Sometimes, a lot of what I say is sort of a joke, and sort of not a joke. As a result, you might think that I would like: Screw You, I Love The Prius by Neal Pollack. I'm just surprised that no one else has posted a link to it here in the 6 days or so it has been up. An excerpt: My fellow car writers, a fraternity to which I've not officially pledged but to which I somehow belong, mostly hate the Prius. I understand why. When they were boys reading car-porn in their basements, this little sloped-hood Tylenol on wheels, a car from the future which makes the vehicles in Sleeper seem like hot rods, isn't what filled their gear-head fantasies. As a car, the Prius kind of sucks. But it's all I've ever wanted, and all that I deserve. By now, I've flown across Europe and America and driven BMWs and Audis and Rolls-Royces and Jaguars and Bentleys and Mustangs. I've experienced real automotive luxury, tight suspensions, and authentic German-engineered engines. How I've come to love the power, the magnificent, magnificent power. By comparison with some of the automotive masterworks I've experienced, driving the Prius is like trying to steer a blob of uncooked pizza dough around an outdoor car park in the rain. Still, it remains my favorite. Screw you.
Good piece, but with the usual dopy comments from people who trash the Prius by reflex without actually knowing anything about it.
One thing we share in common, I didn't really care about cars until we got our first Prius. Now I subscribe to AutoWeek and have read way too many Consumer Reports for their car reviews. Bob Wilson
With the Prius, I no longer care whether others, and/or that that my self considers it an ugly car. Now, for me, function matters more than the look.
I like the looks of the Prius (ESPECIALLY the Gen 2) and I love driving it. This tank, I am getting 74.3 MPG on the dash display, and the first pip on my guess gauge didn't drop until 168 miles - presaging a near 70 MPG tank in real life. I've learned to avoid highways and drive at normal speeds on secondary roads. I'm almost at peace with my gas guzzler driving brethren. I can know that my grandkids won't curse me with quite the same venom that their peers will use for said brethren Driving a Corvette in the 1970s is becoming a distant and not particularly lamented memory. So yes, to all you anti-Prius whiners, sneerers et. al........ S****** Y*****
Very talented writer (one of us here?) but honestly Toyota should have given that PiP to me...I never would have suggested 12 EV miles is a sign of Toyota falling behind (rather a good thing not to over-size battery). I agree with the writer Prius as the biggest development since Model T and Toyota ought to get a Nobel prize IMHO.
I'm glad somebody gets it! Most people will never need or use the capabilities of a high performance car to get to work or the mall. Our Prii (yes, I'm one of those that use Prii) are high performance cars in every area that the typical driver needs!
Better hold off before handing over the Nobel Prize. Hybrid inventor Alex Severinsky gets payola from Toyota hybrids due to infringements on his patents pertaining to the near instantaneous blending and switching between ICE and electric: The Hybrid Inventor Who Sued Toyota - And Won | Autopia | Wired.com Irony of ironies - it was Jalopnic folks who originally covered the patent case. .
I fall in the group that was apathetic towards cars until the Prius. Well, not apathetic really, more an active dislike for the king of the asphalt jungle and its associated social disruption, pollution, and economic malaise. I still feel that way, but I give the Prius a pass because it is interesting, and novel, and progressive. Cars suck, but if I have to drive then make it a Prius.
Here's a link to the priuschat discussion of the Severinsky settlement from the time it was announced: HSD patent lawsuit settled. The line I like best in Neal Pollack's piece is "As a car, the Prius kind of sucks. But it's all I've ever wanted, and all that I deserve." I don't think the Prius sucks, and I don't think NP really does either--except on the gearhead scale, which NP both satirizes and (I think) respects. But the Prius probably is all I deserve--except I do deserve better rear visibility [stop beating that horse, kgall], and maybe even a slightly bigger cargo area.
What I like about the piece is that Pollack likes the Prius for what it is. For him and for me it's weaknesses are more than compensated for by it's strengths. The Prius is good enough in it's strong areas that there is no reason to go all fanboi and pretend it doesn't suck in some areas. just about made me blow my coffee out my nose.
+1 Its almost as if the designers said, if we make it handle poorly then people will feel they get better value from the gas mileage.
You know, I don't actually think the Prius handles badly for the non-sports-car driving I do. Of course I'm old enough to remember cars from the 60s--when almost every mass-market vehicle was not as good as almost any new vehicle today, on just about any scale except sheer horsepower and coming in lots of different colors.
I always felt my '89 Speedster 'handled' because it was low to the ground - wide tires, & very hard suspension - or put another way . . . . . a back ache waiting to happen. But back then - that was ok. Now, the Prius mush handling is ok. SGH-I717R ? 2
