Broke drives a hybrid

[Broke_as_****]

As I had to travel a bit for a particular job my company is working on, I had a range of company cars from which to choose. A few older cars they own (93 Taurus, 95 Cherokee, 98 Intrepid, etc), perhaps one of the 4X4 Chevy 2500 survey trucks, one of the several 03-04 Ford Escapes (driven one before, not bad at all) or one of the new hybrids they just got in, namely a Toyota Prius or a Toyota Highlander. There were no Highlanders around so into the Prius I went.



Starting the car: An adventure in itself.



Like a lot of German cars these days the Prius doesn't use a key cylinder for ignition. You put the whole alarm stick into a slot on the dash and then press the "Power" button. From a cold start, one button press will boot up the computer, battery and prime the gas engine while turning on the radio and such, just as if you'd turned your car key to "Accesory". Another push will bring up the heads up display and make the car ready to drive. The shifter, as you can see if just a little knob on the dash. Like any other automatic, just put your foot on the brake and push the selector knob where you want it to go. Since it's primarily an electric motor car you won't notice anything when you start it, even putting the car into gear produces only the slightest of bumps until you let your foot off the brake and it slowly begins to move.

Driving

Having gotten under way, the Prius drives like just about any other small front wheel drive car. The electric motor provide slow but very steady acceleration. It's somewhat deceptive because you push on the throttle and after a few seconds go by that seem like nothing has really happened you glance down at the HUD to see you've accelerated a decent amount. Stomping on the throttle doesn't have much effect other than the small 1.5 liter gas engine revving up. You get the definate feeling that with additional passengers or a transmission in the trunk that acceleration might drop from "nicely adequate" to "35hp VW bus slow".

The brakes are touchy but awesome. The regular hydraulic brakes are standard small car stuff, nothing to get excited about, however the car uses a regenerative system. That means when braking the electric motors are turned into generators, dragging on the wheels and slowing the car while they put juice back into the battery. The effect is the brakes are wonderfully powerful for a car this size, brake fade is non-existent and the pedal feel is nice and linear. The only thing that could use some work is that the electric motors switch from pushing to dragging is abrupt unless you use a very light touch on the pedal and since it's still a small car with soft suspension (relatviely stiff to other small cars but still on the soft side compared to anything else) the brake dive with this powerful system is very noticable.

The ride is fairly stiff for a small car but not terrible over rough pavement or bumps in the road. Apparently this helps a lot as the Prius was devoid of the loose floating feeling most cars it's size get. On the highway that disconnected feeling is still there but not nearly as bad as most light front wheel drive cars. The steering is pretty numb, you don't get a bit of what the front tires are doing, but it's direct enough as not to cause concern. Steering effort is pretty good, as most cars have some kind of speed sensitive power assist these days, light in the parking lot and just firm enough on the freeway.

The small kick that occurs when the gasoline motor turns on or off is noticable the first day or so then begins to fade into the background until you have to be looking for it to feel it. However I didn't get used to sitting at a stop light with no sound or feel of a running motor. You understand logically what is going on but some part of your brain is still trying to tell you the engine has stalled.

Interior



Pretty well appointed for a car designed to be as light as possible. Toyota is undoubtedly the master of cheap plastic that doesn't look like cheap plastic. A simple touch will reveal the interior components true construction but at just a passing glance you might mistake it for much nicer stuff. Seats are nice though very upright, coming from sitting in the Z with it's extremely laid back drivers seat, the Prius feels like a bar stool. It is pretty comfortable though, and even without a lot of side bolstering the grippy material keeps you planted.

Controls are centered around the touch screen moniter that usually displays the flow of power, battery condition and MPG read out. Pressing one of the buttons around the screen brings up a vast range of options for that topic (audio, climate control, etc). Steering wheel mounted audio and air controls are nice. The only two complaints I have are that it takes a definate reach to use the touch screen and it's requires a decent amount of concentration that distracts you from driving. Also the turn signal and wiper control stalks are pretty much hidden by the steering wheel, making some of the adjustments a pain the first few times.

Exterior



Not too much to go over on this however the boxy upright styling means it's large flat sides catch a lot of wind, making the car prone to getting shifted around in it's lane under a hard gust. The little black piece under the third brake light is actually tinted glass. Without that additional length on bottom the rearward visibility through the rear view mirror would be a bit less than that of the Z. As it is it's bisected by the winglet/third brake light/trunk edge and is adequate but not great.

Overall

It would be pretty decent for just being a small car but with the addition of the hybrid system its probably the best in it's class. The hybrid system is under contention though. Toyota and the EPA list the car at around 50 MPG however most owners get in the low 40s. That might not sound like too big a deal however the hybrid Prius is almost $10,000 more than a new Corolla that will get in the mid 30 range for gas mileage. Even if you were getting 50 mpg it would take years to make up the difference in cost.

If you were looking for a small car with the definate prerequiste that it's a hybrid then the Prius is probably the car to pick. If you aren't going to demand that electric motor, even though it would still be towards the head of the pack, it would no longer be the class leader.

[Yaggus]

One of the more interesting articles I have read on a non sports are recently :P

Very well written!

How much do they sell for over in the US for?

[Broke_as_****]

Originally Posted by Yaggus

One of the more interesting articles I have read on a non sports are recently :P

Very well written!

If you think that was well written...well, thanks but...you poor person. I am but a humble internet scribe that can do little more than post a shadow of decent writing. I can direct you to some choice literature that actually is well written if you'd like.

How much do they sell for over in the US for?

According to toyota.com MSRP on a no frills Prius is $22,175. However for a long time they were going for quite a bit over sticker because the demand was so high. I don't know what it's like now but I can't imagine even a worst case senario with taxes figured in is still over $25,000.

[k3smostwanted]

hybrid vehicles has to be one of the gayest automotive topics ever.

[DeleriousZ]

uh oh... J's drunk again...

[Yaggus]

Originally Posted by DeleriousZ

uh oh... J's drunk again...

What makes you say that??

And Broke,

We dont get them sold new over here but we can import and comply them.

For a 98 model Prius with 25,000kms its only about $14,800AUD which is only like 11,500US.

Originally Posted by Broke_as_****

If you think that was well written...well, thanks but...you poor person. I am but a humble internet scribe that can do little more than post a shadow of decent writing. I can direct you to some choice literature that actually is well written if you'd like.

Well I was more implying that your posting is normally a cut above most of the crap I read on forums. You actually tak the time to explain everything in detail and actually manage to have an objective view on things. Thats more than I can say about another regular poster on this forum

[Broke_as_****]

Originally Posted by Yaggus

Well I wasn't tying to imply that your post was "good", I was trying to get across that it's....less stupid than most of the crap I read on the forums.

Thanks dude.

[k3smostwanted]

Originally Posted by Yaggus

Thats more than I can say about another regular poster on this forum

whatever dude...this forum is dead and boring. i used to try to be informative and helpful and insightful but when nobody is posting or needs any input the forum kinda dies. it makes it much more fun to joke around between online "friends" but i guess some people just cant take the sarcasm.

[Yaggus]

Originally Posted by k3smostwanted

whatever dude...this forum is dead and boring. i used to try to be informative and helpful and insightful but when nobody is posting or needs any input the forum kinda dies. it makes it much more fun to joke around between online "friends" but i guess some people just cant take the sarcasm.

I never mentioned any names... one suspects a guilty concience....

And If your going to use me as a referee for selling things you should trying to be very nice to me....

[k3smostwanted]

Originally Posted by Yaggus

I never mentioned any names... one suspects a guilty concience....

And If your going to use me as a referee for selling things you should trying to be very nice to me....

pardon me for bringing back an old thread but I never saw this...

Yag, thanks for vouching for my services. Turbos and injectors were sold without a gliche.