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Interior Volume

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by skruse, Oct 22, 2004.

  1. skruse

    skruse Senior Member

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    As a scientist I teach science at the high school and university levels. We take many extended-day field trips to ensure students learn by doing, not sitting passively in an enclosed room and attempt to learn from "talking heads."

    I drove my new Prius to school (45 km) this morning (day two). Our AP Environmental Science students brought their luggage, sleeping bags, etc. to school in advance of a GLOBE (www.globe.gov) field trip to Yosemite National Park on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. I lowered the rear seats and we packed the vehicle.

    I drove home and transferred the luggage to my 1991 4Runner. It is now definitely winter with snow in the Sierra Nevada. Much to my pleasant surprise, the rear interior space of the Prius is only a little less than the 4Runner. The luggage transfer went quickly and easily.

    Many compliments to the design engineers for packing a lot of knowledge into Toyota vehicles. The architectural and planning rule of thumb, "form follows function" is excellent in both the 4Runner and Prius.
     
    #1 skruse, Oct 22, 2004
  2. cnetter

    cnetter New Member

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    My wife was talking to the neighbor about (among other things) the pending arrival our my Prius. The neighbor, a long time VW driver, was envying the MPG numbers and green-ness of the Prius, but lamented saying something along the line of "oh but I love the amount of cargo space in my VW!" To which my wife replied, "Oh but wait till you see how much space is in the Prius!" There could be another convert in the making!
     
    #2 cnetter, Oct 22, 2004
  3. kjb516

    kjb516 New Member

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    This summer I took my Prius on vacation with a total of three people and quite a collection of luggage. The morning we left, I piled all of our luggage into the garage to load into the car. At first glance, my two passengers began to seriously question my boasting of the storage space in the Prius and went upstairs, pondering what items they could remove.

    Questioning the space myself, I started by stuffing the smaller items under the seats and in the multiple hidden storage areas. I then lowered the smaller fold-down rear seat and easily fit the rest of the items into the hatch. Fifteen minutes later, my two friends came downstairs, having decided what they could do without, only to find an empty garage and me smiling back at them.

    The real surprise for me came when we got into the car to leave and looking into the rear view mirror, I had a fully unobstructed rear view (including the lower rear window).
     
    #3 kjb516, Oct 22, 2004
  4. victor

    victor New Member

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    I use to have an MR2 Roadster (spyder in the USA) and a commom complaint in the press was the lack of space.

    We took a 14 day trip around Spain and had no problems. Coming back via Champaigne we bought several bottles as well as loads of food etc. Never had a problem. Sure my wife couldnt move much but it was ok!
     
    #4 victor, Oct 22, 2004
  5. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Does anyone know of a comparison chart of the Prius versus other cars. Sure I could spout out numbers of cubic feet but it doesn't mean as much as skruse saying "a little less than the 4Runner". If there's not such a chart, I would be interested in making something like that.

    skruse, is that with the back seats folded or not? I'm guessing folded, but just want to make sure.
     
    #5 TonyPSchaefer, Oct 22, 2004
  6. kjb516

    kjb516 New Member

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    The passenger and cargo cubic feet can be found on the DOE web site for most cars at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm.

    The Prius is rated at 96 passenger cubic feet and 16 cargo cubic feet (the same exact size as my previous car, with half the MPG). You can compare up to 4 cars on a single screen. Unfortunately most trucks (including the 4-runner) do not have numbers for the interior space.
     
    #6 kjb516, Oct 22, 2004
  7. allenlux

    allenlux Junior Member

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    #7 allenlux, Oct 23, 2004
  8. skruse

    skruse Senior Member

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    The rear seats were folded down, still had visibility over the luggage out the rear window.

    Yes, a more objective matrix will be more useful, rather than the subjective, "appears that . . ."

    Nevertheless, having enjoyed the ease of use of a 4Runner for 14 years, I am pleasantly surprised at the continued ease of use of the Prius. Of major importance is safety and the ability to use the rear view and both side mirrors.
     
    #8 skruse, Oct 24, 2004
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