So heres the thing, the 2024 Prius LE I own now is my first ever economy car. Ive always been a sports car guy. Ive owned Several Volkswagen Golf-GTIs, a Mazda MX-5, and a Veloster Turbo. Even once owned a Potiac Fiero and traded in my 2017 Honda Civic Si 2-Door Coupe towards this Prius. In fact, the Prius is my first ever automatic. My entire life up until this point I have driven Manual sporty cars. Theres a reason I went for the 5th Gen. In my opinion in the first ever Prius thay doesn't completely suck. Previous Gen Priuses were so slow that they would often cause issues in traffic, and because you had to floor it to get the thing moving - the fuel economy wasn't even that good, plus they were ugly. I mean my Civic Si nearly got the same fuel economy as the old Prius thanks to its slippery 2-door coupe body, low curb weight of 2800 Lbs and its super efficent, yet powerful 205 BHP Turbocharged 1.5L 4-Cylinder. This new Generation Prius represents a completely new design and philosophy for the little hybrid. Not only is it not slow anymore, its even slightly quick, being faster than a base model Jetta, Corolla, or Civic. Its also comfortable, stylish, and even handsome to look at, although I wouldn't say its quite "pretty" just yet. I never thought I would ever be a Prius owner, and yet here we are. So I was wondering - what if Toyota took this excellent new generation, and simply tweaked it a bit to create a hot hatchback that competes with the Volkswagen GTI and other popular Hot Hatchbacks. Hot Hatchbacks are so popular because they are so good at everything. They are fast, fun to drive, economical compared to other non-hybrid vehicles, they offer tons of space inside, are very safe in a crash, and even do pretty well in the snow. So what is Toyota takes the success of the Gen 5 Prius, and then adds even more power (up to about 250 BHP), lowers the ride height like 0.5-0.75 inches and stiffens the suspension like 15-20%, and then 18"x7" wheels with 215mm width tires and wala - you would have a car that drives a lot like a GTI, but offers much better fuel economy and is cheaper to insure? Sounds like a complete win-win to me. I even E-Mailed Toyota coorporate with the idea. So who knows, maybe sporty Prius in the future? Its just a fun idea and it would be pretty easy for Toyota to pull off.
You can have an economy car or you can have a sports car with lots of power... You can't have both, though some would argue the advancement of EV technology allows you to have both if you buy an electric car, but not with internal combustion engines.
