Initial impressions

I picked up my Prius at the dealer today, and drove it 107 miles with an average MPG of 46.0, including driving over a 2500 foot mountain and back on I-64. I really liked the vehicle's performance. The displays teach you how to drive it for best MPG pretty quickly. The car got about 25 MPG going up the mountain at 65 MPH. For highway driving, I think the cruise control probably gets better MPG than I could, and with no effort on my part.

I really appreciate the lack of a multi-gear-ratio transmission. Power transfer from primarily electric to primarily gas and from discharging to charging is undetectable without watching the display. The computer does a great job of matching up the electric vs gas engine power curves for smooth acceleration and deceleration.

I didn't do any hard driving, so as to push the tire grip limits or activate the ABS or traction control systems. That said, I did have fun driving the vehicle tonight. I'll try some more challenging roads sometime later.

The steering is quite responsive, and well designed. It takes a bit of getting used to, not to wander back and forth on the highway, if you are coming from a larger car with more play in the steering.

The car certainly does have a blind spot to the left rear. I was coming off a ramp, after dark, onto the highway, and the car which was to my left rear, which I'm sure had its headlights on the whole time, just jumped out of nowhere. It was as though it snuck up with its headlights off, and then suddenly turned them on just as it came up to my left rear. You do have to watch your mirrors and stay alert.

I enjoyed the A/C system's ability to maintain a set temperature. Coming from a car with manual controls, and having to adjust the A/C-heat balance fairly often, this is great.

I haven't used the radio a lot, but I enjoyed the performance of the CD player. It is not in the same ballpark as my home stereo, but it was not in any way disappointing. I was not playing any heavy duty rock tonight, so I don't know how it performs when pushed hard. It did fine with the vocals, jazz, and small classical stuff I played tonight. I found it worthwile to adjust the front/rear and left/right balance with a familiar recording to get a good soundstage from the drivers position. It did, however, sound quite good before I made this adjustment.

Don't read the owner's manual if you are tired. It isn't a manual so much as a large novel. This car has more modes just to unlock and lock the doors and to signal you to every possible situation pertaining thereto than any car you have ever seen. It would have been far better to select these modes from the color display in the car than to push combinations of door buttons and key fob switches to change between opening modes, listening for beep codes from the car to figure out what you just did.

All in all, it is a beautiful vehicle, and it impressed me with its comforts, its handling, and its seeming stability, given its size and weight. I'd recommend it to any average driver for average driving without reservation, as long as I thought they could handle the idea of a computer controlled car with no classic transmission.

Paul

Reply to
Paul Missman
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I had one other comment, and one question:

I drive 107 miles tonight at an average of 46 MPG. This should a bit over 2 gallons of gas. However, the gas guage still indicates full. So, for you guys that have been driving one for awhile - How linear is that gas guage? Does it stay near full for a long time, and then suddenly plunge towards empty?

The comment was this:

With all the fancy technology that went into this car, you'd think there would be an alarm to keep you from engaging the transmission with the park brake on. Nope. I pulled proudly away from the house tonight with the brake drums screaming. With those electric motors delivering great torque at low RPM, you sure can drag those brakes!

Paul

Reply to
Paul Missman

Not very.

Yes, but when it hits three bars or less, it stays on a bar for a longer time than with the middle bars.

Reply to
Michelle Steiner

It helps to use the Car Talk method for adjusting all the rear-view mirrors.

Reply to
richard schumacher

Many report something like that. The gas gauge is not very linear, perhaps an effect of the bladder used inside the tank. The owner's manual recommends not getting below 1/4 tank to avoid any chance of exposing the fuel pump. When the last gauge pip starts flashing that's your final warning, and you should get gas immediately because you may run out at any time. Driving on battery only after running out of gas is very hard on the battery, and it won't take you more than about a mile anyway.

There is a brake warning light on the console.

Reply to
richard schumacher

I HATE those damn displays! I suppose, if I owned one for a while I would learn to KEEP MY EYES ON THE ROAD, but for the week I had one to drive it was like a magnet drawing my eyes to it!

It is a nifty tool for squeezing mileage out of the vehicle, though.

Reply to
Hachiroku

The "Car Talk" method?

knowing those two, I'm afraid to ask...

Reply to
Hachiroku

Lean to the right and adjust your right mirror so that you can just see the right rear corner of the car, then lean to the left and do the same for the left mirror. It works for me.

Kari

Reply to
kari

Is there something you say to your car while doing this or does the nav lady do the talking?

Reply to
Ingenuous

Interesting...I have been doing this for years and have never heard them mention it!

Reply to
Hachiroku

What do you mean? What Kari described is the method. (Uhh, the car is parked while doing this, of course...)

Reply to
richard schumacher

I think that he doesn't realize that "Car Talk" is a radio show that proposed the method--either that or he's joking about "car talk method."

Reply to
Michelle Steiner

It was called the "car talk method". :-)

Reply to
Calidous

Right. I love click and clack.

Reply to
Calidous

And every time we say it Sylvia Poljoli threatens to quit, but this is National Public Radio...

Reply to
Hachiroku

She must be one of the bravest on this planet.

Reply to
Calidous

D'ohh!! Ya got me.

Reply to
richard schumacher

Sylvia Poggioli

Regards

Reply to
AC

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Even includes illustrations!

Reply to
mrv

I've had more time with the Prius now, so I have a few more comments.

(This is a 2005. package 4 Prius.)

The stereo is excellent. I've played all sorts of music on it now, and it has handled it all well. My guess is that they designed the doors specifically to match the charicteristics of the bass drivers. The upper range speakers have separate enclosures, at about ear level, just to the driver's left and passenger's right. There may be separate power amps for the low and high range speakers, since, when the bass is pushed hard, the treble doesn't seem to get any distortion.

I've been getting a bit over 45 MPG on mostly highway driving. I love the fact that it runs on regular unleaded gas.

I haven't changed the tire pressure, and I doubt that I will. I've done some pretty good cornering. The tires do not lose traction, and I'm satisfied with the gas milage.

I put the door unlocking system in mode 2, so that it unlocks all of the doors at the same time.

I like the idea that there is no power steering fluid to leak, since the steering is electric.

I found the free tie down straps in a bag in the lower luggage compartment. I had thought that these were an extra cost item.

It accelerates fast enough for me, and seems quick enough to get out of the way in most emergency situations. I believe that thanks for this goes to the torque provided by the electric motors. The overall power curve is very smooth, and you can get power on demand at any speed.

The forward visability is great. It alsmost feels like I'm in my Piper Tomahawk, and that if I just pulled back on the wheel, the Prius would do a smooth takeoff from the roadway.

Despite having fixed lumbar support, the seats are very comfortable for me.

One thing I haven't been able to determine from looking at the owner's manual or under the hood: Does the Prius have a 14 volt alternator to recharge the 12 volt battery, or do they have some sort of isolated recharge circuit from the 500 volt system to keep it charged?

The internal esthetics of the car are almost flawless and cohesive. The symetrical layout of the passenger's and driver's side dashboard makes for a great look and feel. Everything feels like it is exactly where it should be. The only exception, as noted by another owner, is that is is inconvienient to have the cruise control rotate with the wheel. If it would stay put, like the headlight and wiper controls, it would be both more available and out of harms way.

I really do love the car. It is an exceptionally well thought out, futuristic design, that is both comfortable and functional. Its reduction of wear-prone moving parts should improve the reliability over most other hybrid and non-hybrid automobiles. The design team at Toyota really did a great job on this car.

Paul

P.S. I don't really mean to sound like a salesman for the Prius. However, Toyota has done such a good design job, that it is difficult to find much to criticise.

The one thing that could use serious work is the owner's manual. Information that should be in one place is scattered throughout the manual. If they had taken a more systematic approach, it would be easier to find what you are looking for, and to determine what is missing entirely.

Reply to
Paul Missman

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