Guy trashes prius (New car review)Makes you think??

Meh. It's a bunch of people that are interested in high-performance cars reviewing a Prius. What did you expect? The Prius is not going to win any drag races.

The only big thing that they do in that piece that I think is truly misleading is that they always compare the Prius to vehicles where the Prius is going to come out on bottom. For example, they talk about how a 10-year-old Toyota Tercel or a Geo Metro will get comparable mileage to the Prius for much less money. Fine. That's true. However, they then compare the interior styling to modern, more expensive cars and fault the Prius for not having anything more than many BMWs or Lexi. I could do the exact opposite and fault the Geo Metro for not having a Smart Key System or electronic windows and then fault the other modern cars for being too expensive.

Basically, the guy already decided what his review was going to be and then, despite getting ABOVE the EPA mileage and being able to carry a whole lot of crap, he pans the Prius.

Look: the Prius isn't a BMW or a Mercedes. The ride isn't as nice as one of those cars, the seats aren't as comfortable or as adjustable, there aren't as many fancy electronics. But, what it's good at, it's very good at. It gets great mileage and has a surprisingly large interior space. It has more "fancy electronics" than most other comparably-priced cars. This gap is closing a bit, but it was certainly true when it was introduced in '04. And it does this all for a surprisingly reasonable price.

 

Wow. Could they rip off Top Gear any more?

 

Great video overall with awesome editing.

Correction and counter points:

1) Prius battery environment damage needs 40,000 miles to make up.
The Prius Vs. Hummer myth was throughly debunked in this thread. According to Toyota figures, it would take 12,427 miles to make up, not 40,000 miles. Toyota figure includes the whole life cycle of the entire car, not just the battery pack.


2) Point made about driving a used Geo Metro is better for the environment.
Well, definately not for the driver and the passengers. C&D has an Save Gas or Die Trying article with details.

3) Prius has cheap interior
They reviewed 2005. The 2006 has improved interior, replacing those cheap plastic.

4) Buttons that don't do anything
All the buttons has purpose, just learn how to use them!

5) Useless triangle windows at weird places
Front triangle window enable the driver to see better while turning -- less blind spot than a normal car.

6) Ugly aerodynamic body -- Maserati looks good but also aerodynamic
The difference is interior room and price. Prius seats 5 adults with plenty of rear leg room and probably more aerodynamic than that Maserati.

7) Useless info on MFD
What? You can't comprehend because it doesn't say RPM?

8) 10.5 seconds for 0-60 is too slow
30-50 mph or 50-70 mph acceleration is just as fast as mid-size non-hybrid sedans.

9) Noise when the pedal is floored and nothing happened
Prius accelerates deceptively quick and very smooth.

 

Great graphs. Where are they from? Got any more?

 

1st one is from http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/k_forum/tenji/pdf/pgr_e.pdf. You'll need to install extra fonts to see it properly.

2nd one is from TOYOTA: Company > Technology

 

very nice indeed, good finds!

Rob

 

"As car guys, that offends us."

And, as knowledgeable viewers, ignorant and biased 'reporting' offends us.

 

You're going to listen to WebRidesTV? Seriously....?? WebRidesTV generally sucks even when they review fast cars.

However, they are good at getting hotties to do interviews:
Car Video: Mitsubishi "i" Car - WebRidesTV
Car Video: DUB Show Tour 2008 - Lotus - WebRidesTV

 

The Wired article was flawed of course, do some web surfing of Prius and RMI, or Prius and Pacific Institute, besides Prius and the Green Latern to get some balance.


The comment that the Prius would never catch up with a Geo-Metro is wacko too. When the Metro is dead on the side of the road, and you cannot get parts for it, and it needs to have a bunch of energy used to recycle the steel, the Prius will still be going, and going and going, probably three times the lifetime of a Geo-Metro. At least that is what ex Geo Metro owners have commented on in response to the Wired article.

 

Thanks. Great website

 

People who like fast cars or luxury cars or don't care how much gas they burn, won't like the Prius. He didn't seem to trash it as much as most fast-car fans do.

 

Wow that was a bunch of negative comments about the Prius - but with an acknowledgment that the mileage is great and the car is selling very well. Those comments don't fit well together. If sales are high you'd have to attribute a lot of sales to the great mileage, but if all those things he said were true the car would also put a lot of people off from buying it too. If it were really uncomfortable, and wasn't fun to drive, the word would be out and would spread quickly. That just isn't the case.

Many of his comments were subjective; the opinion of one person or perhaps his group of reviewers. My subjective view of the car is it is very comfortable, quiet, smooth, loaded with fun features, and acceleration is just fine. I hear the same type of comments from all Prius owners I've spoken with.

This car won't win any races, but that's certainly not why I drive it. On the other hand it doesn't lack for power. I have to go up a two mile long hill from sea level to 800 foot elevation when leaving our house most days. That hill is a challenge for many cars but the Prius takes it in stride, not even dropping a mile per hour in cruise control, and it's not working all that hard and certainly not making a lot of noise while making this climb. If I want to accelerate on that hill I can and will out accelerate most of the cars on the road. But that's not what this car is about.

In the video he said the Prius teaches you how to drive for high mileage and isn't that the truth. So who wants to accelerate unnecessairly when you know it will kill your mileage? He must have been trained by the Prius well because going up highway 1 in California you could easily push the Prius and drop your mileage to the high 30's on that twisty road. He said he got over 51mpg so he too was leaning toward mileage rather than acceleration.

It was a very biased review indeed.

 

Now why would a site like that want to review a Prius... Maybe so someone would actually visit their site???

 

One thing they fail to mention when they compare a new Prius to an used car is all the crud that the used car has already spewed into the atmosphere. Shouldn't that go into the calculation of their "carbon footprint" too??

Buck

 

Well I think it is a great video which represents the Prius well. Well done guys. Yes it is unfortunate they didn't explain B on the gear lever or admit the display, due to its training value did display useful information after all. Somewhat more useful than the speed a thingo in the engine was spinning (even though an automatic system is controlling that speed) or the temperature of just one of the cooling systems at just one point in that system.
They also should have gone on to say American Prius buyers get the world's cheapest Prius.

 

Wanna bet? Every car show I go to, I tell somebody, I'll race any car in this show. 100 miles, 2 gallons of fuel.

No takers so far.

 

Love that one! I have to remember to use it.

 

I liked the video review. Many of the flaws were obvious and pointed out in earlier posts, but I thought it was humorous and an honest review from a high-performance worshipper. I liked his bottom-line, "The Prius wins the award for being the right car at the right time..." I couldn't agree more.