Impressed with the Gen 4, tempted to get one

Thought I'd go ahead and sign up over here.

Right now I've got a 99.5 Golf TDI that I fear has reached the point at which it's likely not worth fixing any more, and is poorly suited to my driving conditions anyway (short trips in a TDI in winter suck, and I knew that going in, having owned two VW diesels before it), and a 2000 Miata that is fantastic fun to drive, but obviously sacrifices practicality, is deafening on the freeway (which, driving a Miata on the freeway is doing it wrong, although I've done it a fair amount lately), and gets (depending on weather) 20-22 mpg commuting, and 29-30 on the highway. It's no problem whatsoever to fuel the Miata, I could afford twice that fuel consumption and not really notice, and buying something efficient won't save me money, but I do care about reducing my fuel usage, and having a reliable car that has actual heat on my commutes, and isn't the Miata (to keep salt off of it), would be nice for winter. Obviously, I'm not here to replace the Miata - if I do that, it'll be with another Miata.

Before last week, the list of cars I was considering to replace the Golf was something like, in this order (if I could get a charger installed, which would be tricky, being in an apartment - but I wanted to focus on plug-ins at first):

1. Chevy Volt (Gen 2)
2. Tesla Model 3 (this before the Model 3 was shown - and the Supercharger network being the only reason it was even under consideration)

Then, I saw the Prius Prime specs, and actually found it to be an interesting possibility - 22 miles AER is plenty for me (10 miles is my typical round trip), and I go on road trips a fair amount, where the improved fuel economy will be nice. However, my last experience was driving a friend's 2011, and finding it a thoroughly mediocre car that I had no desire to own (although perfectly fine for someone that doesn't care about driving dynamics, but that's not me), despite its capabilities. So, given that Toyota's been going on about improved driving dynamics in the Gen 4... I decided to test drive a 2016 Three Touring to get an idea of whether the Prius would be a possibility at all... and found that whatever Toyota did, the Gen 4 is a lot better. There's actual steering feel here (not loads of it, but there is some...), the steering's quick, the handling's competent without excessive body roll, even the transmission seemed to respond quickly (a bit faster than my TDI's turbo lag). (I've actually always felt that the Power Split Device is one of the most CLEVER automatics out there even if I didn't want to own one, but I actually liked the driving experience of this one. This is the first automatic I can actually say I like.) Power was merely adequate, but I actually... liked a Prius?

And, the Volt has torsion beam rear suspension, and based on the specs, much slower steering... hmm... so now, the list became something along the lines of:

1. Prius Prime
2. Chevy Volt (Gen 2)
3. Prius (Gen 4)
4. Tesla Model 3

In any case, I went to test drive a Volt the next day. Unfortunately, the dealer hadn't charged the demo that I drove, but whatever, I could get an idea of what it's like. I ran it for a couple minutes in Mountain Mode, but that didn't really help. Interior ergonomics were pretty terrible, outward visibility was dreadful in all directions except DIRECTLY forward, and then I actually had to drive the thing. I will give it credit in two areas - the steering was nicely weighted, and it had tons of low-end torque. However, I'm pretty sure the thing was undersprung, underdamped, AND needed anti-roll bars. I was actually getting a bit nauseous from the body roll, on a straight road (albeit a poor quality surface). And, the gearbox's transitions between modes (there's like five different modes that that gearbox can operate in, IIRC - two electric, three hybrid) were noticeable in how it felt, and it shifted the engine RPMs rather slowly (it masked it with torque fill from the electric motors, though, so you couldn't feel it, but you could hear it).

So, cross the Volt off the list. Then, see things about the Prime's market position seeming to be upscale (but only with an 8.8 kWh battery, and therefore only a $4502 tax credit, not the full $7500, which would require 16 kWh)... and tentatively cross it off the list due to likely price. Then, see that the Model 3's a sedan, and cross it off the list (hatchbacks/wagons/some other form factor with decent cargo handling ability are mandatory for this car)... and now the list just has the regular, no plug, Prius on it? Huh.

And, the styling's growing on me (especially in Hypersonic Red, but it's now working for me even in other colors), and even at first, my thought was basically, "OK, that's ugly, but I'll give Toyota credit, it's not bland, and at least they're trying."

It'll be a few months before I'm ready to buy, but it's looking quite possible that I'll end up with a Gen 4 Prius, so I figured I'd sign up here. I'll probably be doing a lot of lurking for now, but figured an account makes lurking easier. (I've got enough posts over on TDIClub, though...) And, you all seem to out-nerd even TDIClub (having read a thread where someone was doing frequency analysis on Jason Torchinsky's 0-60 run audio, to figure out what the powertrain was doing at the beginning of the run), which is saying a lot. (That's a compliment, BTW.)