Better Handling? Corolla vs Touring Prius

Mark,

It's possible, but unlikely, that you have the Standard suspension on your Touring. The Touring is supposed to have different (1) front stabilizer bar, (2) rear stabilizer bar, (3) rear springs, and (4) rear shocks.

If you go under your car to look at the rear shocks, the Touring shocks are supposed to have red and white stripe labels on them --- see pictures in Post # 19 of this thread:

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/47917-consumer-reports-drives-touring-edition-2.html

Other than that, you can consider getting:

(a) BT Tech rear Stiffening Plate and front Strut Tower Brace, and also the BT Tech front Sway Bar if and when it comes out;

(b) TOM'S Braces;

(c) TRD Sportivo Shocks & Springs.

 

Hmmm. My Prius seems to get around just fine. If I were interested in the "handling" of a car, I am sure I could do a lot better than a Corolla.

 

I'm not surprised. The Corolla is built on a smaller chassis and not as heavy. I've never driven the Touring model but handling is not one of the Prius' strong points.

 

I test drove a Corolla LE at the same time I purchased my Touring Prius and the handling on the Prius was definitely better than the Corolla. There was less body roll when taking turns and the car felt more stable on the freeway. The Corolla felt like my Camry, although as not floaty, and the suspension feels like it's tuned more for comfort. I would say the Corolla and standard Prius, which I also drove, have similar handling characteristics.

On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if the Corolla XRS handles than the Touring Prius.

 

Umm trade in your Prius ....I didnt think the Prius was suppose to be some cornering machines, I think the engineers spent there time elsewhere during the the design process....

 

i believe even consumers reports when testing the touring stated it handled slightly better than the standard, so i agree with turbogizzmo

 

As someone who has owned many cars with exceptionally good handling, (Audi A4, Miatas, etc. ) I'd say the Prius Touring is better than the average U.S. tuned family sedan.

Recently my 2007 Touring was totaled in a rear end collision and I went through 2 rentals while waiting for the new car. The first was a PT Cruiser. What a piece of **** that thing is. Smaller inside than the Prius, handled like a truck floating on marshmallows, and every button and control in the car was placed in a location where it was almost unusable. All that and only about 24 MPG. No wonder Chrysler is in trouble.

The second rental was a 2009 Altima 2.5. Not a bad car at all, and it got about 32 MPG in mixed driving. The interior was well thought out and comfortable. But, the handling still felt a bit soft and vague compared to my old Prius Touring.

I've got my new 2008 Touring now, and once again the handling is above average for a european tuned sedan. it's not going to beat an M3 in a slolum but handling feels tight and crisper than the Altima I drove last month.

All that said, if the car feels really off (especially in one direction only) you could have a blown shock. (I'd have suggested tire presure or alignment but you checked those).

 

The Prius is not designed for "handling" in the traditional automotive sense. It handles just fine for regular driving duties on public roads but it is simply not engineered for handling efficiently on a skidpad or autocross application.

That said, I enjoy how the Prius handles, but my background is drag racing and not in corner carving. I like the slightly heavy feel of the front end, I like the nose dive when rapidely slowing, and I like the feel of body roll as I can better determine from the seat of my pants the abilities and limitations of the vehicle.

Plus, to my body the Prius rides more softly and with more comfort than the Corolla which has a more standard pancake feel without the real performance of a cehicle designed for efficient cornering. However we all have opinions and the feel of the vehicle is often particular to the driver and the type of use the car utilized for the most.

 

The Prius rides high--almost like an SUV. That's great for the view, but I suspect the center of mass is raised a bit like an SUV, which sacrifices cornering and can cause some sway in crosswinds. I noticed the sway once on the highway, but it's not bad.

I'm familiar with SUVs--drove a Jeep for a few years. Narrow tires are not great for handling when the CM is high. Though better for gas mileage. I switched to a wider tire, and handling improved dramatically. Gas mileage may have suffered 1 mpg. Maybe.

I think Toyota is maximizing gas mileage with it's choice of narrow Integrity tires on 15" wheels. For least rolling resistance. A wider tire would definitely improve handling--but you can bet gas mileage will go down 2 mpg (5%) from higher rolling resistance. And Toyota doesn't want that. You are better off playing with tire pressure to get your optimum performance. The narrow tire effect on Prius isn't as great as you get on a higher SUV.

 

I checked the tire pressures the dealer put in on my standard Prius, which is about a week old. They were 37 in the front, 35 in the back--except the right rear tire (from behind) next to the 12V battery was 37--like the front. I don't know if that was an error, but I corrected it, and set 38/36 front/back. The small rear battery can't weigh much more than 20 lbs, so that shouldn't be an issue. Anybody heard of this?

 

The Touring comes with wider 195/55/16 Bridgestone Turanza Tires. Some have reported a small mileage hit compared with a non-touring version, but I've owned both and the difference is 5 percent or less for me.

 

Wow I'm so surprised to hear you thought the Corolla handled better! Funny how different perceptions can be. We were looking at the Corolla vs Civic when first car shopping. Drove the Civic first and loved how it felt, but had horrible selection of features. The Corolla sounded awesome on paper so we took one out for a test drive and I absolutely hated it! It felt like driving a boat compared to the Civic. The steering wheel was so floaty...felt like I had to turn it quite a bit before the tires would actually turn...and then I could feel the power steering kick in (literally...felt a little boost as it kicked in). It was dreadful! And it had no pickup either....it was awful trying to merge into traffic. I took it out a few times because I wanted to like it (had more features and better price than the Civic we were looking at) but just couldn't do it. Thank goodness our salesperson had us take the Prius out on a lark. Had all the features (plus amazing technology) that I'd wanted in the Corolla and the handling and zip of the Civic. It was perfect! Walked out with the Prius that day. We just have a standard btw..not Touring.

 

I'd definitely confirm if you have the Touring suspension bits. When I dropped in the TRD suspension, the difference was drastic. I take all my corners HARD.

 

My '07 Touring handles better then my '03 Corolla LE did - don't know about the newer Corollas.

 

I liked everything about Prius but couldn't stand how it handled. I agree with ibmindless that Corolla handles much better. I traded Prius for 335 on a whim and never regretted that decision.