Differences between a 2012 and 2007

Drove a 2012 from the Bay Area to the Los Angeles area yesterday, first time with this car on a long trip. This was my mother's car and will now be my son's - her vision is now bad enough that she wouldn't pass the DMV test. The 2012 was pretty much the same as driving the 2007, but there were a few differences.

1. Coolant on the 2012 moved up to around 195F and just sat within spitting distance of that number, even up a long hill. On the 2007 it goes up to 185F on the flat but went up noticeably going up long hills. Looks like Toyota moved the set point up, but also may have improved the cooling somewhat so that it stays closer to that. (Also Torque Pro needed a different set of PIDs for the 2012, only a handful of the PIDs being read for the 2007 worked before the new PIDs were entered.)

2. The cruise control on the 2012 takes longer to make speed changes than the 2007. If a "+" is entered on the 2007 it immediately starts to speed up, so that the acceleration is felt, and then settles. The same operation on the 2012 is smoother and slower. I could never feel the acceleration for a single click, and it would often go to 72, then a few seconds later, settle on 73. A single "-" was also slower. This was really obvious on I5 where I drive pretty much the whole way in cruise control. Accelerating slowly wasn't an issue but the delay in deceleration was, on the 2012 I often had to cancel cruise control to get the car to decelerate as rapidly as desired. (Brakes are always a last resort, right?) Long story short, bizarrely that makes the 2007 feel "zippy" in this mode of driving compared to the 2012.

3. The 2007 has "current MPG" in two places, one numeric, one graphic. I'm sure the 2012 must have this information somewhere, but I didn't see it. I did like the much longer MPG history display in the 2012 though. Additionally the power flow display up on the top of the dash in the 2012 has a color palate such that I generally couldn't see the arrows from the ICE on that sunny day wearing sunglasses. Without the sunglasses I could just see those arrows, which are sort of a reddish brown color. The equivalent display on the MFD was easier to read but I don't like looking down and inside the car that far while driving at speed. For me quicker/safer to read at the combination meter.

4. The 2012 (Prius 4 trim level) was quieter at highway speeds than the 2007. The 2012's JBL sound system is better, not that that matters much given the state of my hearing. It did scare the crap out of me at one point in a song when suddenly it sounded like the car had broken and something was banging. That turned out to be a part of the song which was playing. Played that same song many times in the 2007 and the sound there was more obviously a drum.

5. Windshield nozzles on the 2012 were anemic and odd. Checked fluid level before leaving and it was half way up the plastic dipstick. It would first squirt on the passenger side and then after a short delay on both sides, but less than a foot up the glass. Wait a minute and do it again and it was just the same - like there was no backflow blocking valve in the line. Is that normal? The 2007 has incredibly fiddly nozzles with 2 independently aimed subnozzles on each side. Anything touches them and I'm back out there with pins trying to aim them again. When set just so they do a good job, and they always push the same amount of fluid at the same time on both sides. I give the 2012 the win here, it did work to get the windshield clean eventually, but it feels like they should aim a little higher.

Other than that...

Dr. Prius tested the pack (the original) at 52% capacity. Resistances were all 24 or 25 and the 14 voltages were very close each time I checked. So the pack is not a spring chicken, but it is aging well.

The 2012's brakes squeal when backing up, but not while moving forward. Not sure what is causing that yet. Dragged my fingernail across the outside face of all the disks and didn't feel any grooves. Car tracks straight as an arrow and doesn't feel like anything is dragging.

The 2012 only has 72k on the odometer.