Mileage hit vs Prius is too severe

I'm sorry. I was not trying to put words in your mouth. There have been claims that the 17" wheels only drop 1mpg and I was referring to that.

TheEPA number is very easy to beat in the Prius if you have the right commute conditions. It sounds like you do. I would be willing to bet that if the EPA tested the V their ratings would be much lower than the lower models. So in one way, yes I am saying the V would achieve lower EPA ratings than the II, III, and IV if all were tested. Because everyone has different driving skills, tolerance levels for applying hypermiling techniques, environmental conditions and commute routes, mpg will vary. So for you and I, meeting EPA ratings are easy with our 17s. It may not be for others yet in every case a set of 15" wheels will best the 17" wheels in terms of mpg. The main point is if the EPA had based their rating on mpg achieved with the 17" wheels the current rating would be much lower.

How this discussion relates to this thread? That even seemingly small changes to the Prius can have a large effect on mpg. Maybe this is one of the reasons Motor Trend only achieved 36mpg in the 2012 Camry XLE after hundreds of miles of highway driving. The XLE has large and wide wheels.

Toyota did run the V through the EPA tests. Some PC folks here were invited to a set of prelease showings, and had opportunity to talk to some of Toyota's engineers. And one reader posted a picture of a page showing the projected EPA figures -- prerelease, things were tweaked a bit before actual release -- clearing showing the mpg penalty with the larger wheels.

Sorry, I can't find the posting at the moment, but remember a difference less than 6 but greater than 1 mpg. I thought the final label rating was to be a weighted average of all the models, V included.

I was there and part of the discussion. I don't remember the exact number and I wasn't sure it was testing done by the EPA. My memory wants to say it was around 3mpg. There was not much information regarding testing procedures. Members whole have installed 18s on their Geniii admit to losing 4+ mpg so that jives with my experience and my thoughts that the Geniii doesn't suffer as much of a loss as the Genii but it's still a "big" number.

6mpg is the average number I came up with long ago but my latest tests have produced higher losses although sometimes my route changes slightly and those tanks create noise in the data. : p

I remember that picture that someone posted showing the difference from 15" vs 17" was 3 mpg in the testing done by Toyota. What I can't remember if that was for both highway and city testing.

Not super concerned about the mileage loss, but slower than the GIII Prius is verging on gutless. Nearly 70hp is a huge difference.

Only in amerka would someone consider the Prius gutless. lol

Oh, please, don't go there. It's a great car and all, but the v sounds like a slug. And fewer mpg, too! Excellent.

Then: Never get behind a VW Bug with "Automatic Stickshift."
Now: Never get behind a Prius v.

Performance is on par with the GenII Prius which has plenty of power and acceleration ability. If it's not enough for you then go buy a Corvette to relieve your midlife crisis. For most people the v will serve as a very efficient family/cargo mover.

I'm not most people.

No inadequacy here. Maybe it's a simple reflection of the poor attitude and negativity you've presented since you came back to the forum. Peace!

After a few days of driving around the v I can say that I haven't noticed any real problems in terms of "slugishness". I think it's all about the driver and their frame of mind. Prius v drivers who want to drive... not a problem. Prius v drivers who want to maximize mpg... well, they probably endanger lives.

I guess I tend to demand a bit more in the acceleration department. My perception of the GII was that it was fast...enough.

Played with putting the v in "pwr" mode today, I was blown away by the acceleration. Eco mode is a little bit slow on the pickup, but pwr mode has some definite zoom. Certainly not enough to satisfy the "Top Gear" guys, but considerably more than my Gen II Prius.

Peter+

Having spent plenty of time in a couple economy cars of one and two generations ago, I can't in good conscience describe my Prius as anywhere close to gutless. That seems more a reflection of the more recent Horsepower Wars attitudes.

Sorry if I came off a little mean, I wasn't having a great weekend and kinda took it out over the internet. I did see you did a lot of testing and I applaud you for that.

And yea I remember the 3mpg figure somewhere, but I could never find it. Oh well, whether it be 44,47,50,or56mpg, we are saving a lot of fuel with our cars.

Back on topic...

So many people want to make a big deal about the MPG number and yet they don't even bother to look at the other real world numbers that come into play everyday like cargo capacity and headroom or legroom. I know what the gen II prius could do as i pushed it on many occasions in performance, handling and mileage. My wife would ride along with me and comment she never knew the car could go that fast in a straight line or through a corner. The Prius V fills a need that the Camry and standard Prius don't. Rather than having those people buy something else, Toyota offers a solution to those needs. Comparing it to the Mazda or Fit is non-sense, especially for someone over 6 feet tall with two growing boys and all their activities.

Put Prius in ECO mode and it has the sensation of being gutless, unless you press the pedal quite a ways down.

Put it in power mode, and the response is pretty fiesty.

I heard the Prius v is geared a little lower so it doesn't lose much in 0 to 60 MPH time.

You would need to see one in person. You'll realize it is noticeably larger than Prius. Prius v is for sure the better vehicle for a family of 5 with larger children than Prius.
Piercey Toyota is selling them well.

I think the Prius v will be a hit and I think it's just what many people have been waiting for.