Still quoted the old hat stuff about nickel in the batteries, however.

He seemed very reluctant to say much good about the car, but I guess you have to consider the source. Umm, does anyone know anything about Web Rides?

I've seen Web Rides review of the 2009 Matrix S, claiming it was comparable to a Mazda 3 five door 'in every way'. Car and Driver and many more say the Matrix S, XRS is not as fun to drive nor does it handle turns as well as a Mazda 3.

After driving 250 miles of 2 lane, windy backroads, I'd say my Prius doesn't typically make me want to carve corners quickly. Then again, I prefer to baby it somewhat and be safe.

Coming into Bodega Bay, felt like picking up the pace with a C6 Vette behind. Was trying my best to keep some power on in the turns.

I was fairly impressed with the Prius handling. I feel more comfortable in the loose, open turns, but I slow down in the really tight turns. Not worth hammering such a nice car anyway. Save that for 2 wheels.

I think the Web Rides and Car 'n Driver types look at how cars tear up twisties and accelerate, etc... and they prefer Mazda's and Honda's over Toyota's (i.e. Honda Civic beats Mazda3 which beats a Corolla).

Bottom line though - Lot of people like the Prius. It does a many things very well.

It's going to be so interesting to see the reviews on the 2010 Prius. More power, sharper styling, *hopefully* not much more weight!, and much more comfortable in the cockpit, hopefully!

I didn't see anything about the new Prius in that video. It looks like it was made when the Gen 2 Prius was new.

Yeah, this video has been around for quite a while. There are several threads about it around here. At a guess, I'd say it was made in the summer of 2008; look at the prices on the Chevron sign that appears in the background of the shot at roughly 4:02.

Ah, yes, a motorhead's view of the five-years-old "new" Prius.