but they need to make it LIGHTER

As for engines: I remember hearing they’re making a 2.4 liter hybrid drivetrain, but I don’t think it’s because they’re making the Prius with a bigger engine. I think it’s because the Toyota A-BAT truck will be coming out by then. Same size as the RAV-4’s engine, if I’m not mistaken. That’s gonna be a great little truck right there. Not pretty, but I’ll betcha it’s gonna do a good job of being a truck.

Probably true. But, Toyota, if I could see the SUV I could at least brace myself…

Yes.

Aerodynamics play a huge role in efficiency (and stability), especially as speeds rise. One of the reasons the Prius has such fantastic highway mileage (yes, the hybrid systems helps a little) is it’s slippery shape.

Saabs used to look much the same way for the same reason. So did the Honda Insight. So did a lot of cars, actually.

The SUV boom and it’s associated marketing baggage destroyed aerodynamics; people are now accustomed to, if not outright demanding, truck styling cues in their cars. If someone strays from the formula, the reviewers jump all over them. Personally, I never found four feet of schnozz an attractive vehicle feature, but I grew up in Toyota Van.

If all they’ve got is a sedan, then they still haven’t learned their lesson.

I only hope this new Prius will have a telescoping steering wheel.

Me, too. But I think they did it to help you survive a T-boning from an SUV.

I didn’t like the higher window sills on the latest Camry, either, but I’ve driven them on a number of occasions, now, and visibility was still OK.

—

I must say, I’m all for superb fuel economy and all that but I’m really hoping Toyota will offer a sunroof on the upcoming Prius. I really enjoy having a sunroof. Among other things, it makes up, a bit, for the lack of side window glass.

I always imagine it turning a faded light grey after 3-5 years. Oh wait, it’s a Pontiac. Make that 3-5 minutes…

The after market has already done a convertible:

http://www.newportconvertible.com/product.jhtm?id=311&cid=

Honda had the 1st entry with their Insight and had an ok product with the 1st gen Civic but it was Toyota that cracked open the market beyond the Left Coast centered green geek set.

I never thought the aztec looked all that bad other than the grill and ALL THE PLASTIC at the bottom. The last year or two of the Az, you could get one without all that plastic at the bottom. I almost picked up a (mostly) plasticless one a couple years ago, but I was told not to because of the 3.4 V6. The price was certainly right.

The Prius isn’t as aerodynamic as some of the show cars Ford and GM played with in the 80s, but it’s handicapped somewhat by the need to package all of its hardware and a reasonably amount of people/utility space into a relatively small footprint. Since it’s fairly tall, all things considered, its CdA (frontal area * Cd) is only decent, not extraordinary.

The Flex is obviously much larger–in fact, I think I recently made the same comment you did in a thread about Flex. Definitely misleading.

If every car made the same efforts as Prius to reduce drag, we’d all be better off. But I doubt most people would buy cars that look like Prius without some big efficiency tradeoff in exchange for that styling. It’s not objectively “bad,” just unconventional–and that’s part of the whole Prius brand (I am still in favor of a Prius spinoff brand for Toyota)

A wagon would certainly be nice, though.

Bunter

It’s actually 0.26.

The Passat, however, has a larger frontal area and is overall far less aerodynamically efficient. Cd is not a good measure of aerodynamic efficiency; the Ford Flex has a .32 Cd, but it’s still pushing a lot of air out of the way. Cd only reflects drag, and it’s not a good way to measure how truly aerodynamic something is; you can have low drag and still experience significant vortex action and such. Also, speed, downforce, lift, and whatnot come into play; I doubt your Passat has less drag at highway speed than the Prius.

Comparing Cd’s is like comparing 0-60 times. Doesn’t tell you much about real-life performance.

Toyota will happily take your money for the Camry and Highlander Hybrids, the Honda dealer will happily sell you a Civic Hybrid, Nissan offers the Altima Hybrid, and Ford sells the Escape/Mariner Hybrid – all of which look exactly like the regular cars they’re based upon. And other folks, who do like the high tech look, and who appreciate higher aerodynamic efficiency, will buy the Prius and unnamed Honda. Everybody’s happy – except you, who for some reason is still complaining.

But why did they reduce window area? I hate that.

Where’s the fun in that?

Misleading news title. The Prius in these pics is heavily covered in white cardboard camo and cladding. Aside from the general shape, which everyone OBVIOUSLY knew would be similar to the current Prius, it is impossible to tell the styling of the new Prius, because of the very clever camo being used. Just a thought, but how about we wait for the actual production Prius to appear before making any remarks?

Considering how close the Honda clone that we have seen the spy shots of looks to the current Prius how can you be sure you are not looking at another test platform for the Honda Hybrid?

I could also be wrong, no problem there, but have you gentlemen never heard of a pre-production “mule” were a company simply uses body panels and other styling elements of current and previous designs to hide the mechanicals underneath?

But nevertheless I do see a great deal of vinyl cammo covering this car. With that said maybe this test car is meant to look like the current Prius whether it is a Honda or Toyota product underneath.