Has Toyota fallen out of love with the Prius?

Engine noise has a subliminal effect. Check out this link: Sound of sports car engine 'arouses women' - Telegraph

"The roar of a luxury car engine does cause a primeval physiological response."

He added the sound of an average car engine actually led to a decreased level of testosterone.
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p.s., just googled BMW active sound, fascinating stuff. Never heard of that before.

 

I test drove a slightly used 2014 Accord Sport 4 dr CVT and a 2015 Camry Hybrid SE last night. I've a bad habit of buying cars that don't excite me if even just a little (i.e. Prius)

People buy Accords cause they are comfortable, reliable, look great and are pleasure to drive. They draw lot of modification junkies and tuners, especially Civics.
New gen Accords are the best ever. Our 2005 is nice to drive but little noisy inside. Dr. seat travel bit limited in 2005, better now, but Camry wins on generous driver seat travel.

Camrys cheaper than Accords, but shows in driving quality, design and materials. Toyota does awfully good for the price and they are tops in reliability.

I think Prius has lots of potential to be great all around. It's only a 3rd gen car which is up against 9th gen Accord and 8th? Camry

Accord Sport ride quality felt so good for a car of that price: planted to the road, stable, confidence inspiring, smooth. Plays a factor into people's decision. Also quiet inside. Seat felt good, wide, nice shape and 10 way power, with tilt capability.

Obviously 4 door sedans are America's favorite and I don't know about you, but I see new gen Accord LX and Sports everywhere.

From cold start, we went 12 miles ended up with 32.3 MPG on gage on Accord Sport.

Camry Hybrid SE didn't seem as smooth: had more of disconnectied steering feel, cheap polyester in seat fabric was offputting although switching from jeans to khakis might help. Car was ok, but did not drive or feel as nice as Accord. But, we ended about 7 miles and were up to 40.x on gage. I'm sure it could go much higher.

 

Bisco you know the Camry Hybrid is much more powerful than Prius and it can get near 50 MPG too. I'd think Accord hybrid much the same.

But, of course wont' get 50 MPG while hammering throttle all the time.

 

agreed, i meant epa. i get almost 70 in the pip, i couldn't accomplish that in the hycam. when i make comparisons, i like to use spa, even though it's often inaccurate, it can't really be argued with. i see a lot of accords around here, but i wouldn't know one model from another. let's hope honda decides to go mainstream hybrid some day!

 

Heard that. At the Honda dealer last night, sales manager made it clear Accord Hybrid in limited supply, they don't discount it much and he sort of steered me away from it.

 

they probably want to prove the longevity and reliability to themselves, before they jump into the deep end of the pool, after being burned by the civic and insight II.

 

you must have said something that really upset them.

 

AFAIK, the first Aygo had the 1KR-FE equipped, the same 1.0 3-inline as the Yaris, of good reputation and was awarded some prizes.
Also I think this engine equipped the first gen 107/C1, from which PSA developed its own 1.0 and 1.2. And from my HPOV, this small urban car is the best product in-class of the PSA line up...
It is a cheap car, with a honest fit. Recently only the Up! has made some competition, and the first Aygo held 9 years...

 

Some interior parts of the C1 show that Toyota has influenced a lot the 3-car project. And believe me, I know some Citroens C2 and C3, both beg for cabin quality (materials, manufacturing, squeeks), while the C1 keeps a good ageing.
Combined with the engine I've just wrote about, it was a win-win situation...