New series 3 Prius

[Rennio]

I have already owned 2 series 2 Prius T Spirits and am a full time ex Mercedes and now a Prius enthusiast. Last week I set off to my Toyota dealer to buy a new Series 3 Prius. What a disappointment. Toyota in my opinion have done a terrible job and the new Prius is awful. They have done away with the wonderful full colour Energy Monitor and consumption screens and the have created a totally unnecessary bridge between the dashboard and the central armrest. They have also stiffened up the suspension and installed a power button which engages the electrical drive full time. Using this button increases the fuel consumption significantly and I suspect increases the Co2 output as well. The boy racers who use this button frequently will surely take the Co2 output above the 100 g/km which might raise the question of the legality of the car being rated at zero cost for road tax purposes. Well I won’t be buying one. If I had wanted a boy racer I could save a lot of money and buy a Subaru Impreza. I think the series two will become the classic and I will just have to keep my relatively new one forever. Perhaps Derek Trotter would have a name for the Toyota Designer who made these awful changes and I could go on and on with the other design faults.

[anne1965]

Originally Posted by Rennio

...and installed a power button which engages the electrical drive full time. Using this button increases the fuel consumption significantly and I suspect increases the Co2 output as well.

What button do you mean? The EV button or the Power mode button? The EV button can save fuel if used wisely. The Power button will increase consumption and yes, increase CO2 emissions since they are a direct consequence of burning gasoline. Reports from the field suggest the increase in consumption is hardly noticeable.

But nobody forces you to use either button and you should give Toyota credit that they also added an 'Eco mode' button.

Originally Posted by Rennio

The boy racers who use this button frequently will surely take the Co2 output above the 100 g/km which might raise the question of the legality of the car being rated at zero cost for road tax purposes. Well I won’t be buying one. If I had wanted a boy racer I could save a lot of money and buy a Subaru Impreza.

Boy racers? Prius? You have lost me here.

Originally Posted by Rennio

I think the series two will become the classic and I will just have to keep my relatively new one forever.

The Gen II IS already a classic and a very good vehicle. Hold on to it if you are happy with it.

At first I hated the center console too, but now I'm used to it, I don't mind it that much. I now put the car in 'P' every time I stop for a traffic light so I don't have to keep my foot on the brakes (and blind the driver behind me, braking lights are very bright). That has been made much easier with the more convenient placement of the gear shift lever.

While the new MID is not as beautiful and legible as the old MFD, it does have a new, rather useful screen: the HSI (Hybrid System Indicator).

Another big improvement over the Gen II is the more relaxed idling check ceremony. It will go into stage 4 operation much easier.

[bluemonday]

OK, so don't buy one.


The new center thing has been extensively discussed. You are welcome to read through those threads, but I will save you some time: some people like it, some people don't.

As for the power button, I'm with the above poster. But maybe I'm wrong. Fortunately we have not yet had a problem in my area with streetracers speeding down the streets in their tricked-out Prii. How many will have to die before they remoe the power button?
Really I don't see how you can complain about the designers giving us the flexibility of an additional option (two actually, if you count the balancing EV mode).

[atfsi]

Originally Posted by anne1965

Boy racers? Prius? You have lost me here.

Quite unexpectedly found out the Gen III will burn rubber in PWR Mode under some circumstances...(How embarassing !)

[tjp74]

Originally Posted by Rennio

I have already owned 2 series 2 Prius T Spirits and am a full time ex Mercedes and now a Prius enthusiast. Last week I set off to my Toyota dealer to buy a new Series 3 Prius. What a disappointment. Toyota in my opinion have done a terrible job and the new Prius is awful.

You are entitled to your opinion but I don't think many will agree. Sales of Series 3 is up like 50% compared to series 2 sales last year, Sales is through the roof and Toyota has hit the nail on the new design. The poll of this group already shows that center console desin is more favorable that hated. I believe it's a great design, very stylysh and I find underneath the bridge area very useful to store junks I used to put on the passenger seat or floor.
I never considered series 2 but new desing sold me on it.

Let's not create another "I hate center console design" thread...
It's been beaten to dead.

[fuzzy1]

... The boy racers who use this button frequently ... If I had wanted a boy racer I could save a lot of money and buy a Subaru Impreza. ...

Bingo. On this side of the Pond, very few boy racers would be caught dead in a Prius, so this would be a non-problem.

[rachaelseven]

Not only has it been beaten to death, this is really not a 'technical discussion' in any sense of the word, so doesn't belong here to begin with. There's plenty of threads like this is the general forum already.

[Tideland Prius]

Umm.... The PWR doesn't increase CO2 up and over just flooring it in "normal" or "default" mode. Unless you're matching the rated mpg, you're spewing out more than 89g/km of CO2. In fact, your larger 16" alloys on the Series 2 spew out more CO2 than the 15" alloy version.

And.. well if it's that bad, then don't get one I guess?? I have both versions and I love them both.

[blippo]

One of the dealers told me you can burn rubber in Power Mode. He also said to me, "Isn't the blue emblem nice looking." ha

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by blippo

One of the dealers told me you can burn rubber in Power Mode. He also said to me, "Isn't the blue emblem nice looking." ha