A lot of our fellow countrymen have a bias toward sedans. This is beginning to change I feel as people leave the 'utility vehicle' and look at smaller vehicles again. Sedans are very traditional and safe but they are also limited in many respects. People returning from minivans and utility vehicles see the benefits of a hatchback.

In addition there is a bias toward big as well. Bigger is considered better and in someways such as shoulder room and ride comfort. There is some validity in that perspective.

So if a person wants a good-sized vehicle with traditional styling that doesn't stand out with nice features and very solid hybrid performance.....the FFH is 'the best'. However if one doesn't want a sedan .... then it isn't 'the best'.

Media opinion/review aside, I rather let the market do the talking and deciding, be it for Honda Insight 2, Ford Fusion or the 3G Prius.

Great news. Hopefully Ford is able to sell a ton of them.

Claiming the hybrid Fusion drives better than the 2010 Prius without ever having driven a 2010 Prius.

Anyone else have a problem with that?
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I'm just glad to see and American hybrid car out there. This is fabulous news because Ford is producing a hybrid car. More competition... more choice. I could care less what the reviewer's opinion is. It's an opinion.

Ford needs a boost. I hope the Fusion is a success and creates jobs.

You have to be careful about the media and all their special interests, but Toyota has gotten enough mileage anyways from those Alabama senators against the auto bailout--with those Toyota plants in their state.

Maybe this will drive the price of the 2010 Prius down a bit?

im glad that Ford has continued to improve the hybrid selections out there and they still provide one of the best small SUV option. being built in mexico is a bummer and expected sales of 20,000?? wow, not very confident.

overall, its obvious the writer liked the ride and did a decent job of downplaying the disadvantages including more than 10 mpg below EPA for city driving which means that potentially, the mileage may depend largely on how the vehicle is driven which means a lot of people are going to be disappointed. i have seen other reports though where drivers exceeded EPA for highway miles so, i guess time will tell.

one thing i do say is that the pricing is much better than i expected, $32,000 for the top of line is going to make the new 2010 Prius top of the line seem a bit spendy if its anywhere near what most here think it will be

Author's reason on why Fusion is better than Prius: "Simple. Fusion drives better. A car is, after all, a driving machine. Brownie points for saving somewhat more fuel or offering a cargo-friendly hatchback, but driving feel is most important."

I do agree with him. TOYOTA has recently been making nothing but grandmother cars. My 2009 Corolla feels like the steering linkage is made of sponge. The car wouldn't steer for the life of it; yet, with its super-soft ride and super-soft steering, it feels like it's about to fly off the freeway at any time. The Prius has the same lousy steering.

I've been thinking about getting a Prius one day, but thinking about how much I hate the steering, perhaps not. What's in a car that cannot steer?

You know, the Prius steering does feel different, I don't know how but I know it feels different, but you know something else? Once you get used to it it is really good. I can place my car, my Prius as precisely on the road as anyone can place a car. I can push hard into corners and balance the car with throttle, and explore the limits of tyre adhesion no problem. I don't get this thing people say about the steering, except it is different to most cars. It never felt isolated from the wheels, it responds immediately to input but when you hit a pothole it doesn't kick your hand off the wheel. Is that the issue? Buggered if I know really. I might point out I have actually driven a Prius so I feel a little more qualified to comment on how it steers than someone who hasn't. Prius isn't a Corolla.

I'll also add, I drive for my employment a car closely related to the Pontiac G8, it even has the same handling suspension package, called FE2 suspension (we get it as part of the Police Pack along with bigger wider wheels and bigger brakes), and to me the Prius steers and handles as well but with a tiny bit more body roll but a lot smoother ride. Yep car are for driving but they are also for your passengers and I don't have a desire to bounce my passengers around on go-kart stiff suspension.

I hope my dad gets one of these to leave to me before he passes away
http://www.toyota.com.au/TRD/#main/vehicles/trdaurion/trdaurionRangeAndPrices Sounds like fun to me
A supercharged 3.5L V6 engine delivering 241kW of power and
400Nm of torque. All while maintaining an average fuel
consumption of 10.9L/100km^(your figures may vary)

Then there is the motorsport Toyota are not involved in acording to some
http://www.toyota.com.au/TRD/#main/home

ok i was being nice in my first statement about the article, but the lets face it. its obvious that if the Fusion had quit running in the middle of the freeway, the author would have been gushing over how well it towed!!

sorry, but this article does nothing to convince me of anything. even with his very biased attitude he could not cover up the shortcomings the car has with limited storage options (a trunk will never be able to compete with a hatchback) and the fact that his mileage was nowhere near the EPA.

and the ride of a heavier car with a wider wheelbase is supposed to feel better.

all in all, i am VERY happy to see Ford pushing the hybrid envelope and i hope they have great success and continue to do so with other classifications, but to call this the best hybrid is simply NUTS!!!

I expect it to drive the price of the 2010 Prius up. Why would Toyota keep the base Prius priced at $22,000 when all the competition starts at $25,000 to $27,000? The Fusion Hybrid is just another reason for Toyota to price the Prius at $25,000 base - $33,000 loaded.


As to the review: If all you care about is MPG then the Prius wins hands down. If you care about driving dynamics and acceleration then a Prius is not the car for you. I love the flexibility of a hatchback but the American public prefers sedans.

I believe part of the Prius success is based on availability. Toyota is the only company that has built a hybrid and expanded production capability. All the other manufacturers have built hybrids in limited quantities. Back in 2007 I wanted a Honda Civic Hybrid but the Honda dealer required a $500 deposit and a 9 month wait because he only got one per quarter. The closest available on the internet was two states away in Ohio. Then I looked into the Prius and found that there were 7 available in my little town of 30,000.

your post does not make sense.

if the Prius was priced based on the Fusion, then what is the TCH selling for ??

i predicted $31,500 as top of the line price for the Pri and i stand by it!! now with pricing for the Fusion hybrid out, i am thinking about changing it to $30,500!~!

The US Gov't is debating on providing a tax rebate on the Ford Fusion up to $4,000 USD. that will make it very impressive in comparison to a Prius.

Wow! So . . . here I thought I was steering our prius for some 80K miles ... and I guess all this time I must have, what, been leaning into the turns? Sheez, when I had a Porsche, I expected it to be what it was. When I got the Prius, it too, was all that I expected, and more.

And the people that say, "the U.S. doesn't want a hatch back" ... er, really? Gee thanks for that news flash too. Funny how $2 gas has shortened memories as to what people 'want' ... and how quickly people forget that when fuel is expensive, you re-discover what the only REAL thing that's important ... getting from point A to point B with a bit of comfort.

This to me, is the worst thing about temporarily cheep fuel ... the re-prioritizing of what's important ... like maybe NOT funding countires that want to destroy us, by buying half our fossil fuel (or more) from them?

so the Fusion gets a rebate and the higher mileage Prius does not??

that makes even less sense

As the owner of a HyCam, I have to say the crack about the Fusion being the only smooth gas-electric shifting Hybrid was BS. I have only very rarely had any noticeable lag or lurch. Was not usually noticeable on my 04 Prius either. The HyCam has a very nice, though sometimes slightly bouncy ride and handles very well. The electric steering has a bit of the vague Toyota feel, but actually matches the car quite well. It is not a sharp handling car, but is not meant to be (i.e., drives like an Oldsmobile, not a Pontiac).

I too am glad Ford has hybrids out there. If I were in the market for a sedan, I'd definitely give it a test drive. I saw and sat in Fusions and Milans at the Auto Show and did not have a great first impression. Did not seem particularly nicely finished or well designed to me. It also managed to be even more boring looking than the Camry. I find it hard to believe most people would come to the same exaggerated conclusions this particular journalist came to, but I'd drive it to see.

I do have to say I get confused by comparisons of other mid-sized sedans to the Prius. At least compared to the HyCam, it is simply not the same kind or class of car, even if they do both have mid-size interiors. Prius started as an economy car, but with more tech stuff than you used to be able to get in a low level car, i.e., somewhere between a Corolla and a Camry. The 2010 makes obvious improvements, but are we really meant to treat the Prius and the Hycam as if they are now in the same class? The ride in the 2010 has supposedly been improved, but they are still using the same basic springs and shocks. It is obviously still not meant to drive like either a mini or a lexus. Do the lighter doors and other fuel efficient design elements make it so different there can be no comparison? I would be uncomfortable paying more for a Prius than I paid for my Hycam, even with the LKA package.

Unless other manufacturers change their pricing these are the competitors for the Prius when it goes on sale in May:

2009 Civic Hybrid ------- $23,650
2009 Malibu Hybrid ----- $25,550
2009 Camry Hybrid ----- $26,150
2009 Altima Hybrid ----- $26,650
2010 Fusion Hybrid ----- $27,270

Why wouldn't Toyota raise the price on the 2010 Prius? Why would they accept a smaller margin at a time when they are losing billions of dollars? At $25K the Prius would still be the least expensive hybrid in class. I also don't expect to see any more stripped Prius trim levels without cruise control and stability control like the $22K "standard" Prius. The "base" 2009 Prius starts at $23,375 so $25K would only be a 7% increase and the improvements for the 3G are worth the price increase.

The lowest I can see Toyota pricing the 2010 Prius is $24,500. That would be $850 more than the compact '09 Civic and $1650 less than the '09 Camry. The days of Toyota subsidizing the Prius are over. They have publicly said the 3G Prius will be sold at standard profit margins.

The only direct competitor to the Prius in that list is the HCH. All of the others are compete are really in a different class.

Say what you want about the Prius being a mid-side "sedan", but it simply isn't.

Toyota already has a direct Fusion competitor - the Camry Hybrid. I have no idea why the original news article tried to compare the Prius (one that was released 5 years ago, no less) to Ford's latest efforts.

I'm not trying to knock the Fusion Hybrid - I hope it does very well - but frankly they compared it to the wrong car.