May 28th Test Drive at Piercey, Milpitas CA

Here's my experience tonight checking out the 2010 Prius.

I drive into the dealership and bam, there's a pretty White V, sitting in the pre-sold area. Yep, that's it, first view of the 2010 in person.

Grab the camera and catch of shot of a White Pri III, w/ solar roof (pinstripes added) ..



Quick chat with the salesman and they get the lot guy to unlock it. First glance at that seat ... wow! Much longer seat bottom than the 09. Tape measure in hand, I shove the seat all the way back, crank the height adjuster full down, measure brake pedal to crease between seat bottom / seatback ....

43.5 .. maybe 44" !!! (up from 41" in the 2009 ... 3" makes a Huge difference!) Folks, were talking Camry front seats and legroom here!! In English, I'm virtually certain the 2010 Prius front seats are as good as a Camry, which are very good. This is notable, serious improvement!!

So, I sit. Wow. Long legs fully stretched out, seat bottom, back, all feels good. Sunroof, cool! I like the center console. I wonder if the shifter might get bumped punching the buttons ...

I check the telescope steering wheel. Yes, it telescopes. It's not 'Honda like' with what, 5" of telescope, but it maybe it telescopes 3 or 4 ". More later.

Pretty soon my salesguy, Sam Khul (tell him Brett sent you) comes over, offers a test drive. Sure!

He pulls up a III with Nav, Silver. Away we go. It was all battery pulling out of the parking lot. He mentioned it runs on battery at very low speeds, engine does not pop on like the 09. That would be good.

The seat feels very good, visiblity is very good. I tried the Power Mode leaving a stop light ... wow! Nice jolt of power! The throttle is much more responsive in Power mode. I noticed a very 'planted' feel in the chassis when rounding a corner.

I had the steering wheel pulled towards me. I might bump the seat a notch forward if in the twisties holding the wheel at 10 and 2 o'clock. Around town holding mostly 4 and 8 o'clock the wheel reach is acceptable. And it has a nice grip area at 4 and 8 o'clock.

We tried the JBL on FM radio. More bass going on. Would need a nice track to tell how good it is.

The speedo is certainly more towards center of the dash than the 09. I like the center console - seems like a good use of space. There are many buttons on it, plus the storage space underneath would be very handy.

Appears the rear window gives about the same visibility as the 09. I don't have a problem with my 09 rear window.

I left a stop light and touched Eco mode ... wow, softens the power response ... a lot.

So, we stand back looking at this Pri III with Nav, $25,820 MSRP. Almost $2k cheaper than my 09 pack 5 last Fall, which is pretty closely equipped.

Nice looking car. Back end is wider. Looks very nice overall. The wheels and covers are alright. The cargo area appeared wider than the 09. The black tray in the trunk looks a wee bit smaller, easily forgivable.

One more thing. With seat all the way back, sure, rear seat legroom is tight, but, oh my what an easy fix .... just pay the driver to scootch the seat forward a bit ... problem solved!!

 

Me too.

I was pretty excited getting that first glimpse of the 2010, like, wow, it's really real! Just like in the pictures!!