Prius in Car and Driver, April, 2004 issue.

I read the Patrick Bedard article a few weeks ago, and made a copy of it. I think it's one of the best ways to explain what's really revolutionary about the '04 Prius -- why it really is an automative milestone, independent of your bias towards air quality or fuel economy. (Both are big factors in my buying the Prius, but are certainly not shared by everyone.)

I've found it excellent "shorthand" description of the Prius to the other engineers in my company. The lightbulb clicks on over their head, followed by the inevitable "Cool!"

It doesn't convince them to buy a Prius -- but they are generally interested in getting a car or truck with Hybrid Synergy Drive down the road.

 

The Patrick Bedard article is excellent. The letter-writers are clearly not Prius's target consumers. The idea of a racing Prius strikes me as silly. Thanks for posting these.

 

I just wonder how many of the people who say it doesn't perform actually have driven it, or if they're just going on the fact that it's a 110 hp 4 cylinder. It doesn't quite match up to my current turbo, but when the salesman throttled the demo car, I was duly impressed. But then I don't have the expectations of someone who cruises the streets in an IROC.

 

Those people want to drive a Corvette or a Porsche or a Ferrari. Reliability doesn't matter to them because they enjoy fixing their car, it's a fun hobby for them. They don't care about mileage or pollution either. They figure their personal contribution to smog and CO2 is too small to matter. -- But the editors obviously disagree, and recognize the importance of the Prius, and the interest some of their readers will have in it.

 

BTW, the excellent Patrick Bedard article is now online.

If I had to hand someone one article as to "why the Prius is special" (technically), this would be it.

Sort of "Prius innovation in a nutshell".