Let's check out what’s new with the green machine that started it all, the Toyota Prius. Check out more at www.MotorWeek.org Follow us on Twitter: / motorweek Like us on Facebook: / motorweek
Come on, you haters of this Prius it looks wonderful outside and inside. And for haters of the road test narrator, give John Davis respect. Yes, he may be getting older, but he's been the host, and a great narrator for all the road tests Motorweek started in 1981.
hahaha! your comment is bad ass! Toyota designers must be horrified at reading comments like this but i think they unwittingly designed a funeral home car.
Everyone knocking the styling... I think it looks great & nicely refreshed. Looks better than the previous generation. Actually looks like a car instead of an ugly station wagon.
The new Prius is not down on power, the measure it differently. Before they tok the HP of the gasoline engine and added the HP og the electrical motor. Now they measure them together, as a new Japanese standard. This is not unlike how Tesla "lied" about the power in their P85D, you can not just add together the HP of each engine. The new CVT in this prius also has less powerloss. Overall it should feel a tad quicker.
+Bryce I also have had both Prius and Volt. One thing that bugs me is when someone says Volt is superior to Prius or vise versa. Everyone has a car that suits them. In cases of people who drive longer distances and cannot plug-in often, Prius would be a better suit for them. However, if you can charge regularly and don't need much space, Volt is better. No car is perfect, no car is superior to another. Remember, the only difference between Volt and Prius is the software management and battery size/power. Volt doesn't really have anything different that's truly "innovative". It uses the same trick PSD the Prius has been using since 1997.
+Bryce Perhaps, but the difference is that Prius owners only have to pay for the cost of gasoline to run their cars, while Volt owners have to pay for gasoline plus the cost of the electricity used when they plug their cars in overnight to recharge. Plus, as someone who has owned 2 Toyotas and 1 Chevy, I have much more faith in the reliability of a Toyota product than anything produced by Chevrolet.
+Shaun Elemens I don't know where you live, but where I've lived, electricity is a significant cost to homeowners, even when it's being partially supplied by a nuclear power plant! More people tapping into the electric grid by plugging in their cars is going to create more demand for electricity, which is going to drive up the cost of electricity even more. I agree that the new Prius is pretty ugly (not sure why you're comparing it to a funeral hearse, though), but I'd still rather drive something that only needs one source of fuel rather than the Volt which needs gas + outside electricity in order to run. As a former Chevy owner, I have zero faith in their products. We'll see how long your Volt holds up before needing major repairs for something.
Has looks of the Lexus IS! And it's super cheap in my eyes! Man, I wish I liked driving super slow, no social life and getting stuck in a lane not being able to jump out and pass anyone.
No one is talking, how much it costs to produce Prius vs similar only petrol or diesel car, and where that puts Prius as green car? How much production of Prius is straining nature vs a normal car?
looks even though is preference, I dont like it at all. MPG's is only a couple better and down on power which this car could've used a bump in it, I know i own a 2010 would've been nice.
in real world testing people have been able to average 62-63 mpg in normal driving in both the normal and eco models...even in this video you can see that motorweek was averaging 59.4 mpg
+vard mike Every reviewer seems to miss the fact that the Japanese hp standard changed. The acceleration is apparently the same as the old model (which makes sense, since the separately listed gas and electric hp in the new engine are the same as the old one). So it's not got less power...the power is just measured differently for the hybrid.
These small cars need to be made for people like me who are over 6 feet tall. In most car choices, I can either ride or drive comfortably, but not both. Oh, and btw, forget about having to make noise for the blind. We have ENOUGH noise pollution as it is.
The Prius doesn't compare to the Chevy Volt. My Volt got 231 mpg last month after driving 1,913 miles. Can a Prius do that? I have a lifetime gas mileage of 105 mpg after driving 49,000 miles in a little over 2 years. Can a Prius get 105 mpg? The Volt can go 53 miles + on a single charge. The driver can choose to drive on battery only, both gas and battery, charge the battery while driving, or gas only. Prius is OLD TECH! My Volt dominates off the line and few cars get out in front. 279 lbs of torque at zero rpm gets the Volt flying like a ride at Disneyland. I paid $22,195 after rebates. The 2016 Volt is even less expensive, faster, and seats 5.
+VoltecRules The Volt is certainly impressive. However, the headroom is pretty spare. At 6'5", I can fit quite comfortably in the drivers' seat of the new Prius, while even with the seat cranked all the way down I can only squeeze in to a Volt with the seat tilted back full ghetto. Too bad...
+Duncan Parks Finally...a good argument to choose a Prius over the Volt. For those 6'5" and above, I would steer you to a Prius, or maybe a full sized van....with a sun roof.
I don't know how you can say Prius is old tech; you are not comparing like with like. Of course if you fuel your car from mains electricity you are going to get better gas consumption! The Prius is outstanding for it's fuel efficiency for a non electric car. A fairer comparison would be to compare the gas mileage of a Volt runing on the gas engine only (low battery) with a Prius. Then you''d see the superiority of the Prius with its Atkinson Cycle gas engine. I believe the Volt's standby gas engine is nothing special in terms of effciency, i.e. non Atkinson Cycle. Don't get me wrong, I like the Volt (Vauxhall Ampera in the U.K.) and I've noticed that they are very popular in the Netherlands (Opel Ampera?) but we don't all have charging facilities (I have to park my car on the public road). As to the overall efficiency / lack of pollution of electric cars of course that depends on how the electricity was produced.
+Martindyna The Prius uses a gas motor and a battery, and so does the Volt. Last month Onstar sent me a monthly report on my car: I drove 1,600 miles and used 2.5 gallons of gas. You do the math for my mpg, but it's more than 600 mpg in a Volt. Sorry that's real driving and the Volt just got 10 times the mileage of a Prius. Last weekend I drove 200 miles round trip to camp in the mountains. I charged one time and got 47.4 mpg. We camped at 4,000 feet. Could the Prius have done better even after 200 miles, maybe? It's sad Prius owners have to point to the one trip most of us will make in a year and say, look if you drive 500 miles the Prius will get 3 more mpg than a Volt. Sad. Meanwhile every week I'm getting 600 mpg driving to work. All Volts can charge on a regular house plug. I'm sure you can find a plug that would work, if not the Volt can even charge itself if you want. Prius is OLD TECH.
+HappyListener50 Attack the messenger, when you don't have the acceleration, handling, or mpg facts on your side. Then to brag about your financial situation really is a little strange. Think of how rich you would be if your car could get 600+ mpg like a Chevy Volt. I too have had zero problems with my Volt after 56,000 miles, but I have only changed my oil two times. A his and her set of Pri would require oil changes every 3,000 miles....which would cost $560 each Prius. Again, you could be so rich if you drove a Volt. My Volt only cost $22,195 after rebates and I literally charge it for free. Face it, you bought the wrong car because you didn't know the Volt was this good. Next time you should test drive a Volt. Enjoy your wealth.
+semiautoriflelover1 However somebody drives a Prius, they will use far less fuel than if driving a conventional car the same way. 90 mph in a car with a drag coefficient of 0.24 is gonna be way less gas-guzzling, even before you factor in the 40% (!) thermal efficiency of the engine.
That thermal efficiency of the Atkinson Cycle gas engine you quote is approaching that of a Diesel engine, most impressive. Please advise where this is stated.
I disagree with you about the efficiency of a Diesel engine in particular. I've always been under the impression that standard gasoline engines were 30% efficient but diesel was 40%. In fact the new Honda Civic Diesel can attain 100 miles per UK gallon with careful driving and without any energy recovery systems like the Prius has. www.autoexpress.co.uk/honda/civic/92127/honda-sets-new-efficiency-record-with-100mpg-civic-run Efficiencies of over 50% are attained by large low speed Diesel engines as installed on large ships.
Ugly exterior. The center console/ gearshift looks like it's made by Little Tykes and why continue the cost-cutting compromise of putting the gauges in the middle. Any car I would buy must come without me compromising to fit the car and the dashboard is a huge compromise.
I've never been a fan of the styling of the Prius, but this has to be the ugliest design to date on this car. That back end is hideous! Then again, I guess style isn't a high concern for most people who buy a Prius.
I would love to drive this car if Toyota didn't try so hard to make it as ugly as possible. But Toyota knows their market I suppose. People who gravitate toward this styling are the self-righteous environmentalist type who spend their lives living off of the spoils of a fossil fuel economy and now suddenly have a divine calling to save the earth by driving this ghastly box.
TactileCoder No different from someone wanting the styling of their sports car to set them apart. Or someone wanting their Denali or Platinum or Raptor truck to be recognizable from a mile away from other “normal” models or vehicles. People who label others on such a generic and baseless basis should really take a step back and look around. I don’t assume every Corvette owner has a mid life crisis. Not every lifted truck driver has a Napoleon complex. I don’t think either are compensating for small dicks automatically. Then again I’m ex military, law enforcement, and nothing like the crowd you describe.. and I own a Prius. And it’s a great car for its purpose. I’ve owned sports cars, trucks etc. And I probably will again.
