2008 Toyota Prius Road Test

[Tideland Prius]

Environmental Altruism Making Sense

The Toyota Prius is the world's best selling, mass-produced gas/electric hybrid vehicle. Whether or not one likes the unconventionality of its styling, one thing is for certain: the Prius is proving itself fuel efficient and reliable. The oft-cited fear of expensive battery pack replacement has not actualized, even under the most rigorous applications such as taxicab usage.

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[toronado455]

Prius ride quality is really unexceptional. The vehicle rides like a typical compact or sub-compact car, meaning that road degradation is felt more so than in the Toyota Camry Hybrid I road tested prior to this week's Prius.

Really? I thought the Prius rode more like a midsize than a compact. Are they saying it doesn't ride any better than a Corolla?

[Tideland Prius]

I don't know. I left a "Talkback" message, we'll see what he says.

[philmcneal]

for a car that has over 180,000 km i think its pretty comfortable, even at 40 psi pressures. I've ridden in a lot worse cars, by no means I've never had people complaining about how harsh the ride is, in fact they claim it was smooth!

[Tideland Prius]

Yeah I didn't quite get that. There's a noticeable difference in ride quality from 38/36 (where I kept my Integritys) to 35/33 hence I could tell when I needed to pump the tyres lol.


But even with the ultra smooth 02 Camry XLE, I found the Prius ok. It's a bit unsettled, yes and the rear suspension bounces all over the place if the road's uneven but I think the long wheelbase sorta partially offsets the poor ride quality.

I driven the Civic (EX and Hybrid models) and it has similar, if not identical wheelbase to the Prius and it rode well. Perhaps that's the car he's referring to. In that case, I have to agree, the Prius is poor compared to the Civic. (Fair comparison since the wheelbase is very very close)

[DaveinOlyWA]

interesting article and no surprise he didnt get the mileage he expected. thought for sure, someone would have mentioned the break in period. then again, i might.

also surprised at his evaluation of the cabin controls. having duplicate controls for nearly everything on the steering wheel imm, should have at least gotten a yellow

[toronado455]

Sorry

My browser seemed to cache the forum (very strange) and so I didn't see my post and reposted. Now I don't see how to delete the repost so I'm writing this explanation instead.

[Jonnycat26]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

also surprised at his evaluation of the cabin controls. having duplicate controls for nearly everything on the steering wheel imm, should have at least gotten a yellow

It's not exactly a good layout... no physical HVAC controls and a lack of one touch stereo presets is a major usability faux pas.

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by Jonnycat26

It's not exactly a good layout... no physical HVAC controls and a lack of one touch stereo presets is a major usability faux pas.

True although the new Lexus models have some physical HVAC buttons in addition to the on-screen buttons

[daniel]

Originally Posted by Jonnycat26

It's not exactly a good layout... no physical HVAC controls and a lack of one touch stereo presets is a major usability faux pas.

If HVAC means the climate control, I agree: the climate controls are dreadful. You have to turn on the fan to change the temp, which is necessary because some air comes through even with the fan off, and to go from Max Hot to Max Cold you have to scroll through the entire temperature range.

I much prefer old-fashioned dials, which can go from Hot to Cold at the flick of a wrist. Also, the Prius allows re-circ or fresh air, but the dial on my old '89 Civic allowed any ratio in between.