Pre-orders for Toyota Sai reach 14,000, almost three times more than

Video and pix here:

2009 Tokyo Auto Show: Toyota SAI Hybrid

FWIW, it looks like this new model has something like the Gen II MFD. "Retro" already?

 

Lexus HS250h in Toyota trim and livery.
Pretty good fuel consumption rating too.

 

According to Edmunds.com it will not be sold in the USA, as it is so close to the Lexus 250h. Plus you probably wont save any money over buying the Lexus.

 

Thats actually a pop up nav screen, like on other Lexus models it does however show the car, wheels and battery schematic with energy flow and MPG functions. Look on the Lexus web site at the 250h same deal there.

 

I'm guessing the reason for the Sai is that I don't believe they have a Camry there so it'd be strange to sell a Camry Hybrid. Perhaps the Japanese want a smaller (than the Camry) but more powerful hybrid than a Prius, hence the Sai.

Ugh... I need to find some time to post some interior shots of the Sai vs. JDM HS 250h that I took at Tokyo Motor Show.

 

Actually it hit dealers lots around mid September.

 

I've seen 0 on the road around here other than the 1 I've got a free one week test drive of right now (won via drivehs.com).

OT: So far, I'm liking the HS 250h a lot. I'll have to post my impressions, pros and cons when I have a chance. It has some cool stuff that the 2nd gen Prius doesn't have (and could never get as an option) but there are some minuses besides less cargo versatility and worse gas mileage.

Cool stuff includes: auto up and down on all windows, auto-dimming outside mirrors, heated and cooled seats, auto-tilt down on the outside mirrors when in reverse, rain sensing wipers, tons of vehicle customization options via the nav system (like the auto lock/unlock behavior and timeout for auto headlight shutoff), traffic info and weather info on the nav system, XM stocks, Bluetooth A2DP music streaming and so on. Some of these features are available on the 2010 Prius though...

Interior quality is (not surprisingly) WAY better than any Prius w/stitched leather around the dash area. The car feels very solid as well and it seems to handle better than my Prius (or at least is more confidence inspiring around corners).

 

I saw it in person when I was in Japan. I thought it looked better than 99% of the cars on the road.

 

This car has such boring exterior styling. Nothing special about it. The back end looks like old-style Ford 500 sedan. Yuck.

 

I've seen a couple on the road and a neighbour at the end of the street just got one. They look very nice - better in person, I think.

That said, my block does have at least 5 Priuses on it and one Gen-1 Insight, so it may have more hybrids per block than most.

 

There are 3 Prius owners in my street now, I was the first.

We play a game at work we call Prius. It started because I was in the patrol car and commenting about each Prius I saw, this evolved into a competition to spot the most Prius during each patrol, today's score was Steve 9, Pat 5 and Aggy 4. So that was 18 Prius we saw today!! Not bad in a city of 1.4 million and no tax incentives to buy.

 

The Camry Hybrid appears to have the same powertrain and is rated at 33/34 mpg. Base price of the CamHy is around $8K less than the Lexus. Do you guys see sufficient value there to justify the price diff?

 

Hard to say. From a pure economics POV, the HS makes no sense. I agree w/most of Tideland's HS advantages.

When I looked briefly at lexus.com pricing for sedans, it made some sense to me now. It starts at $600 LESS than an ES but a couple thousand more than an IS. So, if someone is looking at an ES but then decides they're ok w/a smaller, less powerful car that's still luxurious but gets much better mileage and they want some of other the hybrid advantages along w/some neat technology not available on the ES, then the HS is the car for them. The same sorta goes if someone is cross-shopping w/an IS although the IS is RWD (or AWD for a lot more).

The HS definitely feels like it handles better than the HyCam (had the HS almost a week now and had a HyCam for ~1.5 days). The HyCam felt rather boat-like. The interior on the HS is definitely superior. There are also some neat touches on the HS that I discovered like the auto-dimming outside mirrors, rain sensing wipers, and power windows that slow down when nearing the bottom or top.

Besides some that Tideland mentioned, Lexus HS Hybrid shows a few other features (my loaner doesn't have them) that I doubt are available on the HyCam like driver attention monitor, HUD, and wide view front monitor (see advanced vision). It's also got some neat stuff under Lexus Enform (I couldn't/haven't tried out using a PC to send destinations to the car) but I did try the live concierge today. It was kinda neat that the operator sent the destination to my nav system.

Lexus warranties are also typically longer than Toyotas (a year and some mileage extra on the basic and powertrain).

I think people who might cross-shop the HS vs. HyCam looking only at numbers will buy the HyCam. People interested more in the Lexus brand/image or cross-shopping other Lexus sedans in that price range might give the HS a more serious look.

(Part of the ownership experience) If nothing else, Lexus dealerships are FAR nicer on the inside than any non-luxury car dealership I've set foot in. If you're ever in WA state, set foot in Lexus of Bellevue sometime.

 

Hmm, see that's why I'm curious as to why the Gen 3 Prius only has variable-speed power windows on the rear windows.

Our rear windoes open