Prius

Vehicle: 2012 Toyota Prius C Technology Premium Pkg
Price as tested: CDN$25340

Performance: Unlike its bigger brothers, the iconic hatchback and V. The C, or what Toyota dubbed Prius “City” is moved by a smaller 1.5 liter instead of a 1.8 liter 4-cylinder motor when mated with those lithium ion batteries underneath the rear seats. Along with the standard fanfare, which means the usual 16-valve DOHC with VVT-i variable valve timing and electronic throttle. It uses Atkinson Cycle with Toyota’s well-known Hybrid Syngery Drive. That means 99hp, which combining 60hp from electric motor and the rest on its 1.5 liter gasser. While its certainly won’t win a drag race, I can only describe it as “adequate” even by subcompact standard. However, that doesn’t mean its short of power. When you consider most Prius buyers are looking for economy instead of performance, having 99 ponies and 82 lb/ft of torque are certainly more than enough given C’s physical dimensions. When its driven on “EV mode”, its only able to do it under 40 km/h on full electric alone. “Eco” mode does reduce the usage of power, in terms of air conditioning and electronic accessories, to conserve energy. On the other hand, C continues to mated with CVT which improve hybrid efficiency. That makes for a smoother and silkier engine quality, also for better highway fuel economy. However, its not without its drawback. The use of CVT which such a small engine would mean engine noise from the get going. Other than that, C is a few of those hybrids which we got close to posted fuel economy. We were getting no less than 4.5 liters per 100km average, despite of its rather porky 2500 lb curb weight for a subcompact.

Handling: Another surpise from this City Prius is how well does it drive. It certainly won’t make you are thinking of a hot hatch. Its a few of those hybrids which have something resemblence of a “steering feel”. Its not exactly Porsche like one-with-the-road kind of steering feedback. Its steering feels crisp, responsive and provide right amount of feel through driver’s hand. When mated a well-calibrated suspension to a good chassis, C handles relatively well for a hybrid subcompact. Along with the nice steering, the ride motion has been decently handled for the most parts. Why? Because the larger 16″ wheels tend to ride quite harshly on some pavements, smaller 15″ which come standard is a better take given Prius as a comfy commuter car. Without the compliant suspension, it would make 16″ rides more harshly than what most Prius buyers needed. There are terminal understeer and quite some of body rolls, but all have been well-controlled. Toyota’s ESC acts as a decent active safety guardian whenever someone has gone crazy with this city car.

Brakes: With front discs and rear drums, along with standard ABS; C doesn’t have the usual hybrid’s regenerative braking’s abnormal behaviour. That means a crisp pedal feel without feeling numb and spongy. Everything is right whenever driver nails it, ABS acts upon at the right time is an added bonus.

Interior: When its time to package those lithium-ion batteries underneath the rear seats, Toyota engineers and designers already put lots of headaches on how to get things right. On the one hand, the hatch opens on full 90 degrees with narrow side sills and low liftover. On the flip side, the fold down rear seats seat 1-2 inch above the floor because of the batteries underneath. That means the luggage has to be flowing around between those seats.

The use of materials are not exactly great, if not exactly bad neither. The leatherette seats are well-foamed but slightly lack of thigh support. While I am not exactly fond of the digital instrumentation gauges, there is a real party trick with its center info screen. The Eco Saving screen has told you how much it cost to fill up and how much you pay for on each km. Another screen is to compare to other vehicle, say your friend’s Highlander , to see how much you have beaten it. Whether its useful is beyond my knowledge, however, its a very neat feature in this C. In the C, the gear lever is finally the conventional on the floor type rather than other Prius’s mickey mouse joystick on the dashboard.

For a subcompact, there are enough leg and headroom for two rear passengers. Just forget about the middle one with its tight quarter.

Conclusion: When I entered this test with the Prius City, I wasn’t expecting much of it. But I came out liking of what its able to provide with its tiny hybrid package. It drives rather spritiedly, as long as you get up to speed with that noisy CVT. Handles relatively well while come with a cheerful interior. Most of all, its cute-as-a-bug.

The bottom line? If the Prius C equates of what Toyota is coming out with, this automotive giant is waken up finally.

Welcome back…Toyota.

Subcompact hybrid competition: None

Subcompact competitions:
Ford Fiesta
Honda Fit
Mazda2
Hyundai Accent
Kia Rio5
Toyota Yaris

OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2012 Toyota Prius C
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Performance: 3/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 3/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 4/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 3/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 3/5
Value-for-money: 3/5

Overall rating: 3/5

Vehicle: 2012 Toyota Prius V with Touring and Technology Pkg
Price as tested: CDN$36875

Performance: Is “V” stand for Victory or Versatility with the latest addition to the Prius family? We will have the answer at the end of the test drive.

Since the V shares the same Aktinson Cycle as standard Prius, the same goes for the proven 1.8 liter DOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder. The whole system puts out a decent 134 ponies and 105 lb/ft of torque. While 105 lb/ft of torque doesn’t sound like much on paper, it delivers surprisingly amount of grunt when mesh the gas pedal. The lithium-ion batteries deliver torque in a silky smooth manners, while the transition between electric and gasoline is nothing but seamless. All have done in a typical refined Toyota fashion. The result is a hybrid package that is both silky smooth, quiet and refined which exactly is what Prius is known to deliver since day one. Press the “Econ” button on the dashboard, you are able to travel with the best fuel economy as its able to run with full electric instead of any gasoline through its process. Put into “Power” mode, V puts out surprisingly amount of grunt but at the expense of electric-only fuel economy. However, I leave at “Normal” mode for most of the time while letting the computer does the rest of the job for me. Unlike the last Lexus CT and HS which left me cold. V’s CVT actually provides surprisingly refined and quiet manners when pushed it to the max. Its also able to enhance V’s excellent fuel economy, given V is weighting in at 3274 lb.

Handling: So does a taller roofline and an extra 200 lb add any dynamic penalty to the standard Prius? Thoroughout the whole test drive, we don’t feel any difference between a Prius hatchback and V. V does surprise us a whole lot when pushed it through the paces. While the electric power steering can provide more sure-footness feel and feedback, with sharper turn-in reflexes. Its able to do its job relatively well given V’s status-in-life as a comfortable roundabout. It doesn’t lost anything to its hatchback silibing, when it comes to time to play around the corners. While you still would find Toyota’s typically detached chassis feedback, it remains solid without any annoying cracks and rattles. The chassis rigidty is world-class, as with the rest of the vehicle. There are terminal understeer and body rolls are more than acceptable. V’s ESC tends to get a bit too instrusive when pushed really hot. However, its all completely acceptable as its a hybrid family wagon instead of a sports car.

Brakes: The V has surprised us again with decent braking feel and feedback. Unlike many of the hybrids with regenerative braking system, which tends to feel numb. This system actually has some lives to its pedal feel. The stopping distance is short while pedal feels surprisingly firm in its travel. Add to the fact that ABS doesn’t step in unnecessarily is an added bonus.

Interior: The V really started to get interesting as you open the hatch. With a low liftover and minimal side instrusions, V provides better luggage space than many of those compact crossovers provide. With the rear seats up, it has up to 34.3 cubin feet of cargo space. With the rear seats fold completely flat into the floor, which we at Directshift always given nod to such a safe layout. The V is able to swallow up to 67.3 cubin feet of luggage. That’s more than Ford Escape and Chevrolet Equinox can offer.

Seating at the back of the V is equally spacious. As the rear seats are able to move forth and aft, also able to recline for maximum comfort. The more upright stance of the V has provided far superior headroom than the standard Prius. What we are really glad to see is Toyota Canada decided not to offer 3rd row position for V, unlike its Japanese domestic model. As we all known, cramming a tight 3rd row into such a compact vehicle would create “either/or” effect for both luggage and passenger space.

Up in front, V’s use of materials are much improved over the standard Prius. There are enough soft-touch plastic materials on the dashboard to justify its price. V is the first Toyota to offer its Entune multi-media interface. While its initutive enough for a Japanese product, a driver still needs to take their eyes off the road to have to control. For what its worth, its best to leave it to passenger to gain control of all those interface.

Conclusion: What the Prius does to the hybrid universe is like what MX-5 Miata does to the roadster world. Both of these cars are iconic in their respective segments. The Prius “V” definitely stands for both “Victory” and “Versatility”. Not only does it adds the extra dose of versatility on top of the attractive interior, it also handles relatively well with refined power delivery. All have done without losing the economy and efficiency one associates with the Prius franchise. In fact, the V is so good. If I were Toyota, I would start to worry about its Matrix sales.

Competitions:
VW Golf TDI wagon
Mercedes B200
Toyota Matrix

OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2012 Toyota Prius V
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Performance: 4/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 4/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 4/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 4/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 5/5
Value-for-money: 4/5

Overall rating: 4/5

Vehicle: 2010 Toyota Prius with Premium Pkg w/Solar Panels
Price as tested: CDN$31100

Performance: Instead of using a 1.5 liter as with the previous Prius, the latest version comes with a 1.8 liter 16-valve VVT-i. On the gasoline side, the Prius has 98hp and 105 lb/ft of torque. On the other hand, Prius’s Hybrid Synergy Drive has an additional 80 ponies and 153 lb/ft of torque with those batteries. The result is a Prius that finally has some performance along with being economical. With 153 lb/ft on tap when the batteries start working, the Prius has some get-up-and-go on bottom end acceleration. The improvement from a 1.5 to a 1.8 liter has also helped Prius’s mid-range acceration. As one would expect from a Toyota hybrid, the transition between electric and gasoline are seamless. The whole system has been engineered exceptionally well. All the driver can tell from the transition between electric and gasoline is from the center screen on the center console. However, the upgraded from a more economical 1.5 to 1.8 liter has spoken a huge problem for Prius’s so-called environment friendly status. The fuel economy already not matched or even closed to official figure with the previous car. The latest generation is even more disappointing. During the day of our test drive, we had an average of 8 liters per 100km, that’s pretty far cry from Toyota’s official fuel economy. That’s even with the use of a Continuously Variable Transmission that is dedicated to hybrid application. Perhaps Toyota should engineered the “EV” mode that is able to allow driver to travel more than 1.5 mile, even under normal driving conditions. That should improve Prius’s fuel economy a whole lot more. Or better yet, combined both “EV” and “Eco” modes altogether for full electric power. The “power” mode is all but redundant if you are buying a Prius. If you want a performance-oriented family sedan, Prius shouldn’t be on the shopping list. That’s primarily because “power” doesn’t really improve its throttle or engine response. To make things worse, it just use more gasoline cause that mode no longer relies back to electricity. Everyone know use pure electric mode is the only way to can drive a hybrid closer to fuel economy rating. Otherwise, why not just buying a standard gasoline-powered car? Hmmmmmmm……..

Handling: While the Prius has a solid and stiff chassis for suspension components to hang its heads. One shouldn’t expect it to have sports sedan-esque handling dynamics. If you treat it as a family sedan, Prius has done it relatively well. The electric power steering has Toyota’s usual numb feedback, it also feels imprecise. The steering makes it feels like there is a plastic between the steering and the wheels. Completely devoid of anything called road feel and feedback. The overall dynamic feels more benign than entertaining, although it is completely understandable consider Prius’s status-of-life as a family car. As one expects from Toyota, its Vehicle Stability Control has stepped in quite abruptly when pushed. There are plenty of body rolls and terminal understeer. The biggest forte of the Prius has to be its ride quality. Although its far from being supple, it has cushioned both driver and passengers exceptionally well. That’s especially true on all those roughness and patholes which we called Canadian roads.

Brakes: With Prius’s regenerative braking system, even with 4-wheel discs and standard ABS. The pedal feels only average. That’s despite its already a huge improvement over previous car’s numb pedal feel. The modulation has slightly improved at the same time. But we have to give credit that ABS doesn’t step in unnecessarily with unwanted intervention.

Interior: Prius’s most appealing aspect has to be its hatchback design. With the rear seats fold down, you can put everything else at the back without breaking a sweat. A low lift floor with wide opening for easy access is an added bonus.

The rest of the interior is decently layout. Everything else from automatic climate control to the user-friendly infomation center in the center console. Driver can also control both climate and stereo on the multi-function steering wheel. While the joystick shifter looks hard to used on first hand, its very easy to get used to. On our particular model, it comes with a solar roof panel that help pre-cool the interior during hot sunny day. However, the use of plastic materials have left a-lot-to-be-desired with it comes to fitment and molding quality. Consider Prius’s price of $31k, I expect something a whole lot better at this price ladder. Another area worth criticising is the rear visibility, you can only see a portion with the rear view mirror. Without back-up camera, Prius is pretty hard to live with its rear slightlines.

Conclusion: Its hard to replace a car that has been considered a class benchmark. Its even harder to replace one that has been generally considered as an icon in the hybrid segment. It ain’t broke, Toyota just made it even better. If you like the outgoing car, the new one will be even more appealing.

OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2010 Toyota Prius
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Performance: 4/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 2.25/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 4.5/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 4/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 4/5
Value-for-money: 3/5

Overall rating: 3.5/5