Fresh off my test drive of the Prius C

I have a 2006 Prius and am passing it on the my son. So I drove the Prius C today. What a freaking blast! It's got plenty of pep...I floored it onto the 405 in LA today and it jumped right into the flow. I loved the cornering...no sway like my current Prius...it snaps over and rides low. Glide into the corner and it cranks right out of it. Sunroof...a bit small. I can take it or leave it. Interior room was awesome...much better than the 2012 Prius with that big center console...it was wide open and spacious. Awesome visual of the instruments. The upper screen is small, but bright and legible. The GPS is much better with lots of additional information on it than my current 06. The stereo cranked...the car was NOT noisy. Seats were supportive...I'm not going for the 4...I'll get the 3. I'm just going to cover the seats with a seat cover anyways...I was not loving the 4 synthetic leather. A bit under impressed with that material. Leather seats should have a strong stitching on it...these just didn't seem worth the extra money. The 4 has nice wheels but the 3 wheels will be fine for me. Back seats are fine...but I won't be back there so its a non issue. I really liked it. I was between this and a Ford Focus...The Focus will get 36-39 mpg on a good day. With the experience I have in driving a Prius, I see myself getting 60mpg on this C (I do 48mpg all the time in my '06). Finally, fun comes into the Prius family. I'm sold!

 

You won't love the wheel covers...but I think running them without them would be even worse....a bit ugly for such a cool looking car.

But I also felt the wheels were a great way to save $. $22500 on the sticker for the C3 and there was no sunroof. I just didn't think the C4 was worth the $25K + just for seats I would cover anyways. Those wheels on the C4 are nice...just not insanely 'I gotta have those' nice.

 

I did...it actually had a softer ride. On purpose, I went down a beat up alley and made a few turns in the crappy asphalt. The c4 was great though...but Im not as sophisticated to really feel the difference.

 

It was NOT noisy at all. I made sure I drove it without tunes being cranked. I think I actually wanted not to like it...for some reason. I thought it would be tinny and underpowered...cheap...blocked visuals...BUT...I was wrong...it was a great drive. I drove it right up the only hill in Long Beach and it zipped right up it. No whining...no straining. What a kick in the nice person it was!

 

Im just saying I thought it would take a downhill and a down wind to get on a mid day freeway but I zipped right on. I admit I was driving it hard on the test drive. I would never drive like that in real time...but I wanted to make sure it wasn't a toy and would react well when needed. It isn't a souped up car...even the C4 didn't seem high end in any way. But it was a kick in the pants to drive and I have been in a Prius for 5 years now. This will be fun!