New 2010 Prius

I moved up from the older model Prius (Gen II) to a 2010 (Gen III), and found it was much better in a lot of little ways -- enough that I love it.

Just picked up a friend who had abdominal surgery three days ago and drove her about 40 miles -- some of it over older broken pavement, and some on a highway. SHE commented that it was riding on air, and that she couldn't guess my speed by how it felt [she had been in my old one, and noticed the improvement).

 

Welcome to PC and congratulations on your Prius purchase. That is interesting that you think the Prius is as nice or nicer than your Mercedes.

Keep us posted on your thoughts as you get more time behind the wheel.

 

Welcome to Prius Chat!

I just got a Prius as well (Package IV).

This car is AWESOME!

 

Congrats on your new Prius and welcome to Pchat.

 

Welcome :welcome:
Also a IV'er replacing a CRV So far so good.
PC is a great site for all kinds of info.

 

Hello Hawke,

I am scheduled to pick up my new 2010 Prius V tomorrow. I am getting cold feet because of the braking issue I have seen discussed on this site. Obviously as a new owner you must have seen something to convince you to go ahead and buy this vehicle. Mind giving me your thoughts?

Thanks, Newbie wannabe

 

Hawke probably hasn't experienced it, since the dealers have applied the fix to all cars on their lot, and every car since January has been manufactured with the fix. I can tell you I experienced this non-problem 2 or 3 times prior to the fix, which is really just a longer than expected pause switching between regenerative braking and friction or ABS braking, and not a true loss of braking. After the fix, I have experienced the effect 1 or 2 times. The switchover is now near instantaneous, and the odd "feeling" of loss of braking simply isn't there anymore. It was only because I was aware of the issue that I could tell there was a switchover happening at all.

FYI, if you are getting the AT package, you'll love the dynamic radar cruise control. Even if you've not, you'lll love the quick steering and nice handling of the V. Definitely not what you expect from an econobox. Watch out for those potholes though, the low profile tires can be a bit jarring if you hit those potholes just right, or should I say wrong?

 

Dear ggood,

Thanks for the feedback. We did get the Prius V yesterday. So far it is awesome. It only has 35 miles on it, all applied driving home from the dealership. The first thing I have noticed is that acceleration is slow, which is fine by me. But there is an increased need to wait for oncoming traffic to be a LONG distance away before turning/pulling out into that lane. The roominess inside, the sound system!!, and the handling are all great. Hope you are continuing to enjoy your Prius as well.

 

Have you tried pressing the power button yet? Personally, I find this car to have plenty of speed for entering or passing on the highway. Using ECO mode does make the car "feel" sluggish, because the throttle response is so stretched out (lots of travel in the pedal before you start feeling any response). In any mode, all you have to do is punch it and it goes. Maybe not like a Beamer, but good enough. The eco mode does make it easier to maximize mileage, by (i) reducing the energy allotted to heat or A/C, and (ii) making it easier to adjust the amount of power you are demanding, when you see the instant mileage meter going down.

Interestingly, due to conversion losses, the hypermiler's goal is not to be in all electric battery mode, but to instead demand just enough power to keep the batteries charged up and the vehicle moving at the speed you want. Never did me much good though, since I have mostly short trip driving these days, and I'm not really up for working too hard to get my mileage up or to go to extremes with pulse and glide techniques.

Enjoy!