2010 Prius Driving Impressions Thread

[Gadgetdad]

I attended the S.F event held at Ft. Mason on a very beautiful early spring day. Consequently, hundreds of people and cars impacted the first few minutes of the driving experience. My overall driving impressions are like the above comments by more thorough reviewers. The car was solid, quieter, more powerful, roomier. etc.

My only critique pertains to the height of the driver's seat and field of vision. Perhaps my seat was not adjusted for my height (5'9), but it seemed like I was sitting much lower in the car than in my '07 Prius. The door walls seemed to be higher and dashboard more expansive. As I drove slowly through a labyrinth of pedestrians and on narrow roadways, I felt as though I was sitting too low. My vision of people and roadways was hampered by this and I felt insecure even though I was driving slowly. A small child or baby stroller would not easily be seen off the right side fender.

Out on the more open streets, the vision seemed to be less of a concern, and the '10 performed superbly. Is there a height adjustment on the seats?

Lee

[Tideland Prius]

Yes. And there is also a power lumbar support adjustment on leather-seat-equipped models.

[Bob_Stan]

Originally Posted by KK6PD

1st can you tell me from which movie the line "I gots to know" came from?

I believe that comes from Dirty Harry - opening scene

[samiam]

Could one of theose fortunate test drivers answer a couple of display questions for me?

Does the 2010 MID allow the user to select the instrumentation elements, or are there display "pages" that the user toggles through?

Does the 2010 make available more information about the status of the ICE?
In particular, is it possible to display rpm, engine temp, oil pressure, etc?

Finally, to what degree has display/control compatibility been a factor in the design? (i.e. do the controls on the wheel logically and spatially correspond to the display elements?)

Forgive me it this has been covered somewhere, but I've not been able to find it so far...
I'm also posting this over in Danny's thread PriusChat's 2010 Prius In-Depth Review and First Drive so my apologies in advance for the redundancy.

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by samiam

Could one of theose fortunate test drivers answer a couple of display questions for me?

Does the 2010 MID allow the user to select the instrumentation elements, or are there display "pages" that the user toggles through?

Does the 2010 make available more information about the status of the ICE?
In particular, is it possible to display rpm, engine temp, oil pressure, etc?

Finally, to what degree has display/control compatibility been a factor in the design? (i.e. do the controls on the wheel logically and spatially correspond to the display elements?)

Forgive me it this has been covered somewhere, but I've not been able to find it so far...
I'm also posting this over in Danny's thread PriusChat's 2010 Prius In-Depth Review and First Drive so my apologies in advance for the redundancy.

Yes. The MID shows the Energy Monitor, Consumption Screen, Past Consumption, Hybrid System Indicator and, if equipped, radar cruise control. This is controlled with the DISP button on the steering wheel.

I suppose they do make sense... at least the way it's laid out on the steering wheel. Most of the warning lights are in the far right (if left-hand drive) with the MID in the middle and the speedo in the same area as before.

[samiam]

Thanks Tideland.
What about these bits?

Originally Posted by samiam

Does the 2010 make available more information about the status of the ICE?
In particular, is it possible to display rpm, engine temp, oil pressure, etc?

Didn't see any mention of them in your reply...

*****Edit - never mind, I see Danny replied over in the other thread. :-)

[DeanFL]

Scientific American has a report on their site today.

April 16, 2009
Ten things to look for in the new Prius hybrid sedan Slide Show


An overview piece:

".........My instant review: It's improved and not nearly the generic "people pod" transportation it used to be. The new model rides reasonably well and power is prompt, if not overwhelming. And the redesign is still quirky enough to attract true believers and "eco-couples" that comprise the base Prius ownership, albeit still appealing to average buyers who want a regular car. The big benefit is, of course, striking fuel efficiency—the best among sedans on the market........."

#8 of the 10 Things he reports is:

PRIUS FIGHTER Even though Honda's all new Insight hybrid is smaller than the midsize Prius, many observers consider the Insight to be the Prius' biggest competitor. The fact that Toyota has reportedly slashed the Prius's price by as much as $4,000 to match the Insight's $20,000 price tag seems to confirm that view. The Insight, a five-door, five-passenger model, has an EPA rating of 40 miles per gallon (17 kilometers per liter) city and 43 mpg (18 kpl) highway.


Wonder if he's referring to Japan - or has an 'insight' into upcoming U.S. pricing?
I can't include a url link (under 5 posts here - actually my first..) But would be available at: sciam.com/article

BTW - I am not a Prius owner yet (have Lexus RX300). Very seriously considering the '10 -have a $500 deposit at my dealer, and plan to put another one down at a larger dealer 25 miles away. Very excited about the Prius release. And thanks to all of you providing a wealth of information under my belt. Sincere thanks for all your input!

[Bonnie1]

Originally Posted by KK6PD

1st can you tell me from which movie the line "I gots to know" came from?

As far as colors I saw a Barcelona Red, Black, Magnetic Gray, Silver, Spectra Blue Mica, and I believe there are 2 new colors replacing 2 colors they are discontinuing.

Fellow P.C.er's help me out here!!!!

I love the Red, my wife is HOT on the Blue!!! We'll see!

"I gots to know" uttered to Dirty Harry by killer, after Harry's famous line, "do ya feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?'

(I gots to know whether there's any bullets left in your gun)

[Gadgetdad]

Originally Posted by Bonnie1

"I gots to know" uttered to Dirty Harry by killer, after Harry's famous line, "do ya feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?'

(I gots to know whether there's any bullets left in your gun)

Harry is in a diner eating a hot dog and asks the gal behind the counter if the car across the street is still parked in front of the bank (he had noticed cigarette butts dropped out the drivers side upon entering the bank). "Yes", she says pouring coffee, "S#@T" exclaims Harry as he walks out of the diner still chewing the hot dog. Bank robber gets into the idling get-away car and speeds off towards Harry who is standing, chewing the hot dog in the middle of the street. He pulls out a Magnum 457 and fires into the oncoming car causing the driver to collapse and drive over a fire hydrant, breaking it off and causing a fountain of water. Gunfire exchange between Harry and the robber that ditched the wrecked car. Robber is wounded and inches away from his dropped gun. Harry, unfazed by the gunfire, crash, and shootout walks towards the wounded robber who is reaching for the dropped gun. "ah, ah, I know what you're thinking, punk, did he fire 6 shots or was it only 5? In all the excitement, I kind of lost track myself! But, seeing as this is a Magnum 457, the world's most powerful hand gun that could easily blow your head clean off.... the question you have to ask yourself is, 'do I feel lucky?' .... Well, do ya, punk?"..... Robber starts to reach for the gun then thinks it over and withdraws his shaky hand from the attempt. "I gots to know" he calls out to Harry who answers by taking aim at the robber's head and the wide-eyed criminal shakes in terror as Harry slowly squeezes the trigger and snaps an empty chamber. The robber is quite relieved!

Above was from memory, so may not be 100% accurate, but it defiantly was one of the best crime drama scenes in movie history!

"ah, ah,.... I know what you're thinking, punk........"

Lee

[lensovet]

not sure if this thread ever ended up being used for its intended purpose.

anyway, took a quick, 10-15 minute test drive at berkeley toyota today. the car that i drove has a $4k markup on the sticker (!!) which the salesman said was to make sure the car stays on the lot as a demo for ppl to drive. supposedly if you put down a deposit for a car that will come in in the future, you'll pay MSRP only. sounds fishy.

as for the car: I've driven both Gen I and Gen II Priuses and this one had an odd feel to it. Something about the way the driver's seat is positioned and where the windows are. In particular the front windshield seemed to be a lot smaller (I know it's not, just an impression).
I think moving the MID to the front is a mixed bag. It would definitely get some getting used to. I wish you could at least still get it on the main screen for models with NAV, but I guess they didn't think it was such a good idea. Personally the "Energy" screen MID equivalent is just too hard to see in bright daylight.

I was worried about what they did with the shifter, but I have to say that irl it's not as bad as I feared. I *do* have to wonder about the positioning of the butt warmer buttons though.

I drove a Prius III with nav. The glove compartments are now plain plastic with no cloth lining or something similar inside. Along with the total plastic dash, it makes the whole thing feel much cheaper. The 2004's smooth but not-quite-plastic feel was, imho, the best that the Prius ever got. Is this the same on Prius IV/V? If so, that's really horrible.

The fact that the seat can be raised and lowered is pretty cool. Also, I noticed in the back that the center "hump" is much, much lower than in either of the previous models. A great thing for rear passengers and legroom! The glove compartment/armrest slides back and forth to reveal one of the cupholders...interesting. Also, the bottle holders in the doors are rather cute – they actually have a graphic showing that you should *not* put opened cups in them, because liquid might spill out. Good times.

One thing about the touch-tracer which I found odd – when you get to the settings screen, you have to use a rather unintuitive dance of pressing and pressing-and-holding the DISP button to navigate and change the settings. Since the whole thing is touch-sensitive, it would have made much more sense to have it enter a sort of iPod-style click-wheel mode: once you enter Settings, you should be able to just "scroll" by "turning" in a circular manner, and then pressing the center button would activate the selection. took me a bit to figure out how to actually work it.

also, the VOL_xx problem mentioned by another poster existed on this vehicle too. I really hope Toyota rolls out some sort of patch for this, because it just shows a lack of polish in an otherwise carefully-designed car. i also found it odd that the three mode buttons don't have indicators embedded on them – i pressed the ECO mode button and expected some sort of feedback from it, until the salesman pointed out that the indicator was up by the windshield.
finally, i don't think i managed to fully process all the indicators by the end of drive. i.e. the feeling of a different car, combined with the new locations of all the MPG and energy indicators, basically meant that i was doing feathering, etc, entirely by touch and feel, instead of by the indicators.

i'm going back to take a longer test drive later in the week which will include freeway driving and hopefully some more time in getting accustomed to the new "cockpit" before actually driving out onto the street. if i had the money, i would snap this car up in an instant (minus the markup of course). however, the few incongruences in terms of fit and attention to detail in this car do make me think a bit.

edit: another thing i noticed – auto door locks! put the car into drive and accelerate even a bit, and doors lock. put into park and they unlock. hmmm.