I never took a Toyota Prius seriously or wanted to drive one. After all, all of the reviews online say that they're "slow", numb, etc. So I was really surprised when I borrowed my parents' Prius when they went on a vacation. I promised to change oil.
The good:
1. You get 47-48mpg fuel economy fairly reliably. No longer you need to question "should I take a 10 mile round trip to supermarket to get salad dressing and milk?". Drive it like a maniac, you still still should get at least 40mpg.
2. Tiny turning circle. This thing can make a u-turn pretty much anywhere.
3. It's a nice zippy car for suburban driving. The steering wheel is light and responsive. The throttle response is more than adequate. While it is said that the car's 0-60mph time is around 10 seconds, which itself is not too bad for a compact, the throttle feels a lot more responsive. Floor it at any speed, and there is no drama, no hesitation in transmission, nothing. The car simply takes off. The torque is pretty adequate at any speed. The only place where I felt deficiency in power is when trying to overtake a stubborn and unyielding 18 wheeler on a narrow 2-lane road with three passengers. I think any car loaded car with 4-cylinder engine would stumble here.
4. The packaging is great. The external dimensions are those of a compact car, so it's very easy to park and taxi around tight areas. But it seats 4 adults comfortably. The rear leg room is decent. This is done at the expense of the trunk space. The trunk is small, but you can always fold the rear seat to carry an oversize cargo.
5. The car is a decent highway cruiser. The car feels slower than it really is driving. You don't feel high speed until you're driving at like 75-80mph.
The bad:
1. The car feels a little bit tin canish. I can clearly see where the corners were cut to make the car lighter. The road and wind noise are above average. Despite a fairly decent stock audio system, the speakers are struggling to overcome the road noise above 70mph. As a car audio enthusiast, I think some of this can be fixed by a professional car audio shop or yourself. The floor needs to be treated with layers of CLD, like dynamat or raammat, CCF, and MLV. The doors and maybe the roof also need the treatment IMO. This will increase the weight, but not by much.
2. There are no power seats in the base 24K "Prius Two" model. In fact, the "Three" trim with the navi system still does not have power seats. You need to jump to the more upscale "Four" trim, with MSRP 4 grand above the "Two" trim, to get the power seats. With MSRP over 28K, suddenly this does not seem such a great value, although the Four trim is well equipped (you get navigation system, premium audio, power seats with premium material, etc).
The good:
1. You get 47-48mpg fuel economy fairly reliably. No longer you need to question "should I take a 10 mile round trip to supermarket to get salad dressing and milk?". Drive it like a maniac, you still still should get at least 40mpg.
2. Tiny turning circle. This thing can make a u-turn pretty much anywhere.
3. It's a nice zippy car for suburban driving. The steering wheel is light and responsive. The throttle response is more than adequate. While it is said that the car's 0-60mph time is around 10 seconds, which itself is not too bad for a compact, the throttle feels a lot more responsive. Floor it at any speed, and there is no drama, no hesitation in transmission, nothing. The car simply takes off. The torque is pretty adequate at any speed. The only place where I felt deficiency in power is when trying to overtake a stubborn and unyielding 18 wheeler on a narrow 2-lane road with three passengers. I think any car loaded car with 4-cylinder engine would stumble here.
4. The packaging is great. The external dimensions are those of a compact car, so it's very easy to park and taxi around tight areas. But it seats 4 adults comfortably. The rear leg room is decent. This is done at the expense of the trunk space. The trunk is small, but you can always fold the rear seat to carry an oversize cargo.
5. The car is a decent highway cruiser. The car feels slower than it really is driving. You don't feel high speed until you're driving at like 75-80mph.
The bad:
1. The car feels a little bit tin canish. I can clearly see where the corners were cut to make the car lighter. The road and wind noise are above average. Despite a fairly decent stock audio system, the speakers are struggling to overcome the road noise above 70mph. As a car audio enthusiast, I think some of this can be fixed by a professional car audio shop or yourself. The floor needs to be treated with layers of CLD, like dynamat or raammat, CCF, and MLV. The doors and maybe the roof also need the treatment IMO. This will increase the weight, but not by much.
2. There are no power seats in the base 24K "Prius Two" model. In fact, the "Three" trim with the navi system still does not have power seats. You need to jump to the more upscale "Four" trim, with MSRP 4 grand above the "Two" trim, to get the power seats. With MSRP over 28K, suddenly this does not seem such a great value, although the Four trim is well equipped (you get navigation system, premium audio, power seats with premium material, etc).
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