2016 PRIUS

I like the look from the front and 3/4, but the back, man I'm not feeling it from pictures. While I don't like the location of the cluster, I do like the new look. Seems like they incorporated a power meter as a standard function. I like that a lot. That's what's on my display 100% of the time while I'm driving. Need hands-on


iPhone ?

 

Your children maybe, but a lot of children, including my son, get car sick looking down at devices whilst travelling, so prefer to look out of the windows and watch the scenery go by.

 

I'm a little concerned about the position of the shift lever. I liked where it is on our Gen II.

My wife likes to set her purse on the floor in front of the console. If she does that in the Gen IV her purse could move the shift lever into neutral while we are driving. That could be a serious safety factor. I imagine losing power, then fooling around with the purse while she tries to put the car back into drive.

 

purse holder, another decontenting.

 

Not a V-8. deal breaker for me

 

My wife has put my gen2 into neutral, on a busy highway, on me, from the passenger seat while reaching around for something.

The only solutions to this risk is a traditional shifter, or a push button shifter. The first can still be accidentally shifted out of drive, just not as easily, and the second would likely be viewed as too weird by many of the public.

 

Actually I like the center console layout of the Gen II. There are only two things I would change.

1) have an indicator to tell me when I'm pushing too hard on the brake pedal so I'm actually using the brakes rather than just regen. I hear the Gen III has this feature.

2) I would like the instant MPG shown as a digital value along with the bar graph and digital display of the average mpg. I always end up flipping back and forth between the two displays to get that info.

Of course, like so many others, I hate the gauges in the middle of the dash. I don't care that they are way forward under the windshield. I'd just want them directly in front of my like almost all other cars.

It's interesting to note that if one manufacturer creates a new design others will copy it if it is popular. No other manufacturers have taken up the Toyota design of putting the gauges in the center of the dash.

We like the arm rest, cup holders, space in front of the cup holders for my wife's purse, and the little drawer which we use for trash. The Gen II has the 12V plug under the dash for our GPS, and two glove boxes. We're pretty happy with the Gen II. Wish I could buy a brand new Gen II.

 

You know, most cars don't have the speedometer directly in front of the driver.

 

And I'll say it again, tilt-telescoping steering wheels often interfere. That said, I suspect under the dash in front of the driver is pretty packed making it easier to put the display where it is. I was hesitant when I first got ours, but I don't have any problem at all seeing/keeping track of my speed, unlike in my grandson's Mustang.

 

If you mean it is somewhat offset from the center by a few inches then yes I agree. But every car I've owned, and rented, has had the speedometer in the gauge cluster in front of the driver. The Prius is the only car I've ever driven where the speedometer isn't in front of the driver.

I have two modes of operation regarding the speedometer. One is on cruise after which I don't pay attention to the speedometer. I actually tend to use cruise around town as much as I like because if I don't I'm likely to drift in terms of controlling the car's speed. The other is, off cruise, watching my speed and holding to about 4mph over the speed limit. I don't want to get a speeding ticket, yet I do want to squeeze out as much speed as I can and feel comfortable with it. In that case I want that speedometer to be directly in front of me rather than off to the side where I have to deflect my sight line. The Gen II isn't too bad, although it shows Toyota's desire to push it more toward the center. From what I could see the Gen III was more to the center than the Gen II.

This summer we took a look at a Prius v but rejected it because Toyota did manage to really push the speedometer way more to the center and away from the windshield. We may very well have purchased a Prius v except for that one feature.

Buying a car is the second most expensive thing I buy after a house. We drive it almost every day, and keep our cars for 7 to 10 years on average. These details are very important to me. I make detailed spreadsheets, listing the important features to me, weight those features, and buy the car that suits me best. Sometimes little details like this become highly weighted because they are important to me.

I hear the Gen III had a HUD. That would be interesting. I'd have to guess if Toyota put a HUD in the Gen III they knew there was a problem with the speedometer placement. I'd hope the Gen IV has one too and I'd like to see it in action.

 

But it's very near the driver, and off to the right, with the tach or other instruments to the left. If you were to draw a line from your center of vision through the center of the speedometer and continue on that path up to the base of the windshield, I'd bet you'd end up pretty close to where it it on the Gen 4. I just checked that line in my two Mazda's, and that line passes through the base of the windshield about 6-8 inches left of center.

Not that that's okay, the Prius has the opportunity to be better and have it directly in front of the driver, but it's probably no worse left/right than a regular car, and it's better up/down because it's much nearer your on-road vision path.

 

Good point. I just don't want it to be pushed any more to the center. Also with gauges in front of the driver there is also fuel, water, oil, tack, etc. So the gauges in front of the driver is still a win in my book.

Some recent cars have come out with a digital speedometer right in the center of the gauge console.

 

I sat in a new Echo, and thought Wth, centralized instruments. And I've never seen such in a Honda. Toyota does manage to put the instruments in front of driver in many vehicles, not sure why they perpetuate this center of dash instruments in the Prius (and others?). Due to a clamor of requests for it?

 

The Gen 3 HUD can show simplified version of the HSI alongside with the speed, a BIG plus for me.

 

But there is very few shared components with a center mount since many center mounts aren't truly centered on the dash. Maybe there are some tiny cost savings, which can be important in a Yaris sized car class where margins are tight, but the Prius is a little more upscale.