So, do I like this car?
Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon
After about 250 miles and ~54.x MPG, I think "maybe". It's nice to rent, but I would I want to own one?
Pros:
Of course, FE
Great Handling: feels light and maneuverable
Base models come well equipped with safety and amenities
Nice heads-up display for the speed, and center control screen is modern
Cons:
Great FE comes with technique (something John Q. Public isn't generally going to do), but it's better than nothing.
Complicated drive mechanism and battery set. Rough operation (engine and transitional engagement)
There's about 1mm of padding for your elbows -- kinda cheap for an interior.
I really enjoyed driving this car -- it'll be tough giving it back tomorrow. Climbing mountainous grades and coasting back down on my scenic drive in Oregon was a pleasant trip. But over the course, it became apparent that the Prius might leave too much to the machine and less to the driver.
There are groups out there getting great mileage in these cars, I agree. I really respect the feature of coasting up to a traffic light with the engine off, and having it start-up automatically to build speed -- but how does this compare with the essence of a Civic VX, for example? I like running through the gears, feeling more connected with the road, and being able to modify a well-understood blueprint. But at the same time, it nearly doubles the FE in my daily driver.
With the Prius, you don't know what to expect. You can definitely feel the ICE kick-in when you need it. Keeping up with traffic requires more fuel than I'd like. The CVT-HSD is unnerving at times + the regenerative braking is a bit gruff. It's hard to drive smoothly. Plus, I expected more EV-only power, especially from a standing start -- it was weak, and generally prompted the engine to kick in. EV-only operation is a slow-go.
So, if you can master hypermiling in other cars, this one is no different. P&G and "Warp-Stealth" is a piece of cake. Making a significant improvement over EPA compared to a regular gasser, will be very difficult.
I honestly don't want to discourage folks from buying this car. It helps with FE, emissions, and advances the technology in each generation of vehicle. I just don't think I'll be running to the Toyota dealer tomorrow to buy one. Perhaps as the technology evolves and branches out into different models, it will appeal to this driver. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it...
Shepperd's Dell -- Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
RH77
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Linear Mode
