whats the things you like and dislike about the gen 3?

Are you positive the Prius is 0.25? My Ferrari 360 Modena is only 0.34.... If that's correct then the Prius is awesome!

 

That's what the specs say, but I don't have a wind tunnel to do verification.

Your Ferrari compensates for a higher coefficient of drag by having more torque available off the engine to overcome aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance, and grade resistance. So it does not need to be as concerned about drag--it will overcome drag with more horsepower. It was not designed with fuel efficiency as a priority.

The Prius' selling point is fuel efficiency, so it *has* to reduce resistance every place it can.

The other controllable factors that feed into drag are weight (affects grade resistance) and frontal area (affects aerodynamic drag). The drag coefficient on the Gen3 went down slightly, but the frontal area went up, so overall, the aero drag is slightly worse. I read that they changed the engine cycle to the more efficient Atkinson cycle, which helped to bump up the fuel efficiency.

 

I swear the frontal area on my Ferrari is much less than a Prius...

 

Good point, which brings up another nice to have: wide-angle side viewing cameras instead of mirrors. That would probably lower the Cd a bit and give better viewing of what's coming up alongside you.

 

That would bump up the price another $3k...

 

Well, if you'd like- leave it with me for the summer and I'll let you know if I arrive at the same conclusion

 

It's amazingly difficult to find specs for frontal area!

But I found a couple sites that looked pretty decent.

Prius 2010- : frontal area 23.4 square feet (Ecomodder)
2002 Ferrari 360 Modena F1: frontal area 20.5 square feet (Supercarx)

So regarding aerodynamic drag, Cd*A for each vehicle is 0.25 * 23.4 = 5.85 from the Prius, and 0.34 * 20.5 = 6.97 for the Ferrari.

 

LOL! ok, if you pay for the upkeep you can keep the car if you want.

I think any reasonable minded person after buying their first Ferrari would never buy another one ever again. Thankfully for Ferrari there are plenty of Magnum PI fools out there who would take the plunge.

 

I test drove a V yesterday and really wanted to like it, but the center dash was a showstopper. I found it much too distracting in freeway traffic to simply check secondary functions like fuel. The only way I could regularly drive the car would be to either ignore the gauges or surgically transplant the dash to in front of the driver where it belongs. Could be because I wear bifocals, but this is the only car I have ever experienced this problem with. Afterward I drove a Camry Hybrid and found it overall a much more pleasant experience. Unfortunately it is not much of a cargo carrier with the silly porthole behind the rear passenger seat.

 

(+) Fuel economy, space efficiency, reliability

(-) Outward visibility especially A pillar, peculiar controls like gear selector & park button

 

It appears to get the same fuel economy we are used to with Gen2, but I would add that the V has:
(+) more room, much improved visibility, better controls (climate control not on the LCD), much better seats and a bit quieter than our Gen2
(-) centered dash, somewhat dated electronics (as compared to the Chevy Cruze I also tested)

 

Toyota will need to somehow increase the pass through on future Cam Hy revisions. But, yeah, it drives much better than a Prius.

 

Prius sort of wheezy on the freeway. Better with Power Mode, but why do we need Power Mode anyway?

 

I've concluded that the centered dash is a cost-reduction issue -- to accommodate the right-hand drive of the home market together with the left-hand drive of other markets, since the space that the dash occupies and the cable routing can be universal. Mini has exactly the same approach. It's a compromise that I don't like as well.

 

Agree that Prius is awesome! But your 360 is probably shaped to generate a little extra downforce... to keep it on the ground at the higher speeds that it can generate. The "wheezy" Prius doesn't attain those high speeds, so it doesn't need that extra downforce! That downforce will definitely add a little aero drag.

Wheezy-ness is what allows Prius to be so fuel efficient. If Toyota had un-wheezed the Prius with a high spec power plant, it would not be able to achieve the high mileage number that it does. I get about 52-53 mpg with my Prius... that's just a tad more than the 13 mpg that a spectacularly un-wheezy 360 Modena can achieve.

I've found that life is so full of trade-offs!

 

Given the Camry hybrid doles out 200 HP and weighs almost 400 lbs more with bigger tires, it would be nice if Prius could either give more mpgs or be more stable feeling on the highway with some more power. I'd take the latter.

I suppose an independent rear suspension would make Prius feel more composed and stable because it has a bit of cheapish handling feel, especially around bumps. Motortrend interview with Toyota engineer commented 4th gen to get indy rear suspension.

Good thing because torsion beam rear suspension Prius currently has are usually only found on lower end cars. Think Versa, Sentra, Corolla, Fit, etc... but even some 'lower end' cars like Civic and Mazda3 get indy rear suspension.

 

So far the Camry Hybrid is high on the list. Trying out the Ford CMax and Fusion hybrids today, then off to get new tires and alignment. While the car is in the shop I plan on walking across the street to check out the new Civic and Accord hybrids.

 

I don't think you'll find an Accord plugin hybrid as I heard they're only in CA and NY so far. Accord hybrid arrives in the Fall.

Lot of first year models on market this year; Accord, Fusion, CMax.

 

Got it, Jetta and BMW too. With all the models to look at I figure by the time I am done I will have to revisit some like the Cruze diesel. Honda Accord was a long shot. I read they are selling for 40K which is on the steep side for us.

 

Honda is so late to the hybrid party it's ridiculous. They've wasted far too much time in IMA hybrids which sell terribly - less than 1,500 Civ,Insight,CR-z combined per month in US.