CT 200h: first impressions from a production vehicle

The improved steering is what really draws me in. The steering feel in the Prius is awful!

 

I believe this is one of those "pictures or it didn't happen" posts. Come on man, PICTURES!!

Zhe Wiz

 

2006 Prius -> 2010 Prius -> 2011 CT200h. Oh wow, you move fast!

 

I went to the local dealer here and took a look at one. They had one with premium with nav and upgraded stereo. I really like the look of the CT. The odd thing was an old retired couple test drived it before I did. So, this really is a car that is appealing to many generations.

On to the driving...It really drives well. There is more road feel and a more enhanced driving experience from the Prius. This is a very nice feeling. The interior has a very nice fit and finish. The plastics are soft and textured. They didn't have one with the leather package. But, I couldn't do with the nulux interior. It is too soft and synthetic for me. The navigation position seems like an after thought in the interior. I rather it be built into the dash like the Prius. I still like a touch screen nav than a mouse driven nav. There stereo sounded really good with a nice base and nice highs. You can tell the difference from the base CT stereo to the upgraded stereo.

One thing that really surprised me is that the room for the rear passengers is tight. I got the seat comfortable for me (5'9) and the rear seat leg room behind me was very little. I like to drive reclined. It is less than the Prius. Also, there is not rear center armrest. That looked really cheap to me. The trunk space in the rear is also very small. I think the overall dimensions are smaller than the Prius. Space is a lot more ample in the Prius than the CT.

The price for the CT is really attractive also. If you are in the market for a V, you should really take a look at the CT. Sure there is less MPG, but the driving experience and fit and finish of a Lexus is worth a few MPG for me.

 

Tuned better -- for what ? Certainly not fuel economy.

 

In what way ?
I am not arguing with you, I would like to understand what you are talking about.

E.g if you said "Toyota traded 10% fuel economy for 10% more torque at speeds between 0 - 30" I would understand the trade-off.

 

I find it hard to believe that steering accounts for the fuel economy difference. As for 'performance,' I hope we are talking about something more than gas pedal gain.

This car has a better and heavier suspension than the Prius -- wishbone rather than rack and pinion. Anything else ?

 

I think I will, because this car strikes me a a smart and enjoyable used car purchase in three years. Interior materials are going to be a problem though. My wife does not like leather to put it gently, and I do not like synthetics. We were able to agree on the Prius because neither of us like the material

 

I would guess the reduced aerodynamics account for the 10% lower FE. That said, I would say that the CT revs much higher than my 2005 Prius. IDK if that impacts FE too much as I was once told that it's more efficient to get the car up to speed as soon as you practically can.

 

Minimal effect in city MPG.
Now, a tyre choice favoring traction might well be an answer, and could also explain the differences between the US and UK cycles normalized to Prius results.

I am reminded of a bit of Prius history: a small fraction of Prius owners in 2004/5/6 were perpetual complainers about the Prius dynamics. These people tended to drive fast, and said that the Prius did not hug the road very well, particularly in windy conditions. Toyota responded with a 'performance' enhanced Prius called the Prius 'Touring,' which was graded much improved by these critics. Like the CT200h, its EPA fuel economy was about 10% less than the Prius. It turned out that Toyota had done two things differently: a stabilizer bar was added, and the car came stock with better gripping tyres.

Years of people adding stabilizer bars to their Prius as an aftermarket mod makes it clear that the improvement is 7 parts imagination and 3 parts real. Most of the 'touring' improvement was the tyre choice. The truly fascinating epilogue to the 'Touring' story is that as the tyres wore down MPG approached Prius results. But guess what ? The complaints remained low. This was not the stabilizer bar, it was people adapting to their cars and remaining fooled by the 'Touring' moniker.

 

i wonder what your actual difference in mpg will be compared to your old Prius, what Prius model did you have? I wish someone would 17" wheels would compare the two.

Main difference in official mpg (imho) is probably combination of weight difference between base Prius and top end CT200h USA gets, gas pedal response and aero.

 

let us know matt how your CT200h mpg goes! I wonder how close to Prius will be once it breaks in... keep in mind that in european test cycle, CT200h does a little better than Prius! (because in Europe we have base Ct200h which has 15" wheels)