying), I was stuck behind a Chevy Sloburban AND a smoking (literally) Chrysler minivan on a very steep hill near town, after sitting at a red light. The Chrysler minivan finally moved over to let me pass; we were 1/2 way up the hill going 40 mph.
I pushed the go-pedal about 3/4 the way down and at the crown of the hill I was – um – exceeding the 55 mph limit by 25 mph. 80 mph for the math challenged. Thankfully, no police were around…
That’s TORQUE. (Said to my wife “er, maybe I’d better lift…” “ahhh, yah!”)
Horsepower = top speed. Prius can do 106.
My wife gave me 3 1/2 hours to get her to the Detroit airport two years ago, when her father was dying (in England). It’s normally a 5 1/2 hour drive.
The Prius will do 96 mph just fine, for extended periods.
Normally I don’t speed, by the way. Honest!
Michael, Canadians have been running 250,000 miles (400,000 km?) on Prius cars in two years, doing taxicab duty, and the cars seem to be trouble-free. Quite literally.
I saw a Prius doing 90 mph the other day.
I think Toyota made this car NOT be a BMW.
Toyota Motor Company made this car for the consumer who doesn’t really care about performance. 3 or 6 star doesn’t make any difference.
This car has only one thing in mind to save money.
Dynamic88 I think you should watch top speed.
They test drove a electric car versus a Lamborghini and the electric car beat the Lambo.
Top Speed already answered your question.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=L7zHcvDPxYU
Here’s the proof
America Consumer behavior again. We should ask Leo Burnett for advise. Toyota handling has been always been a problem even with their Camry’s.
ppellico, that Euro test was slanted. It wasn’t done to TTAC standards of fairness.
Take the 520d and run it at designed-for high speeds against a Prius which has the MPG drop off (conveniently for the BMW) at 65 mph, and the comparison still was closer than BMW would have liked, especially considering the Prius is actually bigger inside.
Redo the test with 50% city driving and 50% non-autobahn speeds and the Prius would eat the diesel BMW’s lunch.
Consumer Reports tested a SMART DIESEL (Canadian spec – not even legal for sale in the US) and it obtained 42 mpg overall.
Their Prius obtained 44 mpg overall.
That pretty well says it all.
Except that locally, gasoline is $3.98 a gallon while diesel is $4.74.
menno
I hate to interrupt a good argument with facts.
To be “revolutionary”…you need to stand for more than just saving money.
To be “The Peoples” car, you need to do more than provide city driving MPG.
You can’t even put a bike in it.
Folks, You can like the Prius all you like, but stop with all the performace garbage.
We love cars here…not one issue minds.
A prius is no more a peoples car than a 400 HP Corvette.
It does a few things well…but not a peoples car.
There is no shortage of fuel.
Speculation and speculators should not rule the day.
Here are some interesting links for anybody interested in a little, little bit of counter information.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24625005/
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/may2008/bw20080513_720178.htm?chan=autos_autos+–+lifestyle+subindex+page_top+stories
Consumer Reports tested a SMART DIESEL (Canadian spec – not even legal for sale in the US) and it obtained 42 mpg overall.
Come on now…let’s not resort to Consumer Reports for research data; five circles do not a tier-1 research journal make.
One thing not mentioned:
When I had a rental Prius in LA about a year ago, I realized it was the only reasonably priced car in which you could still look like a millionaire (especially in LA).
Maybe the Smart is an exception to that now, though I doubt it.
Robert, you should do a comparison “efficiency and overall driving” comparison test of the Volkswagen Jetta diesel when it comes out in the fall, against the Prius Touring.
Bear in the mind, however, that the Touring gives up about 1 mpg against the regular Prius due to the wider tires.
The Volkswagen will have to be an automatic, for a real, fair comparison. Especially since 95% of Americans buy automatics, and the Prius can’t be manufactured as a stick-shift (since it really hasn’t got a transmission in the strictest sense).
What say you?
It should not just be an MPG comparison, but a cost per mile comparison (given the fuel cost differences). In fact, list both, out of fairness. Test the cars running together at the same time, swapping drivers and redoing the same course again.
Do a – city test
A – mixed test (city/45 mph roads and 55 mph roads)
A – steady state 55 mph test without stops
A – high speed test (70 mph roads)
And – ahem – an illegal test (85 mph) in order to give the Jetta some chance of doing well overall.
“Enquiring minds want to know”
Thats right…42 against 44.
Wow.
But what about what the other offers?
In terms of longevity and useability…please.
And I do not want to get started again on the price of diesel…or the false speculation that is driving us to where we are now.
We were trading oil at $86 three months ago.
Today its $124.Can anybody tell me truthfully…what has happened so drastically to make this happen?
Nothing.Gasoline here is really around 40 cents more per gallon..but thats high historically.
Why…hmmmmm.