How good is this car for long trips?

See if you can try one at 90mph. Noise is relative. What isn't acceptable for one person is acceptable for another.

Wind noise is low. Tire and engine noise at speed is higher than luxury cars but I think reasonable. YMMV

 

ICE at 6000-ish rpm plus two motors humming, LRR tires, wind, ok insulation. It will make noise, and it won't be dominated by the two motors, but by the ICE which is working its cylinders off.

 

Good way to scare the crap out of the sales guy, take it on an interstate and floor it up to 90mph!

Did that when testdriving a RX450h and it was soooo smooth and quiet the whole time. Gas hit doesn't make up for it though.

 

Slow down and enjoy the scenery...

Keith

 

Taken the Prius for a few trips to San Fran and a few to Las Vegas (both from So. Cal.) and the ride is fine. Not great but not bad. The gas takes a big hit though. Calculated, was getting between 35 to 38 MPG depending on speed. If I kept it constant at 80 most of the time, then its leans towards 38 to SF.

As others have said, the car does get louder as the engine works harder (especially in certain parts on the drive to Las Vegas).

 

I have driven my Prius on 3 long trips.
First was to Townsville from Adelaide. 3000km each way and the trip up was completed in 36 hours including sleep time. I slowed right down at night because kangaroos make big dents in cars. I did clip a roo but just its paw touched the rear left door handle. Day time speeds of 120km/h constantly but ranging up to 160 for short periods. Loved it

Second trip was to the middle of Australia about 2500km each way. This trip I had a wife and child in the car so had long stops. Held the car on the speed limiter for about 10 minutes and there was no sign of trouble. I'm sure I could drive Prius on the limiter all day without harming it but the police would harm my wallet and licence.

Third trip was Adelaide to Perth in 30 hours. This was another 3000km each way trip. Car was great. On the return leg the outside temperatures reached 48 degrees C and the only reason I noticed was the AC fan got a little loud. I also noticed when I got out of the car to refuel, yukky hot!!

Overall the Prius is great for long trips, there is some tyre noise but nothing the sound system can't deal with. Unlike some bigger cars I drive for work, when you finish a long drive in a Prius you still feel fresh.

I really love my Prius for long trips

 

I can't say enough good things about the driver's seat in the all-new Prius, even the cloth in the III. I swear the seat is custom fit for me.

I'm sure these cars could make quick work of a 500 mile jouney.

 

The ICE in the Gen III Prius never goes above 5250 RPM (5000 RPM for the gen II).

This is not actually the red-line, I expect the engine can tolerate going faster. The engine control system will never let it go faster.

kevin

 

I went on a 5000 mile road trip in 2009 and a 4000 mile trip in 2010. I have driven on several 1000+ mile trips as well. Now at 50k miles, I have never had a problem with my 2006. In Montana, I drove at 110 mph for a few minutes just to see how it handles, and I didn't see any difference between that at 65 mph. Smooth as always.

 

I have a III in cloth, and the driver's seat is not that great. It really needs some real lumbar support. I'm thinking of opening up the seat and adding custom lumbar support myself. The 2006 TSX I drive occasionally has great lumbar support in comparison. I'm sure the Prius that comes with proper lumbar is better. But the III I have - lumbar is still lacking. I have slight back problems, so perhaps this is just me - if you don't have back issues, you might be fine.

 

I hear ya, there's not much lumbar support built in. I'm lucky not to need it.

 

I have a II in cloth and the drivers seat is OK for me, nothing better. After about 3 hours it makes my butt hurt. Our Acura TL and C6 Corvette and my previous VW Jetta could be driven all day with no seat discomfort. I'm more sensitive to car seat discomfort than most, so I won't say the seat is bad.

YBMV (your butt may vary)

I haven't felt the need for more lumbar support yet, but like I said, YBMV.

 

main difference between Lexus and Toyota cars is the amount of sound insulation on them!

Sound insulation weighs a lot, so don't expect the Prius to have anything more than the strict minimum...

Due to its outstanding aerodynamics you get a lot less wind noise in it than on similar sized cars.

Road noise is average and depends on tires and pavement...
All in all a very acceptable car.

Mileage at 90 MPH is lower than 40 mpg, closer to 35 mpg... but try to get anything above 30 mpg in any other car at 90 mph... simply does not exist...
perhaps a diesel may be in the very low 30's but that's it...

 

Seats are fine, I am over 6 ft
Did a 1800km trip with 4 people, left at 5:30 am got there at 9:30 pm I drove all but about 3 hours and I was fine

 

Seats are comfortable, audio is good, car is quiet and relaxing at speed, but there are two drawbacks to the Prius for long trips, both involving wives:
1) excuse to stop at a gas stations come at intervals far to rare to cater for wife's need to pee;
2) acceleration from 70 to 90 is so seamless that my wife got a ticket, thinking she was still doing 70.l

 

Pretty good on the highway and not bad road noise.

 

Here's a data point: took the Prius for a really long drive this weekend - meant to spend the night at the destination, but finished early and decided to save the C note and turned around and drove home. Six hours down, six hours there, six hours back (plus stops for food). 650 miles, got 58.1 going down (driving very conservatively) and 53.2 coming back (hauling azz to get home.) NO back ache - best drive I've had in a while...

 

Wait until you have an enlarge prostate, you will want to stop more then her