My CT 200h test drive last night.

CT200h was designed for the European market to compete with A3 and BMW 1 series. The chief engineer understood the roads in Europe are narrow and people drive fast. He made sure CT200h steers with 0.1 degree steering wheel change.

 

Darn still won't help my driving.

 

Can you fill me in? What's the deal with your driving?

 

Ask my wife. She'll tell you. She tells me all the time.

 

well in Europe, CTh gets better mileage than Prius... so lets all move here and get even better mileage! .

Without the joking, the difference is in levels of equipment - american public would not accept bare/"eco" Lexus with 15" wheels.

 

While stopping short of driving one, we did stop by Lexus yesterday and sit in one.

We were prepared to be impressed. We came away disappointed.

While beautiful inside and out, the car came up short in several areas:

Storage - only one glove box in the front versus two in the Prius. No "basement" storage in the back.

Backseat legroom is less than the Prius.

Visibility through the rear hatch is less than the Prius.

Gas milage of 43/40 is less than Prius' 51/48. The Lexus salesman explained that it is because of the "sport suspension." That makes no sense to me.

 

I noticed the lack of rearseat leg room too. Specsheet says 32.9" compared to 38.6" in the second generation Prius. I liked the looks of the interior, but I wonder about the placement of the front seat cupholders; looks like large mugs might get in the way. BTW, when I commented about the leg room, the salesman moved the front passenger seat up until his knees nearly touched the dash, and said "See, there's plenty of room back there!"

 

it is smaller than Prius, so it has less space.. it also has Lexus seats so you dont sit as upright as in prius. it is also heavier and has performance instead of eco tires, all of which bring the mpg down a bit.

 

CT200h is only 6 lbs heavier than Mazda 3 automatic 5 doors hatch. That's like virtually no weight penalty for a luxury hybrid hatch of the same size.

 

I just test drove today over lunch. A Premium model.

Love the styling, the 17" wheels, the interior, the seats, the rattle-less environment (also big bass no platic rattling).

The storage space is smaller, deepwise, by exactly 3 inches. Width is the same.
Seats fold the same.

Sitting behind the driver's seat in the rear, missing two inches, not a big issue. No folding center arm rest w/cup holders.

I did like the placement for AUX & USB, and totally salivated the dashboard controls and color displays.



Unfortunately, only getting 16k Can$ after 11 months on my G3 Prius when I still owe 25k$.
So I have to wait at least three years. Boohoo.

boohoo driving the world's 2nd best hybrid (that gets better mpg)...

 

Just above the slotted door for the USB/AUX, there is a cigarette sized cutout, you put your iPod / MP3 player in there. Or you could put coins, or both, to maximize that break-in potential.

However it would be easy to route thin/flat wired USB elsewhere, or, simply, use a USB stick in the USB slot.

In my G3 I just have the AUX, and I find it annoying where it is - but at least we have one.

 

i would love the premium model but its a huge step in price.....

i still dont know if i will make move, i should do like you and keep the prius for another 3 years!

 

most people, including myself, dont like usb port stashed away somewhere because it makes it more work to plug the device in. Making it easily accessible with phone on the outside just makes more sense.

i mean if you dont mind putting your iphone into the glove box every time (and losing nav abilities for instance), why would you mind simply storing usb cable each time? It is actually less work.

 

cant have it all... i wanted to buy Mini long time ago but those Mini forums are serious detractors

 

When it comes to reliability, you should worry too much with new cars. The German ADAC reliability survey, for instance, has the Mini as the most reliable in its class: Ranking awaryjno

 

only ADAC stats have german cars as more reliable.

just go to the mini boards and check our problems reported... thats what I would do.

p.s. i wanted to buy mini back in early 2000's, but after checking their forums, i decided not to.