Buying Prius C tommorow, not sure if One or Three

...and now for the really good news! Even if you drive "normal", you still get better mpg than pretty much everyone else. Happy motoring.

 

I'm not an expert on the technical aspects of the c, but I'll give it a shot.

For your first question, I think anytime you see the "EV" icon pop up, your car is running solely on the electric engine. It doesn't have a lot of power though, nor is the battery large, so you can't do more than maybe a mile or so before the gas engine kicks back in to recharge it (though with gliding/coasting you could go quite a while if going downhill). If you're in the first half and EV doesn't pop up, you could be going too fast for the electric engine to keep the pace going (typically anything over 42 mph), or the battery may be getting low and the gas engine is kicking in to recharge it. I've noticed it tends to not be in EV unless the battery is nearly full.

As for EV mode button, when the engine is cold, if you go more than 9 mph, it turns the gas engine on. Good for getting out of the garage or a parking lot, but that's about it. Once it's warmed up, you can do up to 25 mph in pure EV before the gas engine kicks in.

Also, when you start up your c, you have about 7 seconds to press the EV button if you want to run in EV mode. However, if it's cold outside, I think under 60 degrees, the car won't let you turn on EV and will turn the gas engine on to warm itself up.

Though this topic will be hotly debated by other posters, it's generally not a good idea to run in pure EV mode for too long in the c, since draining the battery constantly will cause the gas engine to kick in to recharge it, defeating the purpose of saving gas. Try not to accelerate solely in the electric range, like the video warns you about. You're better off just using the gas engine to keep up your momentum at higher speeds, and just keeping the bar in the lower range of the gas section. Again, some others will swear that you get better MPG's by sticking as much to electric as possible, so your mileage may vary on that.

Regarding the c's engine, I heard that it was based on a modified version of the gen 2 prius engine, but is also beltless like the gen 3. I guess it's safe to say that it's a smaller version of the gen 3. As for the quality, well, it's a Toyota, and it's a prius, so I wouldn't worry too much about it breaking down on you, unless you drive it hard and do jackrabbit starts all the time. Having had to replace belts in my previous car, a 93 Honda Civic, as well as replacing the head gasket on it twice (but to be fair, it was an older car), I'm hoping the c will be a little less likely to break down.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much what I observed regarding the speeds. The gas engine kicks in anytime it's in the second half of the bar even if you're going less than 42 mph, but the electric engine can help your car maintain its speed up to about 42 mph or so when you're in the first bar. I think it's due to physical limitations as to why it can't maintain a higher speed with it (again, the electric engine is much smaller, and someone correct me if I'm wrong). If you go into the red zone, then both gas and electric engines kick in, and your car whines like crazy, probably to remind you that it hates being forced to run that hard lol.

Eco mode is mostly for the heater/ac (makes them run a little more efficiently, though I think it takes longer to heat/cool the car too) and it does alter the gas pedal response (again like the video says) from what I've observed. It probably won't be that much better if you're a strict hypermiler, but for average, everyday driving it does help save on gas so long as you're not a leadfoot. I find it easier just to leave it on rather than turning it off and on when getting off and on the freeway. I bought this car so I wouldn't have to get gas every week, and it's helped on that aspect.

As for not getting the regular prius, don't worry about it too much. The next gen is supposed to come out within a year or so anyway, though last I heard on the gen iv forum here is that it's been delayed about 6 months, so it might not come out till late 2015 or even early 2016. So if you did get a gen 3, it would've been old tech within a year anyway. Worst case scenario, save up a bit, then trade the c in for the gen iv prius. I might end up selling my c to my brother, and then buying a gen iv for myself once it becomes available.

 

GaryHere...Ashlem just gave you the out you needed for your Wife. You mentioned she would have rather you guys bought the regular Gen III, so just tell here she can get the Gen IV when it comes out..assuming that is possible. That way your happy now and she's happy about getting the next "new-new car"...hopefully.

 

Congrats on your purchase. I just got a C3 on July 4th, and I'm loving it so far. This was our first foray into hybrids, and this car is serving its purpose - commuter car for my work commute and get trips around town. The city gas mileage is unreal!

In a year or two we'll probably go with a roomier and more luxurious car for trips and my wife's commute, so this car will test us if we want to stay with hybrids (and I'm sure that will be the case).

For us - my wife didn't like the rear window of the Prius lift-back for visibility, and the price was better.

I hope you don't have buyer's remorse! We are happy to have gotten a C3 for 20,100 (which was the best we could get at any dealer - hope that was a good enough price). For a commuter car I'm happy with the features it came with.

My only complaint (besides the rear head-rest size which we have removed) is that the sales-person didn't adequately show us how to use some of the features - it took a week before I realize I could just keep my fob in my pocket and just use the handles to open and lock the car!

Enjoy - I love reading about everyone's experiences!

 

arggggg,,, after reading about how much you (wife?) wanted the regular Prius instead the "c" for only a $600 difference,,, i am almost ready to go get the v now,,, almost,,, hahaha. so i researched all the Prii in detail. and there more of a 600 pound difference than just $600. and the tires, wheels etc are way different too. hey our version in USA of the Aqua as the "c" is awesome, even at the base One level that i bought. plus we got the attractive "c" car instead in Moonglow gray !!! (and i think itz a shade of GRAY, not white).

 

Oh well...here's hoping you got some at least.

 

Why not the 2? while the 1 misses cruise and other bits it has all the useful parts of 3. Like you I have no use for more verbakl diarhea items I do like things that help driving.

 

2 or higher or get the standard Prius… I have both Prii in the household

 

It's nice having both! They each serve their purposes in our household…. The other half gets jealous though when my lift back gets more love and mods though.. LOL….. I wish we had gotten the C3 over the C1 though… but it's been a good car and we couldn't beat the price. I was far to excited and didn't know about the differences between all the C's as I did with the lift back so that was on me but we have made our C1 into a C2 and still have saved more than simply getting a 2 or 3, but I digress it is nice having both…

I took photos of both together….




These are before I added mudguards to our C….

 

Awwww!

 

I know right?

our Prii