How does Prius C compare to 1st Gen Prius?

I don't own a C, but my fiance did have one to use from work. We drove it over 300 miles in one weekend.

My BIGGEST complaint was the feeling of being blown over while driving on the highway (even when it wasn't windy) and when it was windy. Road noise was never an issue though. Acceleration is actually pretty good, i'd say slightly better then the first gen prius. And cargo space i would say is slightly smaller. Rear headroom for passengers would be less as well.

I think it would be nice upgrade from a gen 1.

 

Having owned a 2012 c for a while (my brother drives it now), I can tell you my experiences with it driving in SE Wisconsin. I've never driven the original prius so I can't offer you anything on that.

1. Lots of road noise on bumpy or bad roads. Expect to turn the music up quite a bit unless you can live with it. The shock absorbers aren't the greatest either, and with the smaller wheelbase compared to the Gen 3 prius liftback, you'll feel every bump.

2. In windy conditions, the c will be pushed around by strong gusts. Plan for that especially if you're driving next to large trucks and buses. In snow and ice conditions the stock tires that came with my c were terrible. But with some decent snow tires (I used Michelin X-Ice XI3 tires), you shouldn't have any problems other than deep (4+ inches or more) snow. But if your city plows the roads on a regular basis, you should be fine.

3. Acceleration is okay, but keep in mind it's not a sports car or anything like that. Usually enough to merge with most freeway traffic. You can generally keep up with traffic so long as everyone's not doing the accordion effect (slowing down, the speeding up, then slowing down again).

4. Cargo space without pulling the rear seats down is extremely limited. It's decent with the seats down though, if you don't plan on ferrying more than one passenger.

5. The c is really easy to parallel park if you do a lot of city driving. Its tight turning radius means you can probably just do a U-turn instead of a Y-turn on most roads if you need to turn around.

Living in MN, you might want to consider getting the c 4 trim, so you can get the heated seats/mirrors. It came in very handy for me during WI winters.

 

I suggest finding a stretch of bad, bumpy road, and try driving it over that too, to see if you can tolerate the c when it's going over bumps as well.

Keep an eye on the weather report too for windy days so you can test that out.

 

When at a dealership, do try sitting in a regular Prius too. The interiors are markedly different.

 

I have a C and my friend has a Gen 1. They both ride the same. Same type of 1.5l engine. Same noise and everything. The C is the better choice since its newer.

 

I have both a Genlll and C

The biggest thing that irks me with the C is the loud noise on some roads depending on what they consist of, bumps in the roads, wind noise and its effects, cheaper feel in construction than the Genlll (esp the doors, hoods)

Good points are:

Higher MPG
Battery charges faster since its smaller than Genlll battery so I find I can EV more with the C

I use the C for city and Genlll for all other places

 

I recently traded my 2008 prius touring for a 2015 prius c four. I just returned from a 2500 mile trip. The last 1020 miles were all driven in the same day, about 16 hours of driving. Overall conclusion: I am absolutely thrilled with the c. It rides and handles well--feels kind of "sporty"
to drive. I kept waiting to be pushed around by wind gusts as others have stated, but I never felt it to any great extent. I did install sound proofing which helped to make it even quieter than stock. I received many compliments as to it's quietness and soundness when closing doors. Yes, the rear storage is smaller that the 2008, but folding the rear seats down afforded sufficient storage. The cruise control held it's setting extremely well. I found the engine's power to be sufficient. The time that it worked the hardest was climbing the hill on I80 to 8,300' in elevation. I had cruise set at 75mph, and it held steady with the high revs of the engine. On the flatter stretches of the interstate, I got 41-42mpg at 77 mph. I don't baby the car for optimal mpgs, but I also don't abuse the car. All in all, knowing what I know now, I'd do it all over again!

 

I don't know how to link you the my pictures showing the procedure. You can do a search here in prius chat for "MurderMat" (the sound deadener) and see the pics in "What have you done to your c today?".