Consumer Reports review and ratings of Gen 5 Prius—with side-by-side comparison to Gen 4

Im thinking seriously about getting a better generator. They have portable ones that can use home natural gas. I had a little inverter one during the outages, did better than expected. Ran the fridge and some lights and chargers. I even used the oven which has to have electricity to light the burner. A number of the folks in my area have stand by ng generators that just come on as needed. They party on like nothing touches them.

 

What if it's parked in your garage?

 

Not a problem for a BZ4X

 

I'll just kick in that I love my 23 Prius Prime, but I think everything in the CR excerpt was completely fair. I perfectly fit the "fall into the seat, haul myself out" description, visibility is terrible, and it's not a classic hatchback, it's more a Sports-Sedan-Lite.

In terms of the heat, it's ok, but it's a heat pump and it heats the cabin to temp, it doesn't blow hot air on your wet galoshes, which can make the car feel colder. It packs a wallop on range. Summer, I had a 52 mile 4.6miles/kwh range. I now have a 38 mile/3.6miles/kwh range. OTOH, that lower figure is close to the EPA 39.

 

Not a problem for the Prime either if it's plugged in, it doesn't use the gas engine to preheat.

 

well i plan on getting the LE awd so no heated steering wheel. my ionqis heat is terrible unless im on the interstate

 

Doesn't that presuppose that owners have it charged when they leave it in a garage?
.

 

It does but with the slow charging, it makes sense to have it done overnight and still plugged in.

It can also remote start and preheat the cabin without turning on the gas engine without being plugged in if your traction battery is around half or more. It mostly uses the app which is kinda finicky. It can be done with the key but the range of the key sucks.

 

I still get the paper copy of Consumer Reports and the copy with the Prius review showed up in the mail yesterday. I, too, felt it was fair. The things they didn't like were things that are pretty well established, being low to the ground and losing out on trunk space versus the Gen4. Yea the engine is noisy when pushed hard, but how often to you push it hard?? It's a Prius! I felt they were a bit harsh on the back seat comfort, but I didn't have a Gen4 to compare it to and at least hear a lot about it being really good.

The nice things they had to say were all things we mention a lot around here, so no sense repeating those again. It is a great car!

will

 

They must have come to their senses in the final copy because some of the earlier scoring I saw was hilarious.

They had acceleration, styling, and driving experience almost tied between the G4 and G5. That's not even trolling, it's incoherent.

 

This question got buried in all the other non-automotive heat pump talk.

No, the Prius HEV does NOT have a heat pump.

Incidentally, it's why I have no hope of converting my Limited to dual-zone climate control like Europe gets. The HEV HVAC box only has two coils in it, while the PHEV has three.

 

Consumer Reports has updated the Prius Prime road test report, ratings and specs and gave it an overall score of 77.

 

We agree about Consumer Reports (CE). My diagnosis is CR fails to document their testing methodology with enough detail that anyone can replicate. The absence of well documented testing method leads to untreatable results.

I no longer have a Prius but my mph vs MPG charts included at least two, 43 mpg points in Standard Day weather. I can also hit 43 mpg by:

• Choosing vehicle warm up protocol
• Choosing testing weather
• Choosing route
• Choosing fuel
• Choosing driving speeds

When I realized that CR was NOT following standard engineering practices taught in freshman classes, there was no need to waste money on their style of journalism.

BTW, J.D. Powers may be up for sale: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/thoma-bravo-weighs-8-bln-sale-jd-power-bloomberg-reports-2024-02-21/

February 20, 20248:54 PM CSTUpdated a day ago

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Thoma Bravo is considering a sale of consulting firm J.D. Power and is working with a financial adviser to find a buyer, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The technology-focused U.S. private equity firm is seeking a deal of about $8 billion including debt for J.D. Power, the report, opens new tab said, adding that talks are at an early stage and there's no certainty over the deal.​

J.D. Powers never had much credibility but Bloomberg is a good match ... they also have similar credibility.

Bob Wilson

 

All I have to say is what engines in the prime and the vanilla Prius and yeah exactly 2ZZ Atkinson y'all are welcome to have that be out of them in time.

 

I never heard of this 'choice'.
There are octane levels, but that doesn't change the BTU/Gallon of gasoline.
There's No Alcohol vs the Typical 10%. That can have a measurable, but very small difference in mpg, but a bigger difference in $/Mi.

What 'choices' are there in your area?

 

Could you rephrase this statement, please.
No idea what you are trying to say...It's all one nonsensical sentence.

 

What engine is in the two cars were discussing here??? The 2ZZ Atkinson correct well we're not moving with those anymore at all so that's still a thing with all these issues No no thanks Even the new Prius that just came out got an A engine in it or something I don't think I'll be trusting that either some new version of an A series blah blah blah we've already been through this with the Camry I do believe but like I say I'm not going to re-engineer the wheel with these guys Toyota has become certainly very interesting to say the least I can't wait to see how Americanized they have become when they go to electric or there other kinds of vehicles they're going to make I don't think it's going to be hydrogen It's going to probably be electric and as far as I can tell they're going to be just like Tesla Teslarati. And you see how well Elon is doing with warranty production manufacturing etc in my eyes not so well is like a snotty nose little kid that got a computer one day and here we are this is how Toyota is turning into just like everybody else and that's what I would expect Don't get me wrong they bit me once with the generation 3 they'll never get a chance to bite me ever again in this world and then I will move on and life will be grand for Toyota I'm sure Toyota today is not the Toyota I grew up with that's for sure then again I guess neither is the general motors.