Prius v Five ATP Model Year 2015 Test Drive – My 2¢ Worth

A Magnetic Gray Metallic/Black Interior 2015 Prius v Five ATP became available at my local Toyota dealer today. I took the opportunity to take a Toyotathon promotional test drive in this new 2015 v Five w/ Advance Technology Package. Here is a critical 2¢ Worth review data dump of my impressions of some of the select, key items and features on the new, slightly changed 2015 Prius v Five w/ ATP, which are of interest to me.

>> Front End/Grille/Fenders/Hood Redesign – The 2015 v front sheet metal/chassis area looks better and less odd and out-of-design-balance when viewed curbside in person, rather then as it appears in the various promotional and auto show photograph depictions of it. I did not like, was critical of, and was not a fan of the design of the frontal area, as it appeared to me in various official Toyota and media photographs. However, after my viewing it curbside “In The Flesh,” the front area design comes across as more subdued, more normal-integrated looking, and was visually acceptable to me.

>> Lane Departure Alert (LDA) – I liked its functioning, and did not find its LDA warning beeps to be bothersome, obtrusive or a nuisance, as I experienced them. LDA only functions at speeds 32 MPH or above.

>> Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC) – It appeared to work as advertised, and I found it a useful safety enhancement feature to have available. It functions as it did in the 2012-2014 ATP Package.

>> Pre-Collision System (PCS) - It worked as advertised (the best I could judge in 45 MPH Test Drive traffic), has an expanded, improved range, and is slightly more aggressive then it was in the 2012-2014 ATP Package.

>> Panoramic View Moonroof – Same as in the 2012-2014 ATP Package.

>> 6.1" High Resolution Touch-Screen w/Split Screen – I liked it, its Hi-Rez delivers very crisp display details, and I did not miss or long for the 7” Monitor w/Split Screen the 2012-2014 ATP Package had.

>> Integrated Backup Cam – Back up Video Camera is viewed and displayed on the 6.1" monitor with color-coded parking guidelines superimposed. I liked it.

>> New Full-Color 4.2-in TFT Multi-Information Display – I found the new 4.2-in TFT MID to be O.K. It was nice, and I liked exercising it, but it is a bit of an “Eye Test,” as compared to the much more easy to Read-At-A-Glance MID layout and instrumentation presentations on the 2012-2014 MID. Therefore, the “Jury Is Still Out” with me for the 4.2-in TFT MID, as to whether it is more a “Devolution” than it is an “Evolution” in hybrid vehicle instrumentation design, when compared to delivering critically useful Ultra-High MPG/Pseudo-Hypermiling readouts and functions on the MID as you tool along in traffic, as are currently displayed on the 2012-2014 fuel-sippers. Additionally, the larger, leftside-located, easily Driver Readable/Viewable/Viewable-At-A-Quick Glance Hybrid System Indicator (HSI), as viewed and installed in the 2012-2014 versions, has been squeezed down into the squint-inducing, center-located 4.2-in TFT MID functions, whose various functions must be viewed by a shared sequencing of the various information on the 4.2-in TFT MID using steering wheel mounted push-button toggling.

IMHO, the instrumentation design on the MY2015 v has drifted away from the larger, easy-to-read-at-a-glance-while-driving, useful instrumentation present on the 2012-2014 versions, which aid the savvy, Ultra-High MPG focused Prius driver in driving “Hybrid $mart” to achieve OFFICIAL EPA MPG beating Per Tank-Full Fuel Economy numbers in the 50s. Rather, Toyota’s “Geniuses” have moved away from the needs of “Hybrid $mart” drivers towards embracing the “Great Unwashed” John & Jane Q. Gas-To-Go/Brake-To-Stop drivers, whose only use for information displayed on the MID is to view their travel speed, and to check their fuel level to see if they need to stop to get some more gasoline, followed by complaining that they never get close to the OFFICIAL EPA 44 City/42 Combined/40 Highway MPG Fuel Economies.

 

FLBill – Greetings Neighbor. I am over here on the Space Coast running my “Vee Vunder Vagon” at an indicated lifetime MPG of 52.9 MPG over its 30,000+ miles. Enjoy fuel-sipping in the new 2015 Pv5 ATP that replaced your 2012 Pv2.

What kind of Trade-In value did the Orlando dealer give you for your 2012 Pv2 as part of your 2015 Pv5 ATP deal?

Are you a “Hybrid $mart” driver or are you just an “I Just Drive It” driver?

I would be interested in reading your critical take on the minuses and pluses regarding the changes in the instrumentation of the 2015 v versus the 2012-2014 v, particularly, the readouts that are useful for assisting the driver in maxing out, and achieving and maintaining “$tellar” MPG.

Like you, I was considering trading my 2012 in on a new 2015 Pv5 ATP. At the end of December, during the last few days of Toyota’s Toyotathon Sales Event, I took an informative test drive in a new 2015 Pv5 ATP. For me, the new 2015 did not offer enough “New Stuff” to cause me to consider cracking open my wallet, and moving from my 2012 wagon into a 2015 wagon.

In a previous recent post, I have written on the subject of the 2012-2014 versus 2015 vee’s that Toyota Marketing appears to have chosen to ignore the wants and needs of hybrid station wagon/crossover buyers in my demographic. I am not pleased with what Toyota did with the MID, and their move to the small 4.2-inch TFT screen with its smaller type size, as well as Toyota doing away with the previous style of Hybrid System Indicator (HSI) presentation that the 2012-2014 vee’s had as its HSI instrumentation.

IMHO, the shrinking size of and altering of hybrid-related instrumentation, and limited, so-so safety, and driver assist capability related technology offered in the Advanced Technology Package, falls short of delivering the full complement of driver assist, active safety features I desire in my next vee wagon --- particularly, as measured against driver assist and active safety feature “Advanced Technology Package” offerings of competing automobile manufacturers (Active Blind Spot Zone Assist [BLIS®], Rear Cross-Traffic Alert [RCTA], 360-Degree “Around View”Video Camera…).

My hope is that in two-to-three plus years down the road, when Toyota comes out with a redesigned, upgraded vee station wagon model, it will offer solid “Advanced ‘Safety’ Technology” in their “loaded,” top-of-the-line vee, which includes a more aggressive (full-stop) Pre-Collision System (PCS), Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC), Lane Departure Alert (LDA), Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) w/ Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA) --- ala the Avalon & RAV4 --- and a 360-Degree “Around View”Video Camera System.