Prius v or Ford Fusion Hybrid?

It doesn't matter, if I had a choice between the two, I would pick the C-Max even though I love my Prius. You can throw all the data at me you want to about one test drive, but my Dad just got over 53 mpg in his, so it appears that it is possible to improve gas mileage over the expected levels over time, just like it is with those of us that have gas hybrids as well.

 

Yes.

Which tires do you have?

 

We are going to buy this year, and we have recently test-driven both the Prius 'v' and the FFH.

I haven't done any close price comparisons, but I expect that we'd get the high-end version of whatever car we buy, and we'd pay a few thousand more for the Fusion than for the Prius. That much money will not be decisive in what we buy, however, because, like you, what we buy we plan to drive into the ground. Being happy with the car is much more important to us than a few thousand $.

The biggest thing that the Prius has in its favor, in my view, is that Toyota was a pioneer in bringing hybrids to a mass market, and has sold a million Prii. This is a very important thing to me, and will be hard to get by, even if I decide I like another hybrid better for other reasons.

The Ford Fusion was a clear winner in the handling and interior comfort categories, and it was very quiet. I liked the ergonomics of the Ford a bit more than the Prius.....but then, they were more familiar, and I have no doubt I'd get used to the Prius soon enough.

In terms of available power, neither car would hold a candle to our SAAB wagon, but the Fusion clearly had more pep than the Prius.

The Prius back seat is absolutely great, although I've read complaints in the forums about the comfort of the front seats on trips. This is rather a critical area, since I'm 6'6". The dealer where we did the test drive has offered a weekend extended test so that we can satisfy ourselves on this point. The overall wagon format of the 'v' is a "win" for me, too.

Both cars seem to be roughly on par in available fuel efficiency. I emphasize that word because all my reading on hybrids makes it clear that most drivers coming from standard ICE vehicles are going to have to change their driving habits significantly to realize the touted EPA mileage.

So which car will we buy? As the Magic 8-Ball says, "Situation unclear." Two factors are still in play. We want to test-drive the new Honda non-PHEV Accord, which is due out this Fall sometime. And our new car will be driven at least 60/40 highway, and probably more than that, which doesn't favor the hybrid solution. So, in the final issue, we may pass on a hybrid altogether and get a VW Passat TDI.

 

I'm not so sure. I bought a v5 after having driven a pickup truck for a few years - thinking this will be the vehicle I take into retirement. With less than 500 miles on the Prius I took off on a road trip from Florida to St Louis and back. My general driving style was to set the cruise control on the posted limit + 5mph where possible and I achieved 40.8 mpg. Since EPA highway is 40mpg and I had never driven a hybrid this seems to validate the Toyota EPA numbers.

Now that I'm home and approaching 5k miles on the clock, I'm getting 43.8mpg to/from work. A one-way 15 mile trip consists of a bit at 25mph, slightly more at 35, most at 45 and a bit again at 55mph. And I pretty much drive +5mph over around here too.

So the Toyota mileage seems on the money - at least for me. And I have no idea of how to efficiently drive a hybrid. Never tried. I'm so excited going from a best of less than 20mpg to over 40mpg that I'm happy without any extra effort.

 

Camry Hybrid does NOT require premium gas. Whoever said that is completely wrong. It runs on 87 pump octane.

 

I was planning to bring up road noise about the v also. Motor Trend mentioned pretty high levels of road noise in v and it can be annoying even with 15" wheels on liftback Prius. On butter smooth roads, it's not so bad, but when pavement gets rough, the noise just fills the cabin and echoes around. I'd bring ear plugs on a road trip.