2013 Prius C (Leaked photos of brochure)

To each his own. But since in the Gen 3 Toyota seemed to go to great flying buttress lengths to primarily move the "dongle" from the dash, where it was on the Gen 2, to a location usually associated with a "regular shifter"...I don't buy the arguement that a standard shifter is any greater waste of space.

And I don't see a standard shifter as either a step back, a lack of "space age" technology or a "dumbing down"...I actually think it's pretty cool.

But if for some reason you think a testicle sized lump, on the middle of a giant flying butress in the middle of your car is "space aged" and more sophisticated? More power to you.

I wouldn't NOT buy a Prius because of the Buttress or the dongle, but to be honest, I don't like it. In it's current configuration it appears to me to be like an impotent shifter. A 1/2 hearted attempt to make it a shifter...but not a shifter. IMO either put it on the dash...where it used to be..OR go the whole 10 yards and make it a REAL shifter as it appears they are going to do in the Prius C.

But bottom line? You either like it or not...and personally, I like it.

 

main point is to make vehicle familiar to regular buyers, i would think.

 

People are saying the Prius c uses a smaller NiMH battery pack.
My guess is it will use 20 modules (120 cells) pack instead of 28 modules on the Gen3.

Ken@Japan

 

Actually 30.4km/L is for the 17"-wheeled Prius.

The regular Prius with 15" wheels gets 38km/L in the 10-15 test cycle, and 35.5km/L with 17" wheels. This Prius C gets 40km/L in the same cycle, so the Prius C is 5.3% more efficient than the 15"-wheeled Prius and 12.7% more efficient than the 17"-wheeled Prius. However, in the JC08 test cycle, the regular Prius with 15" wheels gets 32.6km/L, and 30.4km/L with 17" wheels. The Prius C gets 35.4km/L in JC08 so here it is 8.6% more efficient than the 15"-wheeled Prius and 16.4% more efficient than the 17"-wheeled Prius.

Hope this helps put everything into better perspective.

 

Prius C also has 14" and 15" models. Why not compare Prius C with 14" wheels to Gen3 Prius with 15"? Prius C 15" with Gen3 17".

 

Good point. The Prius C has a 10-15-mode rating of 40km/L with 14" wheels but drops to 37km/L with 15" wheels. Curiously in the JC08 cycle the 15"-wheeld Prius C gets the same rating as the 14"-wheeled version, probably because it hasn't yet been tested (there's a footnote next to that figure but I can't read Japanese).

 

So, yesterday turned out to be a fun day, huh gang?

You know we can't really comment on any future product, but we wanted to chime in and just let you know that we at Toyota USA haven't released any new images or info on the Prius c production version, but you can stay tuned for the Detroit Auto Show where we plan to have Prius c make its North American debut. As you know and are trying to figure out, (we'd expect nothing less from this crowd!), there may be some product differences for the US marketing, including the way the EPA derives FE values, from what you've seen in the images that you're viewing from overseas.

I know, not adding a lot of info here, but Detroit is right around the corner, right?

Best,
Erica Gartsbeyn
Product Manager, Toyota USA

 

Yes, this might be the reason but this is a short-sighted approach at least in my opinion.
Following that logic a push button starter would also be strange for the mainstream buyer let alone the hybrid synergy drive itself so Toyota should revert to ignition key and ICE-only powertrain and sales would skyrocket which certainly wouldn't.

 

Point taken. But the leaked photos and specs have pretty much turned me off on buying a C and it's tough to change initial perceptions - especially if there's a few months before we see the real and possibly better C at Detroit.

 

Well thanks Prius Team...sincerely...but like I said...

Every time I think I get a line on what the Prius c is going to be? The whole thing changes.

I very much await the North American debut...(shhh...whatever happens keep the shifter)

 

Hey I just realized that, crucially, with the Prius and the Prius C both equipped with 15" wheels, the Prius (38km/L) is actually more efficient than the Prius C (37km/L)! Blame it on the wimpy engine and the less aerodynamic design I guess.

 

How does it compare to Gen2 Prius? Traction electric motor and battery power are lower than Gen2 but the car is lighter.

Toyota may be using the same Gen2 gas engine with minor changes.

 

eh, you are making a lot of wrong assumptions here, imho. I know it is not intentional .

All 3 Prius models you are reading on the prius.co.jp/prius have 15" tires. Model L is stripped out model with lesser weight and a lot less equipment than standard Prius and gets better mpg. Models G and S are just better equipped and get less mpg, they still have 15" tires. 17" tires are part of optional packages and not listed there.

Also, old japanese cycle is just old, tired model of measuring efficiency. It has nothing to do with real world. I would only use JC08 for any comparos. And since

So IMHO, 16.8% improvement for Prius c over regular Prius, in Japan.

 

also, USDM Prius has no model similar to "base" model L in Japan. USDM and Euro Prius's are all based on higher up models, that Prius c improves on by 16.8% under JC08.

Prius L has 185/65/15 tires, no rear wipers, no touch tracer, no cruise control, no height for drivers seat, no rear seat armrest, no radio, no Tonneau cover, etc, etc.

 

Huh? If you read the specs it clearly shows that the G and S models are equipped with 15" (175/65R15) tires, and the L model with 14" (165/70R14) tires. The L model obviously has better rating than the G and S models for this very reason. Maybe on prius.co.jp the G and S models can be had with 14" wheels too but that is clearly not how they were tested. The manufacturers are only required to perform a separate FE test when the wheel sizes are different, not when the trim levels are different.

 

True. The Gen2 with 15" wheels was rated at 35.5km/L in 10-15 mode when it was released, so yeah the Prius C may simply be using the Gen2 powertrain and got slightly better rating due to reduced weight and minor tweakings for all we know. The Gen2 is still on sale in Japan after all. Makes a lot of economic sense.

 

i am talking about regular Prius. re-read everything again .

 

Normal prius in Japan has 15" tires for all models they test... you are reading normal Prius specs wrong.