Got my new wheels 1

Yesterday I picked up my Gen 4. Prius. I elected to buy the Basic version (NiMh battery) with the Toyota Safety Sense (TSS-P) option pack. Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection (PCS/PD); Lane Departure Alert w/Steerigb Assist (LDA/SA); Automatic High Beams (AHB); Dynamic Radar Cruise Control and Heated \front Seats.

As a previous Gen 2 owner here are my first impressions:
- The car rides much nicer, quieter and smoother than my Gen 2.
- Also seems quicker to respond to the accelerator.
- The Use Manual does a good description of how and when the EV mode will work and it's limitations.
- The three drive modes ECO/Normal/Power need more study on my part.
- The car came with an 800 page manual (741gr!). So much for keeping your load light - lol
- Substantial portion of the book is dedicated to explain a long list of conditions under which the sexy options, like the PCS, LDA/SA, DRC "might not work". In other words keep you eyes on the road, we (Toyota) are not responsible if you crash the car. In other words "we are testing our future Autopilot, but it is far from ready".

More impressions later.

 

Yes, I picked red. Unfortunately I couldn't get the beige interior I really wanted. It is limited to the "upper class" Touring version.

Got my new wheels 2

- Seat positions. Toyota lowered the whole car dropped the seats by about 4-5 cm. Indeed without manipulating the driver seat, all seats are lower (compared to the Gen 2). Making the impression that you are in a sports car, sitting just right over the asphalt. This can make entry and exit for grandma and grandpa a bit combersome. Luckily, the driver seat can be adjusted to raise the driver to my preference. Still older folks may have difficulty. When I am getting out from the rear seats I have to watch or I will bang my head due to the sloping roof line. Seniority and pensions come with the price lost body flexibility.

- Seat comfort is so far excellent.

- Fuel economy. On my original test drive, driving carefully I "scored" 3.9 l/100 km. I was blown away. My standard performance in my Gen 2 was 4.9 l/100km average in summer 5.4 l/100 km in winter with cabin heat running. My new car has about 69 km on the odometer, and shows 4.4 l/100 km.

I am sure there is a lot to learn to achieve my best. It will happen with time and more motoring.

- Instrumentation. Very extensive, many will find it overwhelming. But for me a self confessed tech geek it will be fun. Among the many info screens, there is one which shows the percentage of your trip in EV mode. On my very low mileage it shows 49%. Hmmmmm...

More to come.

Our first "out town" trip mixed speed between 90-105 km/h but mostly on country roads 75-90 km/h. The total distance measured by the trip computer was 141 km and fuel consumption 3.4 l/100km. The darn thing is that I think I was caught in a speed camera in a small village(!) doing 68 in in a 50km zone.

 

Here are some observations re the four options in the Toyota Safety Sense P option package.
- Pre-collision System (PCS)
Needs more testing and I certainly do not wish to wreck my car

- Land Departure Alert with Steering Control (LDA)
The seem to work fine. My only observation is regarding sensitivity. One almost has to ride on the line marker before it kicks in. I would think a more sensitive system would keep the car more on the centre of the lane. As it is it allows a lot of with for swaying between the lanes. There is a sensitivity setting I set it to HIGH. Maybe I need to play with it more.

- Auto High Beam (AHB)
I can see that this is quite an engineering challenge on hilly and/or curvy roads. Not yet tested.

- Dynamic Laser Cruise Control with full-seed range
Works amazingly well. Again, there is a sensitivity setting option. I set it to HIGH. The car will adjust to the speed of the car you are following and thus keeps a safe distance. There are tricky situations for the computer to deal with like when people cutting you off etc. but overall it works as I imagined.
I did find some interesting behavior (even scary!) Let say that you are nicely cruising at the set speed and for what ever reason you want to lower the set speed. With normal (old fashioned) cruise one just pulls the setting arm towards the floor and the car will reset to a lower set speed. However, while in Dynamic cruise mode the same action will rapidly decelerate the car. This unexpected change in speed was scary! When this happened I was happy I did not have anyone closely following me.
The feeling was that somehow re-generative breaking cut the speed of the car. The feeling was same is in our iMiEV when driving in "B" mode. (The re-gen in that car break can slow you down to abut 20 km/h before you need to touch the break.)

 

Sorry my mistake - there is no laser.