Sitting in the new Toyota Prius, I suddenly blurted out, “Open the pod bay doors, Hal,” half expecting something to happen. Alas, I was still entombed in the resin chamber that passes for an automobile interior. If Ralph Nader had been an engineer, this is the car he would have designed, a vehicle for people who loathe automobiles.
Nothing about the insides feels familiar in the traditional sense, unless you are a prior Prius person. The new interior is swathed in low rent plastics which emit nauseating vapors, leather seats (if so equipped) that made me long for Naugahyde and gauges which were not only situated well out of sightlines, but rendered in a primitive digital manner which were indecipherable even up close. Of course I could always tell how slowly I was driving from the desperate looks on the faces of the drivers eager to get past me.
The 2010 Prius’ ergonomics were designed for only two kinds of creatures: those who like to sit five inches back from the front windshield and orangutans. Everyone else will find that the steering wheel, adjustable now for tilt and reach, is still too far away for a proper seat position. There is a nice new electric lumbar support in the seats, which are otherwise unsupportive and ill-shaped.
The driving experience was engineered by faeries. There is an Unbelievable Lightness of Steering, flagrant disregard for handling and a general sense that you are not in a car at all but some anti-gravity device which yaws and rolls without regard for normal physics. I would rather visit my dentist than drive the Prius again—at least he gives me laughing gas.
The one positive aspect of my Prius experience: the serenity of the ride quality. It may have been totally non-involving but it was otherwise quite placid. This proved to be a disaster as I developed a case of narcolepsy while operating the Prius (you don’t drive a Prius, you just sit there and moan along in harmony). On one occasion I drifted off and when I was able to refocus, I discovered I had driven well past my intended destination. If you have a small child or spouse with trouble sleeping, this might be your ride. This sample was mounted with optional 17″ wheels and I found that they not only magnified the road impact but they did little to add interest to the “driving experience.”
The Prius is rendered silly by its own gimmicks. Let’s begin with the transmission. It has three buttons for its various modes, a stubby stalk and a fourth button for park. The car defaults to its economy mode to start, which makes it impossible to make it up my driveway or escape the neighbor’s kids on their bikes. Hammering the throttle only causes a dull moan to be emitted from the engine compartment. The car doesn’t really accelerate—I think it uses sound waves to attempt forward progress.
There is also an EV mode which only goes to 20 mph and only for a mile or so; it’s perfect for when your golf cart breaks down; otherwise it is totally useless.
Finally, there is power mode, which is much like economy mode only the moaning is louder. The transmission stalk made me smile: It provided me with a false sense of control over the driving experience. I could only choose forward or reverse or braking, which was nice since the brakes themselves felt greasy and wooden at the same time and did little to retard forward progress.
To place the car in park required a push of the “P” button, which was separate from the transmission for some reason. My favorite part is that they hid some of the controls underneath the center console; I think there were switches for the seat heaters down there and maybe something else, I couldn’t really tell.
I tried to get into this Prius thing; after all, I receive e-mail from Al Gore all the time. It’s not like I am some Neanderthal gear head (my M3 and S65 notwithstanding). I have a Honda Civic hybrid in my garage. I Grok hybridese. But I must not speak butterfly.
The Prius is the anti-car and no manner of sport package or aftermarket modification can transmogrify the eco-worrier [sic] into anything resembling an automobile. The 2010 Prius needs a new moniker like, “personal vehicular transportation module,” or something similar. It just doesn’t meet my definition of an automobile. At least my Honda Civic hybrid drives and feels like a car, albeit a very slow and dull-witted one.
Maybe that is a good thing. But I have a feeling that one day soon we will be able to drive something that gets outstanding mileage while stimulating its operator in the process. Here is the punch line: the Prius I drove with the technology package approached $34 grand before dealer tack-ons. Honda Fit anyone?
[NB: TTAC does not allow comments flaming the website or its authors. Please restrict your remarks to the review itself. If you wish to question our editorial stance or style, or offer an alternative review, e-mail robertfarago1@gmail.com.]
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i think i would rather swallow a .45 caliber shell before i drive one of these
i’ve seen the future am i’m glad i’m gonna be dead before it gets here
I like it. Aside from that ugly corporate grille, it looks quite normal. Almost un-Prius like, although I do question their decision to offer not so eco-friendly leather seats.
Horrible driving dynamics aside, it gets people a bajillion miles to the gallon and that’s what the people want, handling be damn’d.
I’ve never driven a Prius, but based on this review, I don’t think I want to. You’d think that at the least, Toyota would make an interior that’s a little “greener” for its intended market. Doesn’t Ford use soy-based foam in their seats?
I’ll keep driving my Jetta TDI because it has a real engine and transmission and provides feedback when I’m operating it. I may buy a 2010 Golf TDI, but I might have to test drive a Prius beforehand to compare the two and have a good laugh.
When the Prius originally came out many people described it as ’surprisngly almost like driving a real car’ which, at the time, wasn’t quite damning it with faint praise, as early adopters are willing to put up with, or even crave, a bit of strangeness. Now, however, that Toyota is trying to make the Prius a mainstream option, it can’t ‘almost’ drive like a real car, it has to drive better than a conventional gas engine vehicle in order to not scare away those a bit leary of battery-electric power.
Perhaps the cheapness inside is Toyota trying to further justify the price of the upcoming Lexus model based on the Prius. On the other hand, it could be the general cheapening Toyota is doing across the line. I have no doubt that Toyota will sell many of these, but the writing is on the wall, just as GM, Ford, and Chrysler were guilty of in their peak, Toyota is starting to let the accountants run the company, and figures it can maintain position through reputation alone.
Gas Mileage – It’s what the people want!
…and the handling discourages people from trying to have fun and remind them that the MAIN reason for driving a Prius is to get peak efficiency from the powertrain.
I’ll keep my V6 Mazda6 thank you.
I’m sure the Prius could be more entertaining without compromising potential mileage, but inevitably real world mileage would suffer among non-hypermilers. Toyota knows that these drivers would then whine on Edmunds about feeling ripped off. The lack of involvement beyond the hypermiling video game aspect is by design (as in all Toyotas). As a biased Miata driver who has no choice but to be into every mile I drive, I consider cars like this to be a menace. It’s a shame that the new Insight is not quite the alternative that I hoped it would be.
The Prius has always been designed to do one thing well. High mileage is its game, and it is quite competent at that.
Perhaps when evaluating a machine we should all take into account how well it does what it was designed to do, and then accept that there will be shortcomings in other areas because of the original modus operandi.
Blaming the Prius for a poor driving experience is akin to faulting the Veyron for poor mileage.
as engineered by faeries. There is an Unbelievable Lightness of Steering
Great line Jay!
I drove an older Prius, and despite being 31 and having set up my own network at home, I had trouble starting the damn thing. Buttons every where, that you have to press in a specific order, or else the car won’t start. That “P” button makes no sense either.
That said, decently practical and great mileage, but horribly detached steering. Seems like the new model goes along the same lines. Better-looking, though.
boxelder – With certain vehicles one can just assume that the core design objective has been achieved. A Prius is going to get incredible gas mileage, a Veyron is going to be incredibly fast, a Wrangler is going to be like a mountain goat off road, and an Elise is going to outhandle just about anything else made. What can really make any car special though is when it not only hits a targeted function right in the bullseye, but does it without giving up too much in other driving dimensions. That is where cars like the Prius, Wrangler, and Elise all fall short – they are great at what they do best, but because of that singular dedication in their design, they suffer mightily in other areas.
do they really have the gauges int he center like in the Toyota Yaris? Yikes.. that is a no no for me. i can live with the handling etc. and trade that for good mileage. but the speedometer has to be in front of me or i will be distracted or not look at it. both dangerous.
NulloModo – Agreed, much is given up when pursuing one target, and one target only. It is my opinion that the Prius was judged rather harshly (one star!) when it does exactly what its target audience will purchase it for.
Buyers of the Prius want:
1. Green “Cred” – see that certain South Park episode (Smug).
2. Great mileage.
3. A different driving experience than what they’re used to.
By this last one I mean they want to say “Hey, look at my space-age car! It’s so electric I even have to push a button to put it in Park! Aren’t I Green?!”
These buyers will get exactly what they bargained for.
With oil heading skyward, waiting lists for the new Prius will begin to form.
This is an undeniable success by Toyota, whether it drives well or not.
If you’ll excuse me now, I have to go burn several thousand gallons of Jet-A to fly from LAS-ATL.
Well, I’ve been wondering how comparison tests might conclude that the Honda Insight is preferable, since I couldn’t wait to get out of that car. Could the Prius be even worse to drive?
The second-generation Prius has been extremely reliable, based on hundreds of responses to TrueDelta’s Car Reliability Survey. We hope to have a quick initial result for the 2010, to see if it’s just as solid even in its first year–or not.
Details here:
http://www.truedelta.com/car-reliability.php
ehhh, whatever. I’m not in the target demographic…(with my order placed for a twin-turbo BMW). Either way, Toyota needs to build this car because American companies can’t. Car mileage technology will continue to come and this is just one car on that path. It’s not the Prius I wonder or about, it’s the next car with the next technology.
People will buy it anyway because they want crazy gas mileage and I say more power to them.
Any chance that the Prius could be banned from the US market on account of extreme ugliness?
At least it looks better then the previous model. The front end is almost (key word: almost) sleek and sporty. The interior is space-ship weird-o, or on par with crimes Honda has been committing with their recent interior blunders.
What gear is “B” on that transmission stick? Battery Only? At first car companies gave us push button start, now they are selling push button park? Why or why did I sell my ‘85 Civic? 35 mpg & fun to drive with none of this stupidness… I must be getting old (36 now) because all this “new-ness” seems silly to me.
One star? Seriously? This was less a review than a creative writing exercise on how to bag a Toyota hybrid. Looking at the rating, it scored lower than a 2001 Honda Insight, Hyundai Elantra, smart ForTwo, Chevrolet Cobalt, Kia Amanti, Kia Rio (!!!), and Kia Optima.
The worst part about the 2010 Prius?
The commercials. They’re creepy like something out of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory, just before everyone gets mauled by a crazed horde of Oompa Loompas.
There is no excuse for designing a car with poor ergonomics and poor seats regardless of the car’s price. The same goes for the handling. Prius doesn’t have to handle like a sports car, but it should be good enough. Hyundai can do it in a ten-thousand-dollar Accent, so I’m sure Toyota could do it in a thirty-thousand-dollar car. I’d like to understand why Toyota doesn’t seem to care.
Michal
True. But remember that each TTAC reviewer calls it like he or she sees it. And we often do take two and take three reviews of controversial/important cars.
And as there is no statistical formula for the final rating, you have to take them as writ. Or not.
Great review Jay.
So much hate for the Prius!
I think as long as it serves as a distraction for the masses while the rest of us continue to enjoy gas-guzzling V8’s, it’s a great car. Without a Prius, the anti-automotive sentiment would no doubt be much more intense that it is now.
As for that car, I don’t think I’d need to drive it. One look at that interior and it’s lost me.
While Ive not driven one of these, the thing that makes me crazy after twenty minutes of driving is the freaking digital speedo. Whats so hard about being able to switch to a nice analog gage. Nobody needs the constant reminder theyre going 34. Otherwise, the rest of the quirks are livable.
I wouldn’t consider myself someone who would consider a hybrid due to the economics behind it, but bagging it due to crappy handling is kind of like “duh!”
With that being said, IF I have to drive a completely boring car, the interior should at least be bearable — operational items should be in well recognized/familiar places. If they are not, that presents a safety hazard IMHO.
As for myself being “green” I drive a 16/21 rated 4 cylinder turbo car and a motorcycle. Not green at all really, although if electric bikes become viable (they are 90% of the way there) I might grab one, esp if obammadollars are going to be coming my way. One bike (I’m not advertising them, so I won’t put the name here…google if you want to find out) that is completely electric has a 10% fed tax dollars coming back and up to 50% rebate from state taxes. Unfortunately my state gives me nothing….
The Prius is just a car with a built in ’save the planet’ bumper sticker. Look at hybrids relative to other cars:
* Fuel Economy – Roughly in line with a good diesel. Like a diesel, it’s uncertain whether or not there’s a financial benefit. (It’s just a capital vs. operating expense trade off.)
* Environmental Impact – Lower emissions while rolling, but this discounts the toxicity of the battery and any additional emissions produced by manufacturing the more complex drivetrain.
* Driving Experience – I’ve never heard anything positive about the hybrid driving experience, aside from some short term excitement from folks trying to get the absolute best gas mileage.
There’s no material practical reason to buy one, so the unusual look is about all that’s left. It’s a way for the owner to telegraph something about their chosen lifestyle and opinions. Just like a bumper sticker.
So, the new Prius is an aesthetically annoying, dull to drive transportation appliance: a toyota.
I test-drove a 2005 Prius and didn’t like the experience. The two-slope acceleration curve was unnerving, the switching power supply emitted a high-pitched squeal from under the hood, and it was too small for my large frame and friends. The average MPG displayed on the dash said only 35 mpg.
I bought an xB instead (a different cult car). Even the $5k premium for the Prius would have taken me 12 years for payback. And the xB later turned out to earn the “greenest” lifecycle rating at the time, not that I was seeking it.
I really like the off-center gauges in the xB. My experience with conventional gauges – as a 6′7″ driver – is that I receive a great view of 0-30 and 90-120, but not the middle where we spend most of our time. However, the Prius gauges seem way overly busy, and don’t appear to be canted toward the driver – both bad ergonomic flaws.
The second-generation Prius has been extremely reliable, based on hundreds of responses to TrueDelta’s Car Reliability Survey.
That’s what blows my mind about the Prius. So complex yet so reliable. I’d really like to hear from someone with an automotive engineering background – what do Toyota engineers know that Fiat/Chrysler/Land Rover/VW don’t?
As for the Prius I had one as a company car for a few months a while back – I loved it. It reminded me of the old Mercedes slogan – “Engineered like no other car in the world.”
Folks who drive Priuses are not really interested in handling beyond the safety and ease factor.
It’s really endemic for Toyota to offer light steering for virtually all it’s sedans due to their target demographic. The entire focus for most folks in the conservative nethers of automotivedom is to have a vehicle that’s very easy to drive. Period. The Prius, is just like the Camry, Corolla and Yaris as it tries to make the car a simple appliance.
I really don’t think it should be dinged for that. The interior? Perhaps. A dashboard display that’s far worse than the Insight and Civic? Absolutely.
A car like the Prius is not designed for any sports enthusiast. I seriously doubt it ever will. Hybrids in the past failed in part because folks were not willing to pay the hybrid premium for a somewhat ’sporty’ model like an Insight or a Civic 5-Speed.
Luxury, isolation, comfort, interior room, and mpg’s are the predominant desire for most hybrid owners these days. Unless the technology changes, I don’t see the target marketing changing in the near future.
@quasimondo
Hey, look — say what you will about leather not being very “animal friendly,” but it is very eco-friendly — it’s using material that’s a byproduct of the beef industry and that would otherwise just be thrown away to fill up a landfill.
I’ll wait until Obama rations gasoline before buying anything like this. Toyota is moving down a dangerous path of making goofy cars full of gimmicks. GM, Ford and Chrysler all went through this phase and paid dearly for it. The center dash is ridiculous, the emphasis seems to be on all the hybrid gadgets and such. Is there a temperature or oil pressure gauge? How about a regular voltmeter? Do we need a picture of the car in the dash for the entire time we drive it?
I laughed out loud at that gear shift. If this is the future of cars I’m sticking with old motorcycles.
The price is ridiculous. Is Toyota trying to give us a reason to buy a Volt? They are squandering the one advantage they have which is price.
Of course with a review as scathing as this expect Toyota to be less than thrilled with TTAC, but that is why this is TTAC and not motortrend or some other suck up site.
I have yet to hear one person opine that they preferred their steering overboosted with no feel whatsoever. I really fail to understand why Toyota keeps making this mistake…no one like it, consider it a failure and move on. Honda suffers zero negative consequences for engineering a better steering rack, live and learn.
I just don’t get it, how can this well run company with a strong (historical by now I guess) background in performance vehicles continue to be upstaged by all of their competitors all the time? So frustrating.
34 grand, wtf
I thought they cut the price to compete with the new Honda?
It would be nice if the author or editor would link to the older prius reviews.
They are:
2004 Rober Farago http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/toyota-prius/
2008 Mike Solowiow http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2008-toyota-prius-review/
Farago’s review doesn’t use the star rating system but he ended with “if you’re willing to trade driving pleasure and decent ergonomics for cheap, guilt-free motoring, the Prius is the way to go.”
I’m not sure if cheap still makes the cut but I wouldn’t mind buying a used Prius if they really were cheap.
Solowiow’s review gives the 2008 Prius 3 stars and ends with
“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.”
My God, I think I’d get carsick while driving this!
Ford Fusion Hybrid, please!
As much as I have always appreciated round and stramlined vehiclular forms, ( and I really do like the overall form of this vehicle) I have to say I chuckled a bit just now while looking at the pictures. My father used the expression “it looks like a pregnant guinea pig” for things that looked awkward to his eye. In this case it really fits,
Hey Toyota ! Literally bending the sheet metal forms of your vehicles to accomodate your oversized corporate badges is pompous, egotistical, commercialistic, and unsightly.
If I got one of these Prius’, I would figure some sort of humorous parody item to replace that badge in the front. Maybe a toothy mouth with a tongue hanging out would be amusing enough.
Jay Shoemaker
Don’t listen to critics above.
I think this review is one of the best I have read in some time.
Very enjoyable and in the flavor of TTAC’s best in the past.
Now this is why we read TTAC!
My wife speaks butterfly.
And plant.
And animal.
And baby.
I feel so alone.
Toyota is moving down a dangerous path of making goofy cars full of gimmicks. GM, Ford and Chrysler all went through this phase and paid dearly for it.
But these are practical “gimmicks” that have proven to be very reliable, a totally different story than the gimmicks from Detroit.
To me, the Prius and the Mercedes S-class play similar roles. They are the testbeds for the latest automotive technology – airbags, traction control, anti-lock brakes, for the S-Class and hybrid technology for the Prius.
Honda Insight would be my choice in this segment, simply for the paddle shifter alone, but for features as well.
Is there something about this Prius reviews that requires the anti-flaming reminder at the end?
The Ferrari, Volvo, Caddy & Mustang reviews did without…
I have yet to hear one person opine that they preferred their steering overboosted with no feel whatsoever.
Oh, I’d say a majority of the car buying public likes it that way.
If Ralph Nader had been an engineer, this is the car he would have designed, a vehicle for people who loathe automobiles.
Well, yes. That’s the point. Enthusiasts will forgive a lot in the name of passion, but normal people want the car to be as innocuous as possible.
gauges which were not only situated well out of sightlines, but rendered in a primitive digital manner which were indecipherable even up close.
There’s a point to this, too. The gauges are supposed to be a shorter look away from the road (in the Echo, it was a 15 degree look away versus the 22-25 degrees in a normal, behind-the-wheel IP) and don’t require you to refocus because they’re in the same visual plane as the road ahead. The old Prius, as well as the pre-refresh Suzuki Aerio, worked the same way. I wear glasses for poor distance vision and appreciated this muchly.
I think car people are far too conservative and change-averse to embrace simple, new concepts, and too willing to cling to old concepts out of tradition or heritage. For example: soft plastic dashes. There’s no reason for them to be soft, especially since they’re not made from leather like the dashboard of a horse-driven carriage and don’t serve the same purpose. You never put your hands on the dash, nor bounce off it in an accident (airbags).
The 2010 Prius’ ergonomics were designed for only two kinds of creatures: those who like to sit five inches back from the front windshield and orangutans.
I fall into the latter category (I have a seven-foot armspan) and like the way this works. Toyota seems to do this pretty often; a common complaint is that the wheel is too far away when the seat/pedals are at the right point.
My complaint is the short seat cushions and accordingly poor thigh support. The Japanese and Americans both do this (exceptions: the Malibu and Lexus IS both have decent front seats) and it hurts if you’re overly tall.
The Prius is rendered silly by its own gimmicks. Let’s begin with the transmission. It has three buttons for its various modes, a stubby stalk and a fourth button for park.
This is a dumb affectation, much like pushbutton start for the engine. The 7-Series did the same thing, too, for no reason I could figure out. entirely pushbutton would have been fine, as would a normal shifter. This seems a little counterintuitive.
I have a Honda Civic hybrid in my garage. I Grok hybridese. But I must not speak butterfly.
Honda has a different philosophy about hybrids than Toyota, one that appeals to engineers and gearheads because it’s conservative (and, frankly, more crude). It’s the same tack GM took with the Aura, Malibu and Vue. It works well, uses existing platforms, and should in theory by more reliable.
But it isn’t. It doesn’t save as much fuel and the batteries’ lifespan suffers greatly compared to the Prius. Oh, and there’s the reliability thing: say what you will, the HSD-based hybrids are proving to be as reliable or more than traditional ICE vehicles.
The Prius, I would say, works better as a car for most people, just as the Camry does vis a vis much of it’s competition. People want roomy, efficient and practical. The Civic is cramped, comparatively fuel-thirsty and not particularly cost-effective.
And you know what, it’s (and cars like it) are selling as a result. This really pisses off (or terrifies) the alpha-male car enthusiasts of the world because not only are they being proven wrong about what people want, they’re being proven wrong by a vehicle that, quite frankly, is kind of scary if you’re change-averse.
I drove a rental second-gen when I was on contract in Montreal a while back. I could crawl through urban traffic without engaging the gas engine at all frequently, and I certainly didn’t use a tank over severals days. I thought it worked well: it held me, a coworker, a pile of gear (hatchbacks are wonderful) and wasn’t at all weird or problematic.
I find that most people quite like the car and appreciate it’s virtues—and those that don’t wouldn’t like it unless (and I’m being hyperbolic) it was lifted six inches (or dropped two), was much faster, used diesel, came with a stick shift, an open bed, a gun rack beneath the rear seat, body-on-frame, rear-wheel drive and came with a free pony.
It looks like an old lady’s car. Calm, serene, boring as hell. But I guess that’s what some people want.
I’m glad Ford has decided to pursue a strategy of making hybrids that look and drive like real cars. Aside from the smartgauge and logos on the exterior, there’s nothing awkward or silly to indicate the Fusion Hybrid has a hybrid system. It has a regular shifter, not a goofy dash-mounted knob; comfy seats, a logical, well organized interior, and a decent 191 hp. And the Fusion Hybrid is actually fun to drive.
@mdmaph
I dare you to try that excuse the next time a PETA activist threatens to vandalize your leather jacket with red dye.
Hertz gave me a prius when I was in Tampa a few weks ago.
I had to call the 800# next morning because they didn’t tell me you had to have your foot on the brake when you press the power/start button. I pressed the start button without a foot on the brake and gauges would light up but unable to get it into drive or reverse.
I had to call them at 5:00pm that day because it suddenly wouldn’t go any faster than 20mph.
It had 30K miles on it.
I got a mazda protege 5 as a replacement.
The gauges are far away & everthing is menu, even radio. Handling was ok, typical small car. Acceleration was good, got it to 75mph fairly quickly, better than typical small car.
If I got one for free, I’d sell it asap.
@Jay Shoemaker I literally had to walk away from my desk because I was about to laugh loud enough for my boss to start asking questions. I loved the writing style it’s not often I get a laugh like that.
As to the $34K US, that is outlandish. But the average Prius sold won’t be that expensive.
Go to toyota.com and they list with caveats at
Corolla $15k
Matrix $16k
Prius $22k
But as soon as you start the configurator the Corolla magically jumps to $16k (your price may vary based on zip code). Pick the automatic transmission and its $17k.
Do the same for the Matrix and you get $17k, 18k, 19k (with the forced minimum options).
For the Prius it is $23k the price doesn’t change because there are no forced package options and it already has automatic transmission.
So ignoring dealer markups and haggling efforts if I just configure them on toyota.com I get
Corolla $17k
Matrix $19k
Prius $23k
A far cry from the $34K tech demo model you drove.
“The driving experience was engineered by faeries.”- you can’t SAY that on TTAC. Otherwise, you will get a nasty-gram from Jeff.
Is there something about this Prius reviews that requires the anti-flaming reminder at the end?
The Prius inspires a lot of “Hey! You kids! Get off my lawn!”** style commentary. You can tell it, like the Smart, and all “different” cars going back to the likes of the VW Bug, unnerve the typical enthusiasts
Auto enthusiasts are conservatives, by and large. I mean this in the dictionary sense: they don’t like radical change, not in politics, not in society, and certainly in their rides.
** HYKGOML is a state of mind, not an age bracket. You can be thirteen years old and subscribe to it, as Autoblog’s forums can attest.
bluecat,
And, thus, the Fusion tops out at a very impressive 41mpg in the city and a reasonably good but not outstanding 30-something on the highway.
To take it to the next level on the open road requires that your car look like this (or something equally … words fail me).
—
Shoemaker,
ONE star? Isn’t that reserved for cars that do NOTHING well? This vehicle is, at least, good practical transportation. In spite of the extra systems, it has good cargo volume, good passenger seating and then it has the hybrid thing going on.
One star suggests you’d rather have an Aveo. I find that very hard to believe.
—
quasimondo,
I can’t recall the last time a PETA activist made a nuisance of him/herself in that way, especially over leather. As far as I can tell, they’ve mostly given up on that tactic.
I also look at leather as a byproduct. It’s probably a better thing to use than a petrochemical-based fabric. I’ve dramatically reduced my beef intake for a variety of reasons, some of which are GHG-related, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to let something go to waste when it could be useful.
PETA, I think, still gets excited about fur. Fur is usually not a byproduct.
psarhjinian
Did you like the “dust buster” minivans? The 1996 Taurus? I’m not being a jackass or anything but some change IS bad.