My Prius C test drive

First the C is a wonderful car. Regarding your concerns merging with traffic, I had a similar experience on my 1st test drive. I decided, however, to go for a second test drive, and drove the C like a normal car. Lo and behold it merged, accelerated, and acted like a normal car. Back to your merge after you made a turn. Think about other vehicles that probably make the same turn, a tractor trailer for instance. I drove one for a living for over 50 years and can tell you the C is like a jet fueled dragster compared to one of them. The C feels and sounds different from a regular car, but, it is just as capable as any other modern car. The only negative is you won't be able to accumulate as many points on your credit card, because you will save a lot on gas. My suggestion is give it a second test drive.

 

You need to go out again for an extended test drive, and just "drive the car" - forget all the stuff in this forum, and concentrate on driving with the traffic flow onto, and on highways. Your merging experience may well have been the other driver not wanting to be behind you, and accelerating around you. The C is like any small car at higher speeds - with less power you need to anticipate more, and give yourself room to manoeuvre until you are comfortable with what the car is capable of. Compared to other vehicles you may be familiar with, it has a simulated CVT drive, which gives a dead-smooth flow of power, it doesn't feel "powerful". But if you need to lane-change, the car has instant torque from its electric motor.

You say the car was frequently in and out of EV (electric vehicle). Sounds to me like you were being very light on the gas pedal. You can't do any harm by really booting it occasionally - the C's computer looks after the car. Also, you may have been in Eco mode, which re-maps the gas pedal travel so you have to push it further down, makes it less sensitive. Don't use this mode to test the car if you are concentrating on acceleration performance.

Perhaps the biggest "mistake" new owners make is to try too hard to get great gas mileage; they run down the HV battery, and the car's electronics boosts the ICE use to get the charge up again; it protects the battery, and optimizes charge around the 60% mark It's best to just drive steadily and conservatively with traffic - safety first, and the C will give you great gas mileage without your even trying.

 

In terms of mileage only, the Prius liftback would probably do better than the C for this kind of scenario... but of course it's not only about mileage (as you mention anyway).

Switching from a manual transmission to the "e-CVT" of the Prius HSD requires you to change your thinking slightly if you're going to get the most from the car. For one thing you have to stop listening to cues from the engine noise... they are now irrelevant to you. As a related factor, you may be subconciously easing off the pedal to prepare for a gear change - do not do this.

Merging onto a high speed road is not the time for playing with your fuel economy, but then again it's over so quickly that the drop in economy will quickly become irrelevant in your averages anyway. When you want to go, press the accelerator pedal, as far as you need - do not hold back. If it helps overcome your misgivings, remember that in this car the pedal is not connected to the throttle cable, it is only input to the computer. The computer actuates the throttle and not only will it not overrev the engine - it won't go past the point of highest output. Also remember it has the electric motor at its disposal, which can deliver a lot of torque instantly.

Don't baby the car, just drive it. Yes there are tips for better mileage to learn if you buy one, but interestingly they don't involve babying the car either. If you're test driving it, find a clear road, don't listen to the engine and push that pedal all the way down.

When I leave my office I drive about 1000ft before I have a hard 90 degree turn and then about 200-300 ft to merge into a 70 km/h zone (43 mph) where people often do 80 (50). Also because of vegetation where I make the turn, I have no idea what I will face - I have to turn and see what my mirrors say and make my judgements on the fly in the slip lane. This evening I had to do it into thick but free flowing traffic and could see my only chance was right behind me - down the pedal went and off I shot... no problem at all.

 

Congratulations! And welcome!

 

Congrats! I drive the C pretty much the same as the 1997 Prizm. My wife's Fit sounds and feels faster but the C is no slouch. I even leave it in Eco - doesn't make much difference cause I'm a long time lead foot.

 

When I first drove the c I too was concerned about the acceleration. I've been driving it for about two weeks and have forgotten all about this issue. If you can even call it an issue. I find that if I need some speed I can push it if need be and it even feels a little sporty. I don't mind at all. It's no sports car but it get the job done in San Diego. Trust me these guys are a-holes about getting up to speed and merging and I feel like I am fine 95% of the time. Just the occasional guy who doesn't understand we can't all merge going 85.

 

Awesome. It was the second test drive that pretty much won me over as well.
My first test drive left me with a feeling of "huh, I wasn't expecting that..." plus it was a busy day.
The second test drive I went on a less-busy day, and my expectations were better aligned so I tested every last little thing I could.
It worked for me.

 

I was lucky enough to do 2 test drives of a Prius C before I bought mine as well; the first one was similar to the OP's first test drive. I had concerns; not so much with merging on expressways, but more with just not having the Jeremy Clarkson "power" I'm used to having in the older hand-me-down cars I've had recently.

The 2nd dealership I went to had their own private (shared with a few other local auto dealers in the same area) test track; complete with hills, rough roads, steep inclines, and the like. It also had a long, probably a quarter-mile or so flat straight away (maybe it was a half mile…can't remember). The salesman in the car with me encouraged me to "…just punch it." This was not in ECO mode, just regular mode. It's that opportunity that convinced me to get the Prius C.

I'm no gearhead or "petrol head" or even a car guy; the cars I'd had up 'til the Prius C were are 6-cylinder gas guzzlers that never had me worried about passing, merging, or anything acceleration-related. Getting an opportunity to imagine hitting the gas pedal when needed on an empty straightaway gave me the "proof" I needed that acceleration, when needed, was there & was plenty with the Prius C.


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ECO or not... full acceleration is the same.