Redesigned Prius can arrive none too soon

[Wots]

2008 Toyota Prius -- chicagotribune.com


Jim Mateja August 3, 2008
2008 Toyota Prius


A motorist turns off the engine to coast the final block home.

Another spends $5,000 to convert his car to run on used vegetable oil.

And 10 percent have packed their bags and moved closer to work to save on gas, according to a recent study.

Can roller skates be far behind? No need with the hybrid Toyota Prius going strong. The car that got the conservation ball rolling, sold a meager 15,000 units in the 2001 model year.



Jim Mateja Bio | Recent columns

Related links

• 2008 Toyota Prius prices

2008 Toyota Prius

Wheelbase: 106.3 inches

Length: 175 inches

Engine: 1.5-liter 4-cylinder gas engine with nickel-metal-hydride battery pack for a combined 110 h.p.

Transmission: Continuously variable automatic

M.P.G.: 48 city/45 highway

Price as tested: $24,608

The sticker

$22,875 Base

$1,175 Package that includes stability control, backup camera, heated outside mirrors

$359 Security system

$199 Floor mats

Add $660 for freight.

Pluses

Can't top mileage rating.

Stability control available.

Minuses

Price premium.

Stiff seats.

Gen III coming for 2010.

As gas prices rose, so have sales, to about 180,000 last year, the same number expected this year as shortages limit sales even as demand swells. To address that, Toyota will begin building the Gen III Prius in 2010 in a Mississippi plant earmarked for the Highlander SUV.

Gen III bows at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Like its predecessors, it will come only from Japan when it goes on sale next fall until the Mississippi plant is ready.

Thankfully, a Gen III is coming. Prius may be the poster car for energy conservation, but it comes up short in room and comfort.

Other factors, such as performance and value versus non-hybrids, are open to debate.

Prius is powered by a 1.5-liter 4-cylinder gas engine and nickel-metal-hydride battery pack that together develop 110 horsepower. On top of that, it boasts and industry best 48 m.p.g. city/45 highway.

Still, the 2008 Prius brings to mind that old saying "There's no such thing as a free lunch" in connection with that 48/45 mileage.

For example, Prius costs about $100 more than a midsize Toyota Camry, which is 14.2 inches longer, or about $4,000 more than a compact Toyota Corolla, only 3.7 inches longer. But Toyota insists on comparing Prius to Camry because both offer amenities Corolla doesn't. Moreover Toyota says its preferred comparison has nothing to do with the $4,000 spread between Prius and Corolla.

And Prius' cost doesn't end with dollars. It runs in battery or gas mode or both when it needs a boost. But even with that jolt, Prius doesn't sizzle leaving the light or merging into interstate traffic.

Fuel conservation makes performance, well, conservative.

And the costs mount. You travel on seats soooo stiff—back and bottom—especially in the rear where they are atop the battery pack. Sit in back long enough—10 to 15 minutes depending on your size—and you'll get a case of the fidgets.

At least cargo room is good, and rear seat backs fold flat to expand the haulability. There's a small compartment under the cargo floor to hide stuff.

Prius starts and gets going in battery mode. At about 25 m.p.h., the gas engine takes over. Batteries chime in when you need that boost. Climb a hill and Prius gets the gas; descend and it's the batteries' turn.

A schematic in the navi screen tells when gas, batteries or both are working, plus current m.p.g.

Coast and the screen will show you are getting 99.9 m.p.g. in battery mode—a symbol of optimum savings.

Press the pedal to enlist gas and the mileage reading quickly dips into the 20 m.p.g. range to signal actual fuel use—or do you say waste?

A consumption gauge shows average mileage in 5-minute increments. In one 5-minute run, we crept along a road posted at 35 m.p.h., coasting at every chance. The 99.9 m.p.g. reward showed up.

Same course with no cajoling and a semi in tow sent mileage to a shade below 25 m.p.g. Goes to show that even in an economy car, your thoughts and actions have to stay focused on saving energy to do so.

A new price leader for 2008 starts at $21,500. It joins the base model we tested that starts at $22,875 and the Touring at $23,770.

Stickers were increased by $550 in May in keeping with higher gas prices. For 2009, they go up another $500, Toyota announced just last week.

The base model tested comes with traction control, anti-lock brakes, climate control, rear-window defogger, power windows/door locks and AM/FM/CD player as standard. Options included $1,175 for a package that added stability control, back-up camera and power, heated outside mirrors.

[Stefx]

Prius starts and gets going in battery mode. At about 25 m.p.h., the gas engine takes over. Batteries chime in when you need that boost. Climb a hill and Prius gets the gas; descend and it's the batteries' turn.

Oversimplified and/or misleading.

Lots of my friends think that the Prius above 25-35 mph has no fuel economy benefit compared to other cars, and that the Prius is just for city driving fuel economy.

They change their mind after I tell them my highway fuel economy rating of 4.2-4.4 L/100km (53-56 US mpg)

[robbyr2]

"A consumption gauge shows average mileage in 5-minute increments. In one 5-minute run, we crept along a road posted at 35 m.p.h., coasting at every chance. The 99.9 m.p.g. reward showed up.

Same course with no cajoling and a semi in tow sent mileage to a shade below 25 m.p.g. Goes to show that even in an economy car, your thoughts and actions have to stay focused on saving energy to do so."

If the speed limit was 35mph, and he took the same 5 minute run, how did he get 25 mph? Did he have the parking brake on?

He also ignores the torque of an electric motor that makes horsepower comparisons not exactly equal as well as gearing. My Prius has more get-up-and-go than my 6 cylinder 2001 Chevy Blazer. Of course I don't "get-up-and-go" as hard as I used to thanks to the instant feedback on the waste that is!

[Derek]

Sounds like I might have to order a Gen III while they are still being produced in Japan.

[PriusSport]

There is a lot of misinformation floating around the media about the Prius. Heck, they haven't even given the public a hint as to WHY gas prices are high.

Pickup is good on a Prius--like a lot of 6 cylinder automatics. That's because of the high electric low end torque, With an ICE car, the torque doesn't kick in until you hit high rpms. So to get those fast 0-60s, you have to hit the gas and push those rpms up in the low gears.
I read yesterday about an electric car with 700 HP, and 0-60 in less than 4 seconds.
That doesn't surprise me. Very fast electric cars are just around the corner--especially if they can perfect those li-ion batteries. And that CVT gearless transmission beats a stick any day. I drove a stick for 35 years, and you loose time shifting.
Electric cars change the paradigm. They will change car racing as well.

[john1701a]

Originally Posted by PriusSport

There is a lot of misinformation floating around the media about the Prius.

And some of it was intentionally spread... like this nonsense:

The car that got the conservation ball rolling, sold a meager 15,000 units in the 2001 model year.

Since Toyota limited supply to a strict quota, that number has absolutely no reflection on actual demand. How come the 6-month wait for delivery wasn't mentioned?

.

[bruceha_2000]

Mr. Mateja is full of shit. How can he 'review' a car and NOT know the basic details???

Originally Posted by Wots

For example, Prius costs about $100 more than a midsize Toyota Camry, which is 14.2 inches longer, or about $4,000 more than a compact Toyota Corolla, only 3.7 inches longer. But Toyota insists on comparing Prius to Camry because both offer amenities Corolla doesn't.

Which has WHAT to do with 'comparable'? The Camry has more outside length, not more INSIDE length.
................F/R legroom .. Passenger Volume: Luggage:
Camry: ........ 41.7/38.3 . 101.4 ................... 15
Prius: .......... 41.9/38.6 .. 96.2 .................... 14.4 (but 16 in '04 & '05??)
Corolla: ....... 41.7/36.3 ... 92.0 ................... 12.3

And the costs mount. You travel on seats soooo stiff—back and bottom—especially in the rear where they are atop the battery pack. Sit in back long enough—10 to 15 minutes depending on your size—and you'll get a case of the fidgets.

I guess my Prius is defective since the battery is BEHIND the rear seat.

Prius starts and gets going in battery mode. At about 25 m.p.h., the gas engine takes over.

Again, mine is defective. It starts the gas engine any time it calculates the load demand requires it. Turns it off for the same reason.

So is he just a lazy ass that doesn't bother to RESEARCH before he writes, just relying no what he 'knows'??

[donee]

Jim Mateja is an Idiot. He is one of the main reasons I do not read the Sunday Chicago Tribune any more. He was an idiot before the Prius was a gleam in Toyota's eye, and he continues to be an idiot 16 years later.

[a priori]

Originally Posted by donee

Jim Mateja is an Idiot. He is one of the main reasons I do not read the Sunday Chicago Tribune any more. He was an idiot before the Prius was a gleam in Toyota's eye, and he continues to be an idiot 16 years later.

+1!

Thanks, Donee. Mateja just makes my blood boil. He laughs and scoffs at the Prius, and he continues to recommend cars based on engine displacement and noise (as well as overall parking space use).

I would look at his earlier write-up(s) of the Prius to see if he has changed anything in the writing, but it would simply get me too upset.

As I read through this article, I could not believe he actually got into the Prius. It appears there was a new test-drive, but I am guessing he sent someone else to do it and then recycled his own skewed opinions to do the write up.

THANK YOU, BRUCEHA_2000!! I appreciate your willingness to grab a couple of simple facts that Jim Mateja appeared unable to find. Of course the Prius compares to the Camry. Just look at size, features, etc. There is no way to compare this to the Corolla (except, maybe, for the seats). I know many people complain about the seats, but I have been very pleased with the comfort and support of the seats for long-hauls (more than 3 hours straight).

[tlaine]

I always found the seats to be very comfortable. My mother has ridden countless hours in the backseat of our Prius and she always said it was comfortable and roomy. I also know it's much more comfortable than the back seat of her Ford Five-hundred.

What does he know anyways, I also never had a problem merging into traffic or picking up speed.

Just as well he dosent like the Prius, leaves more of them for those of us who love and want them. :P