Is the V suspension different? C&D says yes..

According to Car and Driver the V has firmer shocks. Can somebody confirm this?

"Specify the 17-inch wheels and 215/45 tires (yes, 45-seriestires on a Prius), however, and watch the Prius take on a more spirited persona. Priuses thus equipped adopt a much quicker 14.6:1 (versus 17.6) steering rack with just 2.8 turns lock-to-lock (versus 3.7), as well as firmer shock tuning, resulting in much more grip and less bitching on the part of the stability-control system."

Source:

2010 Toyota Prius - First Drive Review/2010 New Car Reviews/Car Shopping/Hot Lists/Reviews/Car and Driver - Car And Driver

At Prius Connection Detroit we were told all Prius would have the same suspension but that might have changed since.

Hi Pat and Bruno,

In the 2nd Gen Prius, the stiffening plate makes the car feel like it has a whole new suspension. Specifically, the 2G Prius feels very underdamped in the rear stock. Having only driven Stock Prius, I can forgive Car and Driver for mistaking that feeling with shock absorber calibration. The 3 G Prius has added rear end stiffening. This will make the car feel much less like a mini-van and more like a car. This will also have effects on the stability control action.

My recollection is that for the press demo cars, the V had a sportier suspension tuning, but Prius Team said that all production models will have that suspension set up.

That's right -- and it was the lead engineer of the Gen III Prius who said this. Also, there's nothing in the US Gen III Prius brochure or website that says that the suspension is different on the 17" wheel model.

I think Car & Driver magazine was wrong when it said that the shocks on the 17" wheel model were tuned differently.

Does the literature go into details like the tighter steering ratio and the brushless motors? If not, then I'm guessing spring rate and sway bar dimensions are not something they would necessarily get specific on with a Prius. However the information should be available if someone is interested. Toyota should have a "spec" page that is easy to find.

Here's what the Prius Team said awhile ago:

Alrighty. There have been scads of people claiming we at TMS have had no idea what we are talking about when it comes to wheels, steering, and shocks on the 2010 MY Prius.

You were right. But we have good reason, as a lot of final tuning has been going on. Now we think we're at the end of tuning, so in the interest of full disclosure, here's the skinny.

Wheels and Steering
Prius Connection LA/SF attendees were right to notice that on the Prius V, due to the 17" wheels, there is a different steering ratio (~2.75 lock to lock, versus ~3.75 lock to lock for the 15" wheel). This is planned for the production car. Fun fact: the 17" wheel EPS has a brushless motor system that allows the tighter ratio.

Shock Absorbers
We recently made a decision that all US cars will now come with the "European" absorbers (i.e., the same absorbers that will come on European Prius). Our understanding is that those of you who drove the car at Prius Connection events experienced only the "Euro" absorbers on the Prius V (all other cars had a different absorber that now won't come stateside).

EPS System
The same goes for the EPS tuning - the 17" wheels on Prius Connection event cars had a slightly tighter tuned system than the 15" wheel cars. Ultimately, ALL production cars will have the same EPS tuning as the 17" wheel (even 15" cars), but that won't begin in production until late Summer. We understand early buyers of the 15" wheel cars could probably update their system at the dealer later on.

Finally, none of the above is set in stone, but that's the way we understand it as of now.

Hope it helps.

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales USA

Why didn't Toyota keep the Touring suspension in the 2010? With the improvement it provides, seems as if they would have kept it going forward.

Glad I'm getting a V! Being a sports car guy and this being such a huge swing in a different direction for me it's good to know it has better steering than the III's that I have test driven. Felt pretty numb to me, but sounds like the V will be more responsive. Should be here any day.

Not able to address your question. May want to ask the Prius Team or some of the senior members.

I don't have a definitive answer on the topic, but can say this. I took one test drive at the dealer weeks ago in a III. Took it through its paces esp hard turning etc.

I got my V in last week. It feels like a different car (well it WAS, but you know what I mean...). A bit firmer ride and of course tighter steering. But seems to be far less body roll and extremely crisp cornering. Not sure if it's all tires and steering. Almost feels as if the shocks are tuned differently as well. I was a bit worried about having a new car that would "wallow" around, but very pleasantly surprised.

Thank you Cenval. The question has been posed to me before and I could only say that I have not heard anything about a different suspension. I am getting a III, but I would like a firmer, performance oriented ride myself. Looking forward to any suspension upgrades coming in the future.

I can tell you that our new V is a totally different animal than our 2005 Prius. It handles and corners like a touring car. It is better than a friends touring Prius.It is awesome to drive.

I test drove a II, IV & V. Big difference in the driving characteristics of the V compared to the other two! Ditto!

Glad the information was useful!

Some of you are a lot better at searching the internet and digging out information than others (me). Is there not a place where specific information about specifications are available? Things like spring rates, sway bar diameters, etc? Looks like there would be somewhere this information is kept or maintained?

I recently looked for the handling and performance spec's for a 1981 BMW 320i. I really wanted to do a thourough comparison of what many feel is an enthusiast car as compared to a 2010 Prius V. I'm guessing they are pretty close in most categories although the Prius would go about it very quietly whereas the BMW (as best I can remember when I was flogging it) makes a lot of noise and can get squirley on you). I do remember the smog days when sports cars had 0-60 times above 10 seconds. Now we consider that almost unacceptable in an economy car!

There are already quite a few aftermarket performance mods available for the 2010 Prius, including TRD Sportivo shocks and springs and a full line of braces, including a strut tower brace (which after I had taken a noninvasive look under the hood of a 2010, I didn't think would fit):

Sigma Automotive – Toyota Hybrid Prius 2010+ OEM & JDM auto accessories

Just leased a II; love the car. Service record says the following happened before I took delivery:
1 06/16/2010 EUROPEAN SUSPENSION KITS T/C 38 3.6HRS EUROPEAN SUSPENSION KITS T/C 38 3.6HRS ~|~PREFORM NY STATE INSPECTION DO NOT FORGET TO ENTER INSPECTION # ON REPAIR ORDER ~|~INSPECTION # 10665328

What is a European suspension? Why added? What is the effect?

INTERNAL (DEALER) PAY

Hmm I wonder if mine has that done to it. I picked mine up this past saturday the 26th

Sorry, nothing to add but i want to subscribe to this interesting thread. And yeah, i love my V...handles very well (for me).