2010 Prius Driving Impressions Thread

Too true. I use bubble mail protection sheets to attenuate the vibration. Just pack a mail bubble sheet in and behind the bottom of the plate.

 

I figured as long as you were so excited about the technology as was I with my 2010 V delivered last week, A few other cool features are the LED Headlights and washers with autolevel on the V...What a night vision help for me since I work the 2nd shift.

You may want to note the Footwell lighting as well...

The parking assist...let me just say it's a real cool toy...can find good use at some times for it, but it's nice to have.

Check them out...

 

I forgot one more thing..

When viewing the map and listening to the iPod..at song change a black bar drops down over the map saying USB iPod, Track #xxx but doesn't say the song name, artist or anything else. What's the point? Tell me stuff!

on a positive note, I went into the menu and changed the screen changing option to OFF again and now it is staying. Why it switched back to ON so many times beats me.

 

My suggestion, a strip of double sided tape across the bottom of the back of the plate.

 

That's a good idea. I will have to try it. But I'm not conviced that the rattle is the license plate..

Could it be the tonneau cover?

 

I'll check that as well!

 

I use the heavy velcro, it is just the right thickness, rubbery and looks more like the car came with it.

 

I posted the following earlier on another forum and realized it would make better sense here. So . . .

Just returned from driving to south-central Pennsylvania (from south-west Michigan). The return trip was done in a single day (11 hours) of driving.

My overall driving impressions on this long trip were quite positive. The 50.2 mpg was wonderful, of course, but what most impressed me was the quality of the ride and handling as well as the excellent pickup merging onto the various Interstates. And, the area around Shippensburg, PA includes many winding, narrow mountain roads. Fortunately, these roads are well maintained and largely pothole-free (unlike most in Michigan) so I had a chance to see how well the Prius handled in mountain driving. Steep uphill climbs were a bit noisy with the small ICE struggling a bit, but that distraction was more than offset by the excellent handling.

The cruise-control funtioned very well on Turnpike driving; no problem at all keeping up with traffic. Of course, I did not test the Prius at the 20+ mph overlimit like most PA and OH drivers with whom I was sharing the road, so I'm not sure how the Prius does at Warp 8 speed! Lots of contruction zones (with very little actual work being done) to keep things mixed up a bit.

This 2010 Prius V is our first hybrid and we have driven German cars the past decade, but this is the 8th Toyota we have owned. All of them were purchased at Metro Toyota (Kalamazoo, MI) and the folks there were taken aback somewhat when I traded in my 1985 Mercedes 500SEL on the CFC program on the Prius.

The bottom-line? This is an outstanding car! Nearly as much interior space as the 24-year-old S-class Benz, noisier on ICE to be sure, but a fun car to drive. It's nice to be driving a Toyota once again, and helping the planet too.

The PC forums have been very helpful in learning about hybrids in general and the Prius specifically. The owners manuals do not seem to be very well written, so I am glad to have priuschat.com as a supplemental source.

Kudos all around are in order - Toyota, priuschat, and the dedicated senior members who keep all us newbies informed. Thank you!

 

I've had a chance to do it twice now, and it has become my favorite thing. Taking a night drive. Hoping in my Prius, plugging in my PMP, and taking a 30-40 minute drive around midnight. Listening to music, bathing in the warm glow of the LED shifter light and the moon, and cruising along deserted streets, pulsing and gliding to my heart's delight. It's a real pleasure and very relaxing.

 

So it's not the license plate that rattles and it's not the tonneau cover that rattles. I am left to believe that is in fact the tailgate.

 

That's what I'm thinking.

 

Will do

 

I have to ask, since I think I saw this elsewhere on the forum, is there something wrong with the Prius you're driving? The ICE is noisier than a 24 year old car? I test drove a Prius last week and could only barely pick up the sound of the ICE when I really nailed the gas pedal. The car was almost silent!

Or are you a bat?!

 

I took my first road trip in my new Prius. Managed 55 MPG from my house in Houston to my destination in Georgetown, which is about 180 miles. I pretty much kept it around 65 MPH on the highway, which bugged the hell out of my girlfriend! Now she teases me about driving like a granny. It doesn't phase me of course, because I've firmly got the hypermiler bug in the ~3 weeks that I've had my car. I did acquiesce and drive 70-75 MPH on the trip home, which dropped my average to 52-53 MPG.

Still great gas mileage of course!

It was a pretty comfortable ride, though I will say that I found the ~3 hour trip to be more fatiguing than in my old 97' Mitsubishi Montero SUV that I traded in for the Prius. More road noise, and the seats, even with the leather upgrade, are not as comfortable. All in all though it was a much nice road trip experience.

 

I just test drove a 2010 III this evening with the nav package, my very first ride in a Prius period, and it was absolutely lovely. I didn't get to drive far, but it was such a quiet, smooth ride that I fell in love right away! I am a very very large person (short and very stout! but I have a long torso and sit very high in the seat) and felt extremely comfortable. It's the first car I've driven where my head didn't brush the roof! My girlfriend said the passenger and rear leg room is fantastic and has already asked to drive it once I finally get my hands on one!

Now to get the pricing where I like it and hopefully it'll be mine!

 

LOL!.. I agree.... if Toyota could just figure out how to get anyone and everyone to at least "try" the prius and just test drive it.... I don't know how anyone could turn it down!