Toyota Japan Announces 2006 Prius

http://toyota.jp/prius/

 

Actually, I don't. Just wishful thinking.

 

As I re-read the garbled translation, if what they seem to be saying is true, the most desirable changes are the combination of stiffened undercarriage and "tuned" suspension, and better sound insulation, including the window glass.

Also, I notice they seem to be saying the Japanese can "buy" a Prius starting today. I wonder if that means "order", or if the factory has actually made some thousands of right-hand-drive Priuses.

 

I'm going to have a badge made up to replace my trunk's Prius badge:

PRE-MORTAR


Now I have to find what to replace the Hybrid Synergy Drive badge with.

Upon re-reading, I got excited about the stiffened undercarriage, "tuned" suspension and improved sound insulation. I'll take that over a rear camera any day. I assume it's not just on the Japanese model.

Also noticed the Japanese can "buy" an '06 starting today. Wonder if they mean "order", or if they've already made a bunch of right-hand-drive models for the domestic market.

 

Sorry about that. Couldn't find my 12:40 post at first because of the second page, so wrote up a new one.

 

I ran that site through the Google Japanese - English translator. Most of it I can figure out, but not this:

"Suicide seat rotary sliding seat car "

At least I hope I don't understand this.

 

I assumed that the japanese call the front passenger seat the "suicide seat" similiar to the way we say "ride shotgun" ?

Should be someone in here that knows?

 

Here is an off-the-cuff translation of the press release.

Apologies for any inaccuracies, I can't spend much time on this. (I am a professional J-E translator, and have other work that needs to get done. And, I don't normally do automotive stuff)

****************

Effective Nov. 1, Toyota has begun selling its Prius, with minor modifications from the previous model year, at Toyota and ToyoPet stores throughout Japan.

Among the minor modifications are design changes to the front grille and headlamps and the rear combination lamps and other areas to afford a more advanced style, and the adoption of four new exterior colors. In addition, a "HYBRID" emblem has been added to the front fender, and the size of the "HYBRID SYNERGY DRIVE" emblem in the rear has been enlarged.

Inside, in addition to soft padding of the instrument panel and door trim, and improved visibility of the combination meter [presumably the multifunction LCD display], real leather and "arukantara" [a high-quality suede-like artificial leather, according to a footnote; a Toray trademark] have been newly adopted in seats for improved seating comfort. In other areas also, the interior quality has been enhanced, and two new interior colors have been added.

In addition, an S or "standard package" and a G or "touring selection leather package" have been introduced to provide customers with a more attractive product lineup.

Through reinforcement of body parts for increased rigidity and optimized suspension tuning, handling, road safety, and ride comfort have been improved. Glass with improved soundproofing and noise- and vibration-absorbing materials have also been optimized for more quietness inside.

A manual leveling function for the halogen headlamps has been added, and the intelligent parking assistant which supports steering during parallel parking and garage ingress/egress [n.b. my wife REALLY wanted this; I told her, only in Japan] now has a function for automatic recognition of parking space lines and improved operability.

In addition, the advanced telematics service G-BOOK ALPHA, which anticipates traffice congestion and provides optimized route guidance, is now supported, and a HDD [probably "hard disk drive"] navigation system adopting a high-resolution wide display is either standard equipment or available as an option.

**************

I'll stop here. The last line before the photo includes what appear to be Toyota-ese that I haven't heard before. The above is the text up to this line.

 

WOW... Thanks for the translation!!

 

Thanks for the translation
I cannot wait for
1) the American site to be updated
2) the 06s to roll in; and
3) the year to end so that the new tax benefits can be available to new 06 Prius buyers.
Happy Waiting everyone.... just 2 more months to go. Well i know thats true for me at least.

 

Me also... I ordered in early September.

I have this strange conflicted feeling. I almost hate that gas prices are going down.
(I paid $2.19 at Hess at the Jersey Shore while visiting today.. though back home in tax happy New York State (upstate), it was still at $2.61 :huh:
- I see people back to driving like idiots.. doing 65mph on cruise control, I was passed like I was standing still continuously on the NY Thruway.
- I can just see SUV sales starting up again <_<
- Complacency on alternative energy and efficiency will once again take a back seat.... until the next crisis (Can you say Iranian Crisis?)
- I see the economics (for me) on buying the Prius getting worse as prices on gas go down... but I am sticking to me guns... The supply chain is too easily upset, whether real or contrived by the oil industry.

But, the again, I will be glad for falling prices when I get my next propane delivery for my house (I heat with it)

 

Yay! Stuff we won't get any time soon in the Americas. Europe probably gets it next or already does.

Alacantra is the high-quality cloth/suede material used in combination with leather in other sporty luxury cars, or what the current cloth is very similiar to.

 

Aha. Thanks. I'm not really into cars myself. (Love my Prius though)

A few more clarifications WRT the press release:

As I had thought, the line above the photo is Toyota-ese: "Welcab" and "Friend Matic" are Toyota trademarks. Presumably the latter is their transmission--it's not manual, it's not automatic, it's "friend-matic". Of course you won't ever hear that term over here, but the Japanese love to make up their own English.

About that seat--nothing suicidal about it, and I'm not sure why Google put that slant on it...perhaps it was playing a Halloween joke on us? Anyways, the reference is to a "rotating sliding (front) passenger seat". No further explanation is given. The seat rotates outward? do not know.

Also, the type II model has a power driver's seat as standard equipment.

 

Yes. I ran the press release by a Japanese friend and he called a lot of the words "Japanlish". Kind of like Spanglish. It's a hybrid of Japanese and English written in their katakana script. The biggest problem he says is that these new words crop up all the time and unless you're proficient in English, you have no idea what they mean.

 

Thanks.

That rotating passenger-side seat could be great...my mother is infirm and has trouble getting into and out of cars....

They sell entire dictionaries of such words. I have one around here somewhere.

OTOH proficiency in English can actually be a drawback. Some of these words are only nominally related to their English counterparts.

The famous example is "manshon" (mansion). If a Japanese friend invites you to his "manshon", don't expect too much; it's just an ordinary apartment, perhaps under 500 sq feet.

 

Engrish. :lol:

 

Exactry