Prius V with solar roof?

2 mpg hit for 17"?? Wow, is it that much? Hmm, i am getting smack-on EPA ratings. My brother with IV is getting a bit better than EPA...this explains it! Oh well, EPA rating is OK for me.

 

Too many factors and variables to compare two different drivers in two different locations. For a better comparison, you would need to drive his car for a week on your same usual route to really see how they compare.

But yes, a 2mpg reduction is the most common number I've seen quoted for 15" vs. 17". I cannot speak from personal experience, only what I've read on the internet. I can tell you that I've personally seen a 2mpg reduction in my own Prius due to getting new tires (Michelin HydroEdge). So, yes, I believe the 2mpg number.

 

As I understood it, it would have resulted in a lower MPG figure for the fully loaded option. That lower mileage figure would have been detrimental for advertising, where Toyota would either have to use the lower figure or explain the two-mileage situation. They took the easy way out and kept it at one mileage figure. It's all a game.

Tom

 

Really? Then why isn't it offered in Japan?

 

Exactly. The weight thing was just a baseless rumor.

 

integrity of structure and weight seem to be related in my education ;-) In the UK they don't do it as the combination would take the emissions rating into another category and you start paying more tax, more fuel etc and then what is the point and then there are 'better' cars on the road....

The sporty look comment made me laugh though...As long as you look at the roof maybe, but then you look at those silly little 15" wheels with more rubber on them then a working girls bedside drawer, and you just can't stop yourself from laughing....

 

Could be worse. Could be like Ford consistently hawking their 'Fusion' by citing the hybrid mileage and then the $8,000 lower base (non-hybrid) price in pretty much every form of advertising for their car. They like to show off the big trunk on the non-hybrid right after quoting 41MPG, and neglect to mention hybrid trunk is 33% filled with battery (and you lose some rear seat room) and you lose the fold-down rear seats, too.

Double-checking their web site, they finally put separate MPGs up on the front page after months of displaying the high MPG and the low price.

I even met a woman who fell for it. She said she thought she'd get 41MPG, but only gets 20MPG in her Fusion. Period. My insurance agent. I felt kind of bad telling her I get almost triple her mileage.

 

That is just mean!

 

All in the context of 'sporty' buddy

 

It may not be correct, but it's certainly not baseless since it was told to us in person by the Prius Chief Engineer and the head of TMS Marketing.

Tom

 

Or funny how the top range of the Prius (V with Advance Package) slots right below the Lexus 250 in price. There is more to this than meets the eye. I conjecture that its purely a marketing ploy to keep the price right below where the 250 starts.

 

That wouldn't surprise me in the least. At the Gen III introduction, many of us discussed this exact thing, how the upper end of the Prius range was starting to squeeze into the next segment.

Tom

 

62 lbs is a very believable number, since the moonroof glass and frame is heavier than the thin sheet metal it replaces. Thanks for providing that number.

Lot's of mention of the leather being heavier and the 17" wheels being heavier. Do you (or anyone) know the extra weight attributable to those?

My wish is that Toyota could offer the Advanced Technology package with the solar roof -- forget the leather and the 17" wheels as necessary to keep the weight "within limits". No weight issues, no structural issues. And I imagine this would be a popular buyer's choice since a large percentage of Prius owners are techno-geeks.

Poll soon to come.

 

In the UK you can have it all, just not with 17" wheels...I can't stand the handling nor the look with those rubbery little 15" wheels so I'd rather forfit the solar roof...

 

In the UK there is no difference between steering, I really don't get why they do that in the us. Just one steering setup regardless of wheel size.