Redesigned Prius can arrive none too soon

Oversimplified and/or misleading.

Lots of my friends think that the Prius above 25-35 mph has no fuel economy benefit compared to other cars, and that the Prius is just for city driving fuel economy.

They change their mind after I tell them my highway fuel economy rating of 4.2-4.4 L/100km (53-56 US mpg)

 

"A consumption gauge shows average mileage in 5-minute increments. In one 5-minute run, we crept along a road posted at 35 m.p.h., coasting at every chance. The 99.9 m.p.g. reward showed up.

Same course with no cajoling and a semi in tow sent mileage to a shade below 25 m.p.g. Goes to show that even in an economy car, your thoughts and actions have to stay focused on saving energy to do so."

If the speed limit was 35mph, and he took the same 5 minute run, how did he get 25 mph? Did he have the parking brake on?

He also ignores the torque of an electric motor that makes horsepower comparisons not exactly equal as well as gearing. My Prius has more get-up-and-go than my 6 cylinder 2001 Chevy Blazer. Of course I don't "get-up-and-go" as hard as I used to thanks to the instant feedback on the waste that is!

 

Sounds like I might have to order a Gen III while they are still being produced in Japan.

 

There is a lot of misinformation floating around the media about the Prius. Heck, they haven't even given the public a hint as to WHY gas prices are high.

Pickup is good on a Prius--like a lot of 6 cylinder automatics. That's because of the high electric low end torque, With an ICE car, the torque doesn't kick in until you hit high rpms. So to get those fast 0-60s, you have to hit the gas and push those rpms up in the low gears.
I read yesterday about an electric car with 700 HP, and 0-60 in less than 4 seconds.
That doesn't surprise me. Very fast electric cars are just around the corner--especially if they can perfect those li-ion batteries. And that CVT gearless transmission beats a stick any day. I drove a stick for 35 years, and you loose time shifting.
Electric cars change the paradigm. They will change car racing as well.

 

And some of it was intentionally spread... like this nonsense:

The car that got the conservation ball rolling, sold a meager 15,000 units in the 2001 model year.

Since Toyota limited supply to a strict quota, that number has absolutely no reflection on actual demand. How come the 6-month wait for delivery wasn't mentioned?

.

 

Mr. Mateja is full of shit. How can he 'review' a car and NOT know the basic details???

Which has WHAT to do with 'comparable'? The Camry has more outside length, not more INSIDE length.
................F/R legroom .. Passenger Volume: Luggage:
Camry: ........ 41.7/38.3 . 101.4 ................... 15
Prius: .......... 41.9/38.6 .. 96.2 .................... 14.4 (but 16 in '04 & '05??)
Corolla: ....... 41.7/36.3 ... 92.0 ................... 12.3

I guess my Prius is defective since the battery is BEHIND the rear seat.

Again, mine is defective. It starts the gas engine any time it calculates the load demand requires it. Turns it off for the same reason.

So is he just a lazy nice person that doesn't bother to RESEARCH before he writes, just relying no what he 'knows'?? :lalala:

 

Jim Mateja is an Idiot. He is one of the main reasons I do not read the Sunday Chicago Tribune any more. He was an idiot before the Prius was a gleam in Toyota's eye, and he continues to be an idiot 16 years later.

 

+1!

Thanks, Donee. Mateja just makes my blood boil. He laughs and scoffs at the Prius, and he continues to recommend cars based on engine displacement and noise (as well as overall parking space use).

I would look at his earlier write-up(s) of the Prius to see if he has changed anything in the writing, but it would simply get me too upset.

As I read through this article, I could not believe he actually got into the Prius. It appears there was a new test-drive, but I am guessing he sent someone else to do it and then recycled his own skewed opinions to do the write up.

THANK YOU, BRUCEHA_2000!! I appreciate your willingness to grab a couple of simple facts that Jim Mateja appeared unable to find. Of course the Prius compares to the Camry. Just look at size, features, etc. There is no way to compare this to the Corolla (except, maybe, for the seats). I know many people complain about the seats, but I have been very pleased with the comfort and support of the seats for long-hauls (more than 3 hours straight).

 

I always found the seats to be very comfortable. My mother has ridden countless hours in the backseat of our Prius and she always said it was comfortable and roomy. I also know it's much more comfortable than the back seat of her Ford Five-hundred.

What does he know anyways, I also never had a problem merging into traffic or picking up speed.

Just as well he dosent like the Prius, leaves more of them for those of us who love and want them.

 

There are one of two things about you which I now know must be true:
1. You do not live anywhere around Chicago; or
2. You read the Sun Times.

Sorry tlaine, but I just couldn't help myself.

The only problem with Mateja's saying these things is that he is the auto editor for one of the largest newspapers in the world. His words, whether said in full truth, tongue-in-cheek, or outright dishonesty, will be taken as having value.

Unfortunately, people who read Mateja's writings on the Prius are "informed" this way. For the most part Mateja's writings are self-evidently his opinion, but not always. This particular article reads as though he has absolute knowledge on all things Prius and is able to dismiss the car entirely. Many of the people who read the Auto section of the Chicago Tribune do so because they are actively looking for cars to purchase. They are gathering information. Unfortunately, they are gathering BAD and INCORRECT information -- maybe even misleading information.

If you are hearing an odd noise in the background, it likely is the sound of my molars being ground down to stumps.

 

I just want to say first, i have a $500 deposit on a #2 Prius here in Mass at a local South Shore dealer, and expect my Prius very soon. That said, in my mind as i shopped and test drove, i have compared the Pri to a Corrola, size and comfort wise. I can NOT see any comparision to a Camy. Wish it did compare more favorably in leg room. The Prius has that damm left tire wheel intruding that is bothersome. To me the seats are of poor quality, front and rear and and to compare the Ford500 backseat to a Prius is very odd, the 500 hundred has a huge comfortable back seat, the Prius does not. All this said, i wait eagerly to pickup my Prius. Happy Motoring and this is not a knock just "my" real world observations .

 

"And Prius' cost doesn't end with dollars. It runs in battery or gas mode or both when it needs a boost. But even with that jolt, Prius doesn't sizzle leaving the light or merging into interstate traffic."

Written by a person that has never been in a Prius nor driven one.

I want him to meet me at the track in whatever car he wants to drive and see if he can beat me for the first thousand feet.

 

I think people reading his column also know he is old-school gearhead and defends SUVs and large cars, largely by opinion only. I don't know if much can be done about his column, other than pointing out specific points that can be proven incorrect. His slant won't change noticeably.

Even though this misinformation bothers me, until Toyota can keep up with demand, it doesn't matter. This misinformation (and others like it and worse) hasn't slowed down sales at all, not while there's waiting lists for the car, or it's America's fastest selling car, as it has been most of the time it has been on the market (always in the top ten since 2004 model was introduced I think).

 

Hmm, not sure what world you're observing this from. Using autobytel car comparison for the Corolla, Prius, and Camry, respectively:
Wheelbase 102.4" 106.3" 109.3"
Overall Length 178.3" 175.0" 189.2"
Vehicle Height 58.5" 58.7" 57.9"
Vehicle Width 66.9" 67.9" 71.7"
Cargo Capacity (Cars) 14 16 15
Front Headroom (Cars) 39.3" 39.1" 38.8"
Front Legroom (Cars) 41.3" 41.9" 41.7"
Rear Legroom 35.4" 38.6" 38.3"

Prius has the most legroom of the three (seats aren't the best though, I agree). You say it has a left tire wheel that intrudes somehow differently than the right side? Are you thinking of the TCH trunk? I'm confused.

 

Nerfer, let me explain my comment on drivers side leg room. I have taken all three for test rides. The Camry without the foot rest on the inner front wheel well, for me has much more usable leg room than the Pri. For me the driver, the left inside of the front tire well where the foot rest is a real problem. I understand there is leg room beyond the foot rest but not something i find comfortable. The two salesmen i dealt with both agreed on drivers side leg room being lacking for some of a certain height. We were all over 6" 2 and my wife is 5 10.

 

Hi Carguy..,

Somewhat confused about your back seat comment. I was in the back seat of a rental 500 in June, and my impression was - " Hey this is the first sedan back seat I have been in since buying my Prius in 2006 that matches the Prius back seat!". Have you actualy been in a Prius back seat ?

 

Carguy: Okay, that makes more sense. I thought you were talking about the back seat and thus the rear left wheel, not the front, which confused me.

The thing I noticed about the driver's position is that to get the legs comfortable, there's a real long reach to steering wheel (which I've gotten used to). The alternative is to have a traditionally comfortable arm position, which results in cramped legs. A telescoping steering wheel would be my top request for new models. (I'm about 5'11").

But in either case, the back seat has a lot of room, more leg room than most cars on the market today (regardless of vehicle class). The federal government classifies the Prius as a midsize vehicle based on interior volume, although most pundits still call it a compact or small car.

 

Here is a correspondence I had with Mr. Jim Mateja of the Chicago Tribune.
I find it kinda funny.


> Jim Mateja,
>
> Your recent article about the Toyota Prius was ridiculous and full of
> mis-information. Have you ever driven a Prius? Be honest.
> Your comparison with the Camry indicated the Prius somehow didn't
> measure up, yet the Prius is a Mid-size car that, infact , has more
> headroom and leg room (front and rear) than the Camry. The fact that
> the Camry is overall longer is pointless, what is most important
> important, a car's interior size or it's exterior size. I can put a
> kithchen appliance in the back of my Prius, think you could do that with
> a Camry?.
> The Prius is in fact a 60+ MPG car and I show that everytime I fill up.
> It's the single most significant car on the road today. Get your head
> into the daylight!
>
> I do this all the time off 10-11 gallons of gas.
>
>
..............
(from Mateja)

town writing from?

Maybe you can take some of the money you save on gas and buy a pair of glasses
so you can read the column again.

Comparison with Camry??

Look again, TOYOTA compares Prius with Camry based on price and amenities.

You get 60 m.p.g. with your Prius. Whoopie. The column stated the EPA government
rating is 48 city/45 m.p.g. highway, it didn't say Prius can't get more or less.

I never write about a car that I don't drive extensively and to suggest I didn't
drive the car is slanderous.

Prius isn't the most significant car on the road today just because you own one.
Two far more significant cars are coming, the plug in Chevy Volt and the
hydrogen fuel cell.

Jim Mateja

...........................

Jim,

The Prius is the most significant car on the road not because I own it, but rather, because it offers the best combination of highest fuel economy, size, comfort, convienence and technology on the road today.
The Chevy Volt is vaporware. Heck, GM already had to recall ALL the batteries it put in it's MILD Hybrid (joke) cars.
Hydrogen? it take more energy to produce it that it provides. And where would I buy it? You can't even find a CNG station in most cities.

And don't even try to push the whole Hybrid premium philosophy. Since when did any other car on the road have to recoupe it's cost? The fact is though, the Prius is the only one that can.

Greg Watson

 

^^^

Echoing other comments, Mateja is a effin' tool.