2005 Prius versus 1995 Honda Accord LX

I recently had to find a replacement to by 1995 Honda Accord LX. It's interesting to hear about comments about lousy road noise on the highway. That might be true if comparing the Prius to some newer luxury cruisers, but relative to my 1995 Accord using tires chosen for minimal road noise, I'm quite happy. Automobile technology has improved over 10 years and so a Prius feels like an improvement on almost all fronts. If the Prius was simply a conventional car with no high tech features, here's how I'd rack it up:

Where Prius Beats the 95 Accord
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1) Prius corners better than the 95 Accord
2) Prius has a tighter turning radius
3) Prius seems to accelerate better
4) Prius has much stronger brakes
5) Prius has much more leg room in front and back seats. The 1995 Accord is about the size of the modern Corolla and Civic.
6) Prius is far quieter at low speeds and on average quieter on the highway.
7) Prius has much more cargo space. Initially, the cargo area has the illusion of being small. I thought the supposed luggage compartment that is under the cargo area was going to be a joke as I thought about moving my dog's foldable metal crate from my Accord trunk to the Prius trunk. I was stunned when it fit inside the luggage compartment with extra room! With the extra room, I threw in a portable air compressor and a compact tent and there was still some room, so then I stuffed a few more things for fill up some the the extra space as padding. I closed the compartent cover and so it looks like I have clean trunk when in fact I've hidden some "junk" inside this luggage compartment.
8) People complain about the Prius seats, but there no better or worse than the manual ones in my Accord.

Where Prius Loses to the 95 Accord
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1) Ergonomics of layout. The 1995 Accord layout creates the illusion that it's bigger than it actually is on the inside. So even though there is clearly less room it feels more open than it actually is. The 2005 Prius creates the illusion that it is smaller than it actually is expecially with the windshield pushed back so far away. My initial driving experience was that the Prius felt skinnier than my 1995 Accord. But when you start trying to slide in huge boxes into the back seat of either car the optical illusion starts to fall apart. The Prius is both wider and longer in it's interior than the 1995 Accord even though the Accord almost looks wider.

2) Visibility. Sort of related to the above. The 2005 Toyota Prius feels like there's more blind spots that the 1995 Accord. It's sort of wierd having a huge pillar in your left field of view and the rear view mirror mounted at eye level instead of above your head. But as you start driving more you start to realize that the eye level rear view mirror might actually be good as it trades off a little of front view for greater awareness of what's coming from behind. Also the huge pillar in your left field of view is something you get used to as you realize you now have a larger more panoramic side window views for looking left and right as your about to pull out of your driveway onto the main road.

 

It's a disadvantage because it makes you slightly more uptight when driving. After about 2 weeks of driving I'm getting used to the ergonomics. So maybe it's like switching from a comfy pair of old shoes into a new one. First it's a bit uncomfortable, but with a bit of break in it starts to wear well.

I have to admit the blind spot for the left side of the windshield is large enough to hide a person trying to cross in front of yu. Whe driving the Prius you learn to importance of good defensive driving so you always take the view in your mirrors with a bit of a grain of salt and double check by turning your head before commiting to a lane change or moving ahead from a stop when in a parking lot. When you're driving a new Prius you're even more cautious about avoiding a collision.