Consumer Reports review of 2016 Prius Three

"Feels insubstantial for the price" - let's see how insubstantial it still feels compared to a similarly priced car, after 5-10 years...

 

Hmmm, interesting. I can tell you this, in Southern California the Avalon is selling very poorly. As in 45 only sold over the entire region (as of last weekend).

Number One selling car (in So. Cal.) - the Corolla, followed by the Camry... then (believe it or not) the RAV4! Yup, it out sold the new Prius (which would be in 4th place) in So. Cal. as of last weekend. By the way, the RAV4 beat the new Prius last weekend by only 5 cars (in the whole region). That's all I should say... or I'll get in trouble.

 

I have a 2014 Avalon Hybrid Limited. Great car. Was heavily discounted when I bought it. Can get 40 MPG without much effort. It is our road trip car.

 

How big is the Avalon in terms of size, weight and trunk space compared to the Prius?
If I lived in the USA i'd buy/drive the hybrid version of any vehicle only....

 

Its a much roomier car then the Prius, its more the size of a 5 series BMW or E Class Mercedes.

 

What about trunk space? Does the Prius offer more L of volume or I remember the numbers wrongly?

 

Not sure, with the seats down you would think the Prius offers more trunk space.

 

(Hope this isn't a repost)
Toyota Prius Sets New MPG Standard in Consumer Reports' Tests - Consumer Reports has a brief story that anyone can access.

I found the statement "Our test car has a plastic center console that looks like a Stormtrooper’s bedpan", funny. So much for it being "reminiscent of fine bone china".



Merged.

Yeah, these figures are amazing. For reference, Gen 3 Prius in their tests (per The Most Fuel-Efficient Cars | Best Cars for Gas - Consumer Reports) got 44 mpg overall, 32 city and 55 highway. Back then, it was the most efficient non-plugin vehicle, easily beating out diesels in their overall figure.

Once the VW diesel cheating scandal broke, they removed VW cheater diesels from later versions of that page like Most Fuel Efficient Cars - Consumer Reports.

For reference, ConsumerReports.org - Most fuel-efficient cars has their Gen 2 figures.

 

VW rabbit was my last diesel. Just got tired of all the work arounds.

 

	model	overall score	performance
1	Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE	84	87
2	Tesla Model S P85D	77	100
3	Hyundai Sonata Hybrid	77	80
4	Prius Three	76	75
5	Lincoln MKZ Hybrid	75	83
6	Ford Fusion SE Hybrid	76	80
7	VW Jetta Hybrid	68	75
8
9	BMW i3-REx	64	79

Sorted by the Consumer Reports, overall score. Personally, I am glad to see the 'performance' score which I don't remember seeing when we had a subscription. Here is the same data by 'performance' score:

	model	overall score	performance
1	Tesla Model S P85D	77	100
2	Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE	84	87
3	Lincoln MKZ Hybrid	75	83
4	Hyundai Sonata Hybrid	77	80
5	Ford Fusion SE Hybrid	76	80
6	Prius Three	76	75
7	VW Jetta Hybrid	68	75
8
9	BMW i3-REx	64	79

Bob Wilson

 

With the seats up, I would call it close to even on the trunk space. (The hybrid Avalon has a large conventional trunk) With the rear seats down in the Prius there is no contest - the cavernous yaw of the Prius is supreme.

 

How did they manage such lousy city mileage? And, their highway mileage is pretty good.....

Something is wrong with their "calculations".

 

Their "city" testing is broken, badly. Several years ago, I spent an afternoon at the library looking at old issues and soon discovered their 'city' testing is excessive on the throttle with a cold engine. The data suggests they start with a cold engine at the bottom of a hill or grade and do a maximum acceleration up the slope at a fairly high speed. Then the do a hard brake, going down grade to a complete stop. They repeat this hill climb accelertion and down grade to a strong stop several cycles.

Thanks to the OP's help, I learned the BMW i3-REx got 135 MPG city and 140 MPG on the highway. The EV mode, BMW i3-REx has no warm-up and the regenerative braking via the 168 hp motor is impressive. In effect, it defeats the Consumer Reports cheat. To my eyes, it confirms their 'city' testing is terribly broken. But that have other vehicle testing issues when they make up their 'score.'

Bob Wilson

 

Excellent commentary. I agree.

And even with all that, I'm getting a consistent 60-61 mpg (displayed), which is probably 56-58 actual calculated. I drive my Prius like a regular car. I don't understand how CR got such poor city mileage.