'07 Prius Horn 'o Plenty

Happy Monday.

I was out on a walk this weekend and, on the way home, happened by the Toyota dealer in my neighborhood.

In the very lot where I took delivery of my fair Buzz, there were eight new Prii, all awaiting their new owners.
It really was quite a gathering and also presented an opportunity for me to compare the non-Touring model (can we come up with a name for these cars, other than non-something?) and Touring edition.

Quite a spetacle. There were four Tourings (two metallic green, one metallic blue, one black) and four standard editions ( two black, one metallic green, and one red).

Three thoughts:
<blockquote>1. The longer spoiler on the Touring does look lots racier, and I'm not even sure that for a driver of my height, it would make rearward vision any worse at all.</blockquote>
<blockquote>2. Seeing the Touring and the non-Touring facing each other, in profile, the 16" wheels do seem to give the appearance of filling the wheelwells to a much greater degree. I found myself thinking that the Standard edition (at least, if it's not lowered) kind of looks like it's on tippy toes in comparision. BTW, the Tourings all had Bridgestone Turanza EL-400 tires; the Standards, Integrities.</blockquote>
<blockquote>3. Speaking of wheels, the covers on the wheels of the Touring really do look like plastic covers, at least to my eye. From a distance they look okay, but close up...areas like around the valve stem and the length of the plastic 'spokes' make it a little too obvious that that's just a piece of plastic. Ugh. I found this kind of disappointing and I *definitely* think they need to tell folks about the plastic covers and downplay the allow wheels. Could be cheapo steel under there...who'd know? The 15's, in comparison, are more than passable with the trim rings, if you like the look, and are nice without as well.</blockquote>

I like the idea of the Touring edition, but the wheels, especially, tarnish the execution. Frankly, I wonder if it's really worth anything more than the standard edition. The 'tuned' suspension prob'ly didn't cost Toyota much at all; the wheels I suspect might actually be cheaper to produce than the 15-inchers, and the tires might be a few dollars more expensive (in bulk), but that's it.