About.cars.com review "The new Prius c is an excellent addition, delivering outstanding hybrid fuel economy at a much lower price point than the regular Prius. And just like every other Toyota hybrid, it actually delivers the fuel economy it promises." 2012 Toyota Prius c test drive and review
I ran the numbers. 30 to 35 mpg doesn't seem honest for local mileage in a subcompact, while I think 50 mpg for the C seems quite honest as that is the main design for the car. I ran numbers between a Fit (assumed 28 mpg local) and the C (assumed 50 mpg). $3.50 -> 72,750 to break even at $4k premium $4.00 -> 64,000 to break even at $4k premium $4.50 -> 57,000 to break even at $4k premium The $4k "premium" compares an automatic Fit base version at $17k, and $21k a rounded total for the Prius C II.
plus you get more optioned car like bluetooth, better stereo, better mid, more airbags, digital air.... so hard to figure out the premium... plus less maintainance, and better used value. at the end, small car are priced big these days and Prius c ends up being very competitive.
If you're going to say 50mpg for the c and do enough miles for it to matter it's reasonable to assume you'd have enough suburban and highway miles to get the 30 to 35 mpg in a subcompact.
For the fit, I have a friend with similar driving conditions as me, he averages 33, I average 42 in a gen III prius. YMMV. Other cars do better than the fit mpg wise. Short trips seem to disturb my mileage much more than his, going to a camp out 80 miles away, I got 56, he got 35. I would say the premium is more like $2.5K to a prius c. Manual fit is more fun to drive and swallows a kayak better, prius gets better mileage and is nicer, but how much better depends on your route.
Than an auto Fit or c? (vs. the auto fit it makes sense, but I would like to get my hands on the c before ruling it out)
They say the Insight is "lot more spacious". Are they mistaking it for a Prius? Then they claim " Fun-seekers will pick the Ford, though. (Or a Mini.)", ignoring the used car market with cars that are actually fun to drive rather than merely "more engaging than their competitors".
lol. I said compared to my gen III prius, and it is better than a stock one with upgraded wheels and tires The manual fit is also more fun to drive than a auto fit, the engine is small, and the auto transmission doesn't do a great job guessing what you want to do My uneducated guess is the prius c will be more fun to drive than a gen III liftback. From the reviews though it doesn't sound like it can get to the level of a manual fit or focus, let alone more sporty cars. The reason for this car is to narrow the gap to those other cars not to exceed them. Its trying to build to a price point and fuel economy.
it is never going to be fun as manual car, but thats not the point of it anyway . It is supposedly fun/er than Prius... according to Dan, mission accomplished. toyota did right with the equipment, as it is hard to find fiesta's and fits well equipped to compare... it is around 3k of the difference, but with Prius having more standard equipment.
'Fun to drive' is just the ploy mag journalists / reviewers use to mess with consumer's heads, trying to make them feel like they're really missing out on something that's not going to mean a heck of a lot, especially in suburban / city driving. So the journanists get to review a 'fun' car on their favorite backroad. Whoopee. That's so far removed from daily driving, it's mostly irrelevant. But, a few people live along 'fun' roads.
My reason for trading -in my 2011 Honda Fit sport (m/t) is to get a "high MPG" which the Prius C hopefully will do. if i wanted a "FUN-to-DRIVE" car i would buy the new FT-86 w/manual transmission or just keep my also very fun to drive Honda Fit (m/t). But isn't getting a high MPG to save money on GASOLINE the reason why people buy this car???
Exactly, 3x^^. Comparing the Prius c and arguing that it is less fun than the competitors is missing the point of the cars. For instance, I own the undisputed most-fun-to-drive car in its class. The only problem with this title is that the competition consists of one of the least fun to drive cars in modern time: The Smart! The title is completely meaningless, especiall since most cars in just a single class up are more 'fun to drive' (and cheaper). Bottom line. Reviewers should not just toss the words "fun to drive" around, especiall when referring to choice of gearbox on cars where the transmission is chosen because of fuel economy (e-CVT PSD). 'Fun do drive' relates to cars such as hot hatches, sports cars, super cars and so on. For normal daily-runners you can to some extend argue qualities such as the ability to handle emergency situations, precision/feedback of steering and body roll. Just don't fall into the trap of calling one econobox more 'fun to drive'. It will only make you one step away from people who use the word "soul" when trying to justify purchasing a completely inferior product.
Toyota Prius Family - Prius c It seems pretty fair since its toyota's first bullet point about the car. lol. The reason for car2go here is special parking spaces. Smart never told us they were trying to make the car fun. They talk about the unrefined nature of accent's transmission, why should they not talk about the toyota power/transmission. I mentioned manual because we were talking about the least expensive, and it helps get the power to wheels. I'm sure toyota talks up the fuel economy and smoothness aspects of the transmission. It does drone easily when power is asked for, and the prius c is a lower hp car. I did in my OP talk mainly about the mileage/fun to drive trade off. Well then they should have just shoved the hsd in the cheapest, nastiest, car they made. Wait for it They did in europe - its the yaris hybrid.
You are referring to Toyota marketing. Those kind of people will print anything they can legally get away with. They also call the Yaris hatch a liftback in order to reduce US backlash against hatches. These small cars are not made with 'fun to drive' in mind. Don't mistake the thrill of risking your life in a Smart by taking it through the twisties with fun in a fun car (such as a nicely balanced RWD sports car) Thanks for supporting my point ;-) This is the difference between talking about a transmission from the POV of being tolerable (try to drive a Smart in stop-n-go traffic) vs. as an active component in making the car fun to drive (try to change gears in a '07 M3 manual or similar) Aygo.
are you saying it is not fun to drive? It doesnt say better than Fit Manual... it says Fun. If you read Danny's review, it is fun. but then again, i found G3 fun to drive too, at least Euro one. Fun does not have to be 300hp.
