There is a this annoying ongoing trend in automotive journalism ( mainly British ) where ride comfort is not duly emphasised upon . There are so many of us that aspire to drive from point A to B in quiet comfort and are not particularly enthused by large wheels , low profile tyres , hard sports suspension and seats and 0-60 sub 5 second times . Carmakers seem to like it and dish all the above at inflated prices . Thats is the reason I now watch this channel as opposed to British car journalism . Prius is a good car undoubtedly and your review is spot on .
+Manish Vishnoi very good point.we always recommend rather a more comfortable ride with not so big rims not the super sport suspension and also without bucket seats.because after all you drive this car on the road and not on the racetrack
Autogheuful - guys a request, can we do a segment on the most comfortable cars on the road - I understand it's not easy with the variety and the various price points . In addition it's hard to objectively measure a subjective feeling but it'll be a great and unique review and may throw some surprising recommendations
The B-mode is not only for more regeneration, the brake pedal will regenerate just as much. The point of the B-mode is to brake on the combustion engine when the battery is full to avoid overheating the brakes, normally when going down a long and steep descent, like you would on a traditional fixed ratio transmission.
***** Yes absolutely, but the most important reason for it being there is the engine braking. Without it, you would overheat the brakes, as there is no other way to control the rpms of the combustion engine.
***** Yes, at first. But eventually the battery will be fully charged and can no longer absorb the energy, depending on the length of the descent and the state of charge in the battery, and at that point the combustion engine rpm will rise suddenly to use the engine compression to brake, just like you would use a lower gear in a car with fixed transmission ratios.
ahh great, got that now thanks! Even more interesting: Talking about electric motors just on one axle or as AWD, if you have them on both axles, they should also make a stronger recuperation possible, as the wheels then turn the motors for the recuperation. So e.g. the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid should make a stronge recuperation possible as AWD model, shouldnt it?
+Andrei Piatra Yeah you're right. I thought they went out of style in the '90's. At least no drag inducing fake air intakes which every designer feels is a must design feature.
In the USA, there is NO real leather, only "Softex," the Toyota fake leather. It's excellent quality, and animal friendly as well as ecologically sourced. I don't think the German models offer real leather, either, but I could be wrong. Thanks! We're getting the 2017 Prius 4 soon for my family car :)
Good review overall ! The errors on specs , the lower LED's are fog lights ,the running lights are integrated in the headlights . The battery is a 1.8 lithium ion in all trims but the lower end Model two only which is the original battery technology. Here in the US. The 1.8 liter engine has been totally reworked to be lighter and 40 percent efficient to include the reworked hybrid drive train. I've been driving the Toyota Prius two Eco ver and have been achieving in the low 60 MPG range on avg. with no problem here in the US. With the ECO ver. Of the car. Toyota does not sell a leather option in the Prius it's Faux leather in upper trim lines Thanks enjoyed the review Joe
So we checked some stuff again... According to official Toyota figures fuel consumption and CO2 emissions could be lowered by 20 percent compared to the drivetrain of the third generation vehicle. The maximum thermal efficiency of the combustion engine could be raised to 40 percent - Toyota claims that to be the best value among all engines currently produced worldwide. That compares to 37 percent on the first generation 1.5 litre power plant and 38.5 percent of the third generation Prius. Finally we have no information that Toyota uses Lithium Ion batteries in the car - at least in European versions there is still a Nickel Metal Hydrid pack but it has become more compact and can therefore be installed beneath the rear seat bench. According to the position of the daytime running lights and foglight we will double-check but believe that we were indeed mislead here.
Very good review, well balanced, some missinformation, like about B mode. It was corrected in comments. I drove this car and it was nice. Design is not boring like many other cars.
today the other Thomas - nice :) If You have not a job like a detective, i guess the Honda Jazz in front was Thomas W. I like the concept of Toyota Hybrid very much because it the best compromise for the moment.
Toyota doesn't use leather in the Prius, it's softex which is starting to replace leather in higher spec cars cross the Toyota range. Softex is great especially for families with young children.
"Your, um, premium resource for in-depth car reviews." Just rolls off the tongue. :P Good to see Thomas Imho again, but Thomas Majchrzak needs to work with him on that intro. :) Solid review as always guys!
I would suggest that you would spend a full day with the car before reviewing it on RU-vid. Maybe you can edit the misinformation or mistakes which would make for a better presentation.
Great review, Thomas, and agreed about the avoidance of leather. But the interior looks cheap for the high cost of the car, and other (admittedly smaller) hatchbacks will do similar mileage without the smug hoo-ha that the Prius makes of its economy. Personally, I prefer the look of the Kia Niro and would be prepared to sacrifice a bit of efficiency to avoid the horrible design of the Prius. Maybe it's a safety feature that the car looks like it has already been crashed?
Thanks Thomas, excellent review. Funny that you guys come out with this review, just as I was watching some other videos about this car! I love the technology in this car, and the interior is also quite nice (especially the two-tone color option that exists). About the exterior I have mixed feelings as well, but apparently the opposite of the reviewer! :-) I got used to the front, can live with the back, but the side profile is hideous to me. As if two different cars were combined; the front half does not go with the back part at all. Hopefully Toyota will use the tech in another model as well. One with a bit more conservative look for the less adventurous buyers! :-)
Never really understood the hype about the Prius. You can go down close to the mentioned 4,5 L/100km with a Volkswagen/Audi 1,6-or below TDI without the hybrid stuff which brings weight and cost with it.
.. only one thing I can't understand - why I spend 30 k for an Prius when Toyota offer the Auris Touring Sport Hybrid for 23 k? I guess the technology is near the same?
4.6l real consumption compared to 3.0l stated consumption means it uses 50% more fuel than they claim. that in my opinion is nothing more than a scam on Toyota's part. I thought my bmw's ~8.7l real consumption compared to 6.4l claimed, was bad, but this is a lot worse.
Toyota's hybrid concept was made for the Japanese market. And in Japan it's not allowed to drive more than 100km/h. If you don't drive more than 100km/h with this car then you will be rewarded with a consumption of 3,5 - 4,0 l/100km.
i own one and i get 65MPG and many times a can get 70+ mpg. As for the design its a hate it or love it. Comfort is great. not like a mercedes but its very good.
First it's because I think dark colors are more elegant looking. Second because I think that bright white color, contrasting with the rest of the interior, is just not pleasant to my eye. Third because I believe the white will look scratched and dirty after a while. I think it looks cheap. We have other reasons why we purchased a new 2015 (already have a 2008) Prius over the 2016. - Toyota lowered the height of the car and seating position by almost 2". I prefer a taller car - Toyota designed out the upper glove box, made the lower glove box smaller, and eliminated some small storage spaces. - Three of the 6 trim levels don't have a spare tire reducing options - No 12V connector on the console - Less rear seat legroom than the 2015 - Increase in mpg rating was not enough to justify over other considerations - We didn't like the general look of the center stack
I've been driving one of these for 4 months now while away for work, I normally drive the all electric VW eGolf. This car however is strange... It can't make up its mind what it is or what power train to use. The EV mode is useless, if you move your foot at all it shuts off, if your coasting it shuts off, when ever you want it , it's 'not available'... I'm driving the right hand drive version and the wiper on the rear is still in left hand position, so the wiper doesn't clean my view and I always mistake it for a car in my blind spot. The power mode is definitely the mode of choice, but it is a bit misleading for how much noise it makes vs how fast it's actually going (not very). I do like the HUD feature, and the adaptive cruise, but those are basic now. The interior is very roomy, even with 3 kids across the back. The exterior is , well, hideous. The nose has so much going on, the sides have nothing, then the back is off a different car altogether! It makes the old Prius look handsome. I can't wait to get back to my eGolf, for many reasons,, including not having to go to a gas station every again!
Two words about the eGolf......range anxiety. Here in the US, electric cars will not be a really viable and accepted form of automobiles until the solid state batteries are mainstream. I'm talking less than 5 minute charge times and ranges of 500 to 1000 miles per charge. Until then, the hybrid form is way better at this moment in time.
That's a common misconception. See here: www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/leather-is-more-than-a-by-product-of-the-meat-industry/ Furthermore, does it matter, _why_ an innocent being is killed?
Thanks, I will read it as soon as I can. Obviously the incentive to kill animals is strongest if there are multiple reasons to do it. Beside that I would say, as long as leather is significatively heavier than fabric, a proper 'green car' shouldn't use leather
Toyota macht einen guten Job und denkt mit. Wenn dem Priusfahrer schlecht wird, weil er seine hässliche Schüssel nicht mehr erträgt, kann er sich direkt in der Mittelkonsole in dem Spülbecken erleichtern. Top!
They can't justify this monstrosity of design by saying it's better this way to be aerodynamic. The CLA has a lower drag coefficient and it looks beautiful. Toyota is just trying to justify the hideous design or they were just too lazy to design something that looked good AND had a good drag coefficient.
cw is pretty much the same, 0.22 (as mercedes states, other sources tend to evaluate it higher) and the prius is 0.24. That being said, different cla models have different drag coefficient. Other cla models have higher values up to 0.30. if you just change the tires, which you have to for some stronger motors, it's already a different story, so I wouldnt overrate all that. Better value to compare is mpg.
not my design. trying to Be a sportscar on exterior but in fact made for housewives. also very expensive. a 32k budget can get you a bmw3 series for that money. and that Standard has rainsensor....
BMW3 series is not as reliable as the Prius. The BMW also depreciates a lot quicker than the Prius. It also is not as efficient as the Prius. Yeah the BMW is a really nice car.....but for the long haul, I choose the Prius.
Form follows function. That is what the new Prius does. I like the design as it is one of the best as far as aerodynamics goes. I have a 2018 Prius 4 and it is very efficient with me getting around 65 MPG. It is easy to do by watching speed and acceleration. It has lots of room in the back so I can haul lots of things I need to in it. I had a generation 3 Prius 2 and it was good.....this one is really much better overall. Safety features like collision avoidance and adaptive cruise control makes this car so much better than previous versions.
Thanks for the efforts to make this review. the ugliest car ever built, monster car, zombie car, or dracula car, if this car appears suddenly in front of you,it could gives you a heart attack...very scary ugly weird car, I really can't find the right vocabulary to describe my feelings and disappointment about this car. I don't care about aerodynamics, this thing is really ugly. Thanks for the efforts to make this review.
