My 2010 Prius Test Drive!!!

You are correct in your assertion there. Sorry about that. I did not mean to say it was the same engine. Sorry for the confusion there. I only meant it had the same gruff engine characteristics as the Corolla's I have driven recently. They are good motors, but when pushed, they are quite buzzy and noisy. But in Atkinson cycle, the sound is quite similar to our 1.5L. For some reason 1.7L, 1.8L and 1.9L engined vehicles (not just Toyota's) just never seem to be as refined as a straight 2.0L, not sure why. And Toyota has a wonderful history of building excellent 2.0L engines in the past. I remember my grandpa's 1989 Celica GT-S was a wonderful engine. Such an aggressive engine sound, compared to the 1999 Corolla I drove for 2 years, which was boomy, loud and quite unrefined by comparison. Even the 2008 Corolla's have not seemed to rectify this totally yet.

However, the Prius' 1.8L while it was a bit buzzy (maybe because its still not broken in!!), it sounded pretty good (nice whirring sound our cars make!), and as I said smooth sounding.

One other thing I thought about last night, was the regenerative braking. There is absolutely no noise to be heard at all! A most impressive feat. My father who came along for the test drive was the one who noted it. His Highlander Hybrid and my Prius make all kinds of "whiny" noises when regenning. Not this thing, it was very very quiet.

I must admit, its difficult to put aural experiences into words, but when it does come out soon, I think all of you will understand what I mean! Thanks for the insight though, its appreciated.

Ventilation system was most effective too. As most of you can tell it was raining, and when I turned on the ventilation system, it was very quiet, but super strong. Thereby totally throwing out my concern that those thin vents would cause air distribution issues. IN TOYOTA I TRUST! HAHAHA!! And the windshield wipers are still double jointed like all our Prius'. I think its unique and I love that!

 

I certainly did not "sign" anything. And besides, if Toyota did not want me to see it, why would they let me sit in it??? The VP of Sales (if I remember correctly) just finished driving it when I saw it. However, they both asked my dad and myself to sit in it, and play around with the features. I even spoke to the Toyota rep yesterday that arranged the test drive, and he laughed at Danny's comment. He said the same thing, if we did not want you to see it.... you would not have.

The HS250h is such a wonderful car, I cannot stop thinking about it. I really seriously believe that I want that car over the 2010 Prius now. I can't help it, it was that impressive. It felt like my Prius in that, it was unlike a rebadged Toyota like other Lexus', plus the car is so good looking. Plus I have had several women at work comment that I should get HS, and never mind with Prius! I think that does it for me! And besides, I was going to buy the Prius with Tech Package and Leather, so that would have pushed it within thousands of the HS250h anyway. Hmmmm....

 

Heck when you put it like that, women actually love my generation of Prius. They say its got a sexually suggestive shifter! HAHAHAHA!!! I mean just look at it. It only gets worse when you put it in drive. Everytime I grab it, I just feel funny, especially when you push down on the tip!!! HAHAHA!!!

 

And I absolutely meant no denigration towards Danny at all. I was also told information and shown things that I was asked to say nothing about. The Prius dissassembly for example is all I am going to say about that, as for reasons why, will die with me I am afraid! HAHAHA!! At any rate, I appreciate Danny's concern, but I wanted to make clear that I would not want to get myself into legal trouble over a Prius, thats for sure! I am an IT Manager for an international firm with a location in every country around the world, so when it comes to information security, trust me, I know what its all about!

I also want to say that Danny is wealth of information, and I am thankful for all the wicked stuff that he shares with us! Remember the 2010 Prius pictures and the excitement that brought! Danny is a great guy, what can I say!

 

That guy completely misquoted what I said!!! I told him Prius' in Japan can watch TV, and that it is disabled, and not available here! That guy is crazy! He also misquoted me and said that I sold my Corolla for my current Prius. Wrong. I had a 1995 Pontiac Firefly after I sold that good for nothing 1999 Corolla. My Corolla had 25,000 of the most unreliable kilometres I have ever experienced in a car. I just bought the Firefly as a beater, and I kept it, and sold it when it had 265,000kms!!! I bought it with 120,000kms!! Best car ever. Now lets see my darling Prius.

By the way, I just upgraded the navigation in my 2002 to a Generation 4 unit found in newer Prius', and it looks awesome! Resolution is painfully good, and the nav is much better than generation 3. I will post pics for you all to see tonight. But it can be done!