'The Truth About Cars' Rips 2010 Prius a New One

Prius definitely isn't for everyone.

 

Expected from a Honda fan boy given a job to review the halo iconic Prius. I felt for him at the same time I tell myself, what a waste of time.

 

It certainly isn't for everyone. These things are written for a specific audience, and this specific audience will have a heyday reading his review and making fun of the Prius. Is the Prius an M3 or a S65? No. Can everybody, or even 10% of the car buying population afford an M3 or S65? No. I wouldn't even buy an M3 or S65, I can appreciate that they are incredible machines but they just have no application in my life.

I'm no great fan of the Prius...I'm hoping the gen III will be different. I certainly find it more appealing visually, we'll see when I sit in and drive one.

These people hate Lexuses too. Obviously plenty of people disagree because Lexus sells more cars in North America than BMW or Mercedes...and Toyota sells every Prius they can put together.

 

omg this guy is so full of hmselfs

he even speak agains himself

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The driving experience was engineered by faeries. There is an Unbelievable Lightness of Steering, flagrant disregard for handling and a general sense that you are not in a car at all but some anti-gravity device which yaws and rolls without regard for normal physics. I would rather visit my dentist than drive the Prius again—at least he gives me laughing gas.
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and then he writes
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This sample was mounted with optional 17″ wheels and I found that they not only magnified the road impact but they did little to add interest to the “driving experience.â€
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so at one point he things there is no feeling in the steering and then aparently the wheels give a lot off road feeling that you normaly have in a sports car...

 

I agree with you. It doesn't really matter whether his review annoys people like most of us here who do like the Prius, but his snarkey attitude and comic exaggerations really could have an influence on someone who might have considered looking at a Prius, but after reading this "review" would think his judgment or even manhood would be in question if he actually liked it.

 

I think you guys are confusing steering feel with road impact.

Road impact is how badly you feel driving over cracks and potholes, etc. The steering itself usually has a dampener to take care of small vibrations that will be transmitted to the steering wheel from an uneven road. You don't want to feel this in the steering.

Steering feel is how directly your hands feel like they are controlling the car's front wheels. The Prius has almost none- you have to turn the wheel round and round to corner due to the high steering ratio and the supercharged power steering motor makes it feel like it is not attached to anything mechanical at all. You can't handle it gingerly at all- you have to turn the wheel almost halfway around for a slight curve in the road.

 

I think you've put your finger right on it. The piece is more about entertainment than truth. Regardless, he expresses his feelings about the car much as many of us have -- perhaps we can only say we like it or love it, but we can't give perfect reasons. The main thing is the rather visceral response. The author here is no great friend to the Prius. Surprise!

Autobahn ready? I'll tell you I've driven worse cars on the autobahns, and I've driven better cars on the autobahns. I would have taken my '07 on the autobahn, but not at speeds above perhaps 90mph, and even then only at stretches. The 2010 feels quite different, and I wouldn't mind stretching its legs a bit. I'd have no problem taking it right up to 100mph, though I just don't know of any car I'd like to keep there very long. I tood a Volvo up there for some pretty long stretches. It was a good day -- visibility with low wind and no precipitation, but it is stressful driving at such speeds for long stretches.

I was driving an Opal once from Munich northbound. My wife had fallen asleep, and I was driving serenely along. I can't recall the speed, but it likely wasn't more than about 85 mph. That was still kind of an "iffy" speed for that car. My wife woke up and, apparently, felt like she needed fresh air. Before I could say anything, she had started rolling down the window. It was all I could do to keep the car on the road!!

I agree. It was entertaining reading, so long as you don't think too deeply.

It appears I have a very high tolerance for pain. I've just finished a stretch of driving more than 1,300 miles in four days, and I don't feel discomforted in the least by the experience. I credit more of it to the adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist than to the seating, but the seating is a step up from my '07. Really, I think it is OK for me because my stature is more in-line with that of the average Japanese than average American. Even so, it was a very nice ride for me. I really like the fact the car is so much quieter on the road and MUCH less susceptible to push or wobble from crosswinds.

Oops! No, I don't think I'll comment on that one.

I don't know if there are many people who haven't liked the Prius before that suddenly will like it now. If there are some who've said: "I like the concept, but I don't like __________" and Toyota has made the change, then I'd expect a change of mind. The 2010 is MUCH better than the Gen2, in my book, but I think it is basically the same thing only improved. It has better handling, better seating, better sound, better gas mileage, more room, but if you thought the handling wasn't worth anything or the seating might as well be a torture device, then the 2010 isn't going to fit the bill.

I do agree the visual change, though perhaps not THAT different, is significant enough to catch some people's eyes. It hardly has to be the car for everyone, but I'd hope more people go into the consideration more with your mindset than that of the author of this review.

 

I had a VW Scirocco that provided direct translation of the road surface AND tight cornering. Fun when I was young. The Recaro seats really were something, though!

What kind of shocks me from this review is how he disses not the steering feel of the standard 2010 Prius, but the Prius V with a 2.5 lock-to-lock turn. Imagine what he'd say if he had to add yet another turn!

 

See my sig

 

OK. I think I heard something.

People who really like the Vroom, Vroom and tight cornering CAN like a Prius! I was thinking that people who like to have the Vroom, Vroom and tight cornering in every car are not going to like the Prius, because it isn't built that way.

Of course, if I'd said it that way I never would have found out so much about you folks.

 

I owned an 85, 944 Porsche. I sold it to put a down payment on my house. If given the choice today, there is no way I'd take a Prius over that Porsche. That Porsche was awesome.

 

Yeah, but would you rather live in the house or the 944?

 

Yea, back then there was no option for me to keep it. I'm still in the same house today, so I can't say it was all that bad to sell it

 

My issues with the Prius have always been from a comfort and driving position perspective...so if those issues are addressed I would like the Prius just fine.

 

Hi All,

Its this review/response from expensive car gear heads, why I think Toyota wasted their time with the interior of the 2010. They should have stuck with form and function of the Gen II, improving it, rather than what they did. Which is flash and lures for oldie-time car buffs.

 

Of course. A house is an investment. It takes a lot of living to make a house a home.

A Porsche 944 is an expense which depreciates from the get-go.

 

Kinda like buying a house in California after 2005. LOL

 

I have an M3 and three other old BMW's, our 2010 Prius replaced an '01 BMW automatic 325. On twisty roads in the Ozarks the Prius is as much fun to drive as the 325. Of course it's no M3 or manual steering 320i turbo but it is neutral in the corners, the steering is no worse than the 325.