Future Hybrid owner

I have driven the Prius with four large adults and 2-weeks worth of luggage on a road-trip last summer for 4200 miles.

I did not notice any lack of performance.

 

...that is a hard choice because the latest Camry Hybrid has been getting good reviews. Prius may get slight edge still but the choice is getting harder. Sounds like you may prefer Camry for power and comfort but Prius probably still more flexible for loading stuff in there, and maybe have some safety advantages with some of the new tests.

 

If you are routinely going to be hauling four adults in the car, then I would certainly go with the Camry hybrid.

We bought one (briefly) last year, but the thing had a severe fluke of an inverter issue and the dealership took the car back. Since I was more comfortable with the Prius anyway, I went with the Pri.

The loaded Camry XLE was however an extremely SWEET ride. Really, too much pampering for my tastes. And I am so obsessive about fuel economy that I wasn't willing to sacrifice ~10 mpg for the more plush ride.

The Prius can feel underpowered when you are just beginning to drive it, due to the accelerator being set up to be less responsive. But even as a pretty aggressive driver, in the ten months I've driven it there has not been a case when I couldn't get in or out of a pocket due to the car's power.

So it really depends on what your priorities are, and how often you anticipate driving fully-loaded.

Either vehicle is an excellent option.

 

If you felt fine with the amount of acceleration in the Prius in "Power" mode, then the Prius should suit you fine.

Power mode doesn't actually give you any more power--it just changes the responsiveness of the accelerator.

So if you bought the Pri and started driving it, then you would adapt in a week or two to the accelerator setting in the Prius.

Once you are adapted, then ECO mode will feel fine to you. The acceleration off stops in a Prius can be quite brisk, since 100% of the torque from the electric motor is available IMMEDIATELY off idle, unlike the gas engine that has to reach higher rpms to provide full torque.

It's quite a capable and compact transportation device.

 

I could never adapt to the Eco mode feel. Normal mode is the best for me. It was a good thing the OP discovered Power mode when test driving. When I was test driving mine, the dimwit dealer had it in Eco mode and I totally hated the test drive until I discovered the Power mode.

It's amazing how the gas pedal adjustment can transform the car feel. Many car makers made their cars feel faster purely by this non-linear adjustment. IMHO, Every car should have those user selectable settings.

By the way. I do have 4 people in my car from time to time and it's never an issue with lack of power.

 

I don't notice a lack of power, but the Eco/Power zone threshold on the displays means I notice the small difference in how much gas you need to give it with just a 2nd person in the car.

My wife drives in Power mode as that's the closest in feel to the Civic she usually drives and she likes that she doesn't have to push the gas pedal as far.

I drive in Eco as I like the fine control to help me maximize fuel economy. I can drive in normal mode (and occasionaly do after forgetting to put it in Eco after a driver switch) but Power mode is just way too imprecise for my liking.

 

ECO mode *is* the normal mode--it is the default when you power up the car.

That is, unless there was a change between the 2010 and the 2012 model.

The normal mode on my 2012 Prius is ECO. If I want something else I have to change to EV or Power.

 

That's right.

 

Luckily, the AC compressor in the Gen III Prius runs off electric power- so no engine power loss is felt.

 

My 2010's default is normal mode, not ECO, so Toyota must have changed it.

 

I now have 5000 miles (6 months) on a 2012 Prius Two after having driven my sister's hybrid Camry San Diego/LA roundtrip and San Diego/Las Vegas/Grand Canyon/San Diego last year. Got around 40 mpg in the Camry. Slightly over 50 in the Prius.
I would think the Prius may be tight for 4 adults, but it has slightly more room for luggage even with the back seat used. The Camry sacrifices a lot of trunk space for the battery. Could only get one large suitcase in the trunk. But passenger room and comfort is like a regular Camry. It certainly has the power of a regular Camry.

Overall am happy with the Prius, but we're only 2 adults. So folding the back seats gets a super large cargo capacity. I think the Prius has more detailed instrumentation reports/displays but not sure as I did not thoroughly research the Camry as I have the Prius. If you have a technical bent/interest (me), there's a lot more chatter re the Prius on the Web. I was able to figure how to add a backup cam from Prius Chat. (Posted my findings)

Whatever you do, I'm sure you'll be a happy camper.

 

the oil change cover doesn't come off from scraping the ground, it comes off because of the poor design and difficulty reattaching it properly after an oil change. there is a tsb, hopefully improved on new models.

 

Note - 2012 Camry hybrid was all new redesign with big improvements to trunk space, power, interior space and went from 34 mpg comb in 2011 model to 41 for 2012 (LE hybrid). Dan above mentioned small trunk on sister's Camry hybrid, but that may have been a 2011 or older, don't know.

kronos, I didn't try loading the Camry hybrid trunk when renting, but have a couple hundred miles in it and 1 1/2 years in 3rd gen Prius. It appears could fit a couple suitcases and bags in Camry hybrid trunk, but no doubt, it's over 2 cu ft smaller than non hy Camry. Prius is clear winner in Cargo flexibility and fuel economy. But, the difference is only about 2 gallons more to refill Camry hybrid after 450 miles.

Prius is not nearly as powerful as Camry hybrid. Cam Hy has 50% more HP, but only weighs 13% more than Prius. I don't know what kind of hills you have, but I've had 4 adults in my Prius while climbing steeper freeway grades. There are 2 choices here, either slow down to about 60 mph, maybe little under, or if you want to hold 65+ mph up the grade, I think you will be hearing the engine quite a bit. Test drive Prius, give it a bunch of throttle, you'll know what I mean.

Even Consumer Reports mentions engine noise. google - Toyota Prius Consumer Reports watch video.

Camry Hybrid can blast over steep grades at 70 mph and make quick work of it. No engine drama. When warmed up, the fuel economy gage has shown me over 43 MPG, that's the base LE model with 16" wheels. When I returned the Cam Hy rental this week, 45.8 on gage. My Prius is reading about 53 at the moment.

Camry hybrid is reliably more quiet inside. Prius cabin noise is decent on very smooth freeway pavement, but hit the rougher pavement and noise levels get high.

Camry hybrid feels much more like a 'normal' car to me to be in. Prius is definitely 'different' and futuristic.

If looking at the Camry Hybrid LE, take note it only has a manual adjustable driver's seat. For me, seat bottom is too flat and just would not work over long run. No option for power seat in LE hyb. Have to get XLE. Base XLE is about $1500 or so more and loses 1 MPG combined.

 

Not really. Normal mode is when none of the driving mode buttons are pressed. If you see green driving mode icon on display, press that button again to really be in Normal mode.

Difference in driving modes is -Prius will power back up in ECO mode if shut off in ECO mode, but will not power up in PWR mode if shut off in PWR mode. EV mode button is virtually useless - IMO it was merely a presursor to the EV/HV button in plug in Prius.